There are many reasons why you might need a background remover app.
It could be that you have a product you want to sell online. Perhaps you’re an aspiring model, taking headshots at home. Or maybe you just want to turn an everyday photo into a sticker for your website.
Whatever your creative vision might be, we have you covered. In this guide, we’re going to compare the best apps for removing backgrounds — from simple free options to the most advanced premium choices.
Taking the perfect photo is hard. That’s why we use editing apps to enhance what comes out of the camera. Removing the background of your photos is just another way to improve what you started with.
Take some of the examples mentioned above. E-commerce entrepreneurs need to photograph various items, and make them look good.
Even if you set up a DIY studio, there are likely to be unwanted objects hanging around at the back of the scene. By removing the background, you have the opportunity to insert the perfect backdrop.
Headshots require similar treatment. When a talent scout looks at your photos, they should have their entire focus on your face — not the brightly colored wall behind you.
Designers also love removing backgrounds. Removing the background of a photo and saving a PNG file with a transparent background allows you to create a kind of cutout.
You can then insert this sticker anywhere you want — in digital collages, website designs, social media profiles and posts, and so on. You can even superimpose someone or something onto a different photo entirely.
There are many different reasons why you might want to remove photo backgrounds. And there are just as many tools dedicated to the task.
To help you find the ideal app for your needs, we’ve created a shortlist. Here are the best background remover apps that are available right now:
Powered by artificial intelligence, Pixelcut is a mobile photo editing app that was made specifically for removing and changing backgrounds.
Available on iOS and Android devices, the app automatically detects the subject of any photo. With a swipe, you can then cut out your subject and toss the image background.
Pixelcut lets you export the cutout on a nice white background, or you can start playing around with new backdrops. The app provides access to a vast selection of stock images and textures, along with plain colors and gradients.
For a little extra spice, you can add drop-shadows, borders, stickers, and text to your new background.
The whole process takes just a couple of minutes, and you need zero design knowledge to create something impressive.
To speed up the process even further, Pixelcut has a range of one-tap templates — for ecommerce shots, social media stories, profile photos, and much more. That’s probably why 10 million small businesses have already adopted this app.
The best part? It’s completely free to try.
Pricing: Free to download, unlimited Pro plan from $59.99/year
Available on desktop and mobile platforms, Apowersoft Background Eraser provides another low-effort workflow.
Like Pixelcut, the Background Eraser aims to detect the subject of your photo and remove the background. You can then export your photo or start working with a template.
Apowersoft gets points for batch background removal and an automatic cropping tool. If you are processing hundreds of ecommerce shots a week, this could be a time saver.
The only major downside is that some of the subscription options are a little expensive.
Pricing: From $11.99/mo on subscription, with PAYG and bundle options from $3.99.
It’s not easy to describe Superimpose. The best we can come up with is, “a box of tricks.”
Made for iPhone and iPad, this app is a creative photo editor that offers plenty of functionality. It is aimed mainly at people who like to manipulate images and produce digital art — but one of the included tools is a background remover.
Actually finding that tool is your primary challenge. Superimpose feels like the full desktop version of Photoshop packed into a smartphone screen.
For experienced designers, this isn’t a problem. In fact, Superimpose can be a fun creative playground. But if your main aim is removing backgrounds, just bear in mind that it might take a while!
Pricing: $1.99, one-time purchase
It would be fair to say that InShot’s Background Eraser is not the prettiest app you will ever use. However, it’s a decent free option for removing and changing backgrounds.
This Android app has both automatic and manual modes for erasing backgrounds. You can also create cutouts, add colorful outlines, insert stickers, and swap backgrounds — although you are limited to something over 100 picture backgrounds.
InShot’s Background Eraser is definitely aimed at the Instagram market, but you could use it for most background removal tasks.
Pricing: Free to download, with in-app upgrades
Did you know that it's possible to remove photo backgrounds in any desktop browser? That’s the service that Remove.bg provides.
The site works like many of the other automated tools on this list. There are no exciting editing features here, but that makes it pretty easy to use.
Remove.bg is also available as a desktop and mobile app, as a plugin for Adobe Photoshop, and even via the command line. However, all these options still rely on the same API — so you will need an active internet connection.
In addition, Remove.bg works on a credits-based pricing model.
Pricing: Premium plans from $4.66/month
With a vast range of editing options and presets, Picsart is an app that helps you erase backgrounds for creative reasons.
The background eraser tool here uses AI algorithms to select your subject. You can then either remove or blur the background fairly easily.
However, you can kinda tell that Picsart wants you to do more. Available on Google Play and the App Store, this app offers up a collage maker, over 200 fonts for text, and more than 60 million stickers. Plus, you can edit videos.
Pricing: Free with watermarks, premium plans from $4.66/month
While Picsart revels in creativity, VistaCreate takes a more workmanlike approach.
This online design studio is aimed at social media and marketing pros who need to make lots of good-looking content in a hurry.
The image editing platform includes a one-click background remover, which works on algorithms. It might not be quite as advanced as some other tools on this list; if you throw in some funky gradients or a messy scene, it can get confused.
That said, VistaCreate does have loads of great social media templates.
Pricing: Free to use, $10/month for full access
The short answer is: it depends on what you want to achieve.
Pixelcut allows you to remove backgrounds easily and quickly. It also has a few editing options, and loads of quick-access export presets. It’s well suited to product photos, simple social media posts, profile photos, and more.
Of course, you might want to get more creative. Picsart, VistaCreate, and Superimpose are your friends here. You can use them to remove a background, and then apply any number of stickers, filters, and fonts.
At the other end of the scale are apps like Remove.bg, Apowersoft Background Eraser, and InShot Background Eraser. These tools focus on the task of removing backgrounds; there are few other options, but they are quite simple to navigate.
So, which one should you choose? Here are some points to consider:
Platforms — Many of the tools mentioned above are available only on specific platforms. When choosing your background remover, make sure to check that it works on your preferred devices.
Features — While all the apps on our list can remove backgrounds, they achieve this in different ways. Some offer additional editing options and presets. Consider whether these features might be useful after you have removed photo backgrounds.
Ease of Use — Be warned: with added features comes added complexity. If you only want to remove backgrounds, or you have a separate workflow for editing, you should probably look at apps that keep things simple and efficient.
Speed — Not all background removers are made equal. With Pixelcut, you can cut out people and objects in a few seconds. Other apps may take longer. Pro tip: use free trials to run a speed test with different apps.
Pricing — Of course, any purchase is dictated by your budget. Some of the free and freemium options here are pretty good for removing the occasional background. For more regular jobs, you will probably want to upgrade — but be wary of credit-based models, because they can get expensive.
Overall, we believe that Pixelcut is the best choice for most people who want to remove photo backgrounds.
Our app is fast, accurate, and easy to use. It has great reviews on both Android and iOS, and the tools capture amazing product photos and social media content. Plus, it’s very affordable.
Download Pixelcut today to see how easy background removal can be!
Join more than 10 million small businesses, creators and entrepreneurs that use Pixelcut to grow their business.