Top 7 Background Removal Apps

Nothing takes away from a quality product photo more than a distracting background. Luckily, there are tons of background removal apps, each with its own benefits, that can make short work of messy photos. 

To help you find the best one for you, here are 7 of our top picks for background removal apps.

Takeaways

• Claid.ai - Best Overall
• Let’s Enhance - Best General-Use
• Adobe Photoshop - Professional Photo Editing
• Adobe Express - Streamlined Experience
• GIMP - Best Completely Free Software
• Canva - Incredibly User-Friendly
• PhotoWorks - Small and More Focused Software
   

Claid.ai - Best Overall

When it comes to background removal, users are looking for speed and accuracy because a: they don’t want to wait too long and b: they are looking for pixel-perfect background removal. Claid.ai has you covered on both fronts. While the software is optimized with product photography enhancements and generation in mind, its background remover works instantly. 

Simply upload the image and within seconds the background is automatically removed, leaving behind a transparent .png.

Pros:

• AI-powered software that delivers sharp results;
• Instant background removal;
• Can edit images in large bulks.

Cons:

• Always requires internet connection;
• Though it can remove backgrounds on any photo, it is most suited for product images.

Pricing

Free 20 credits upon account creation, one credit per image processed. After this, a monthly fee of $39, which provides you with 500 credits.
 

Let’s Enhance - Best General-Use

Let’s Enhance though based on the same technology as Claid.ai offers users a more generalized toolset. While it can enhance and edit photos for eCommerce, real estate, printing, digital art, and a variety of other uses, it doesn’t specialize in anything in particular. This makes it a great tool for a wide range of projects, including background removal.

Pros:

• Fast processing time;
• Very easy-to-use interface;
• Additional enhancement, editing, and AI image rendering tools.

Cons:

• Not specifically designed for background removal;
• Only handles a small number of photos at a time.

Pricing

Free trial with plans starting from $9 per month.
 

Adobe Photoshop - Professional Photo Editing

Photoshop is the most abundantly packed photo editing software out there. It comes with a myriad of tools to help you create just about any type of visual design. Background removal in Adobe Photoshop is also made possible with the Remove background Quick Action, which, after a bit of processing, leaves a completely transparent canvas for the image.

Pros:

• Powerful photo editing and enhancement software;
• Effective background remover function;
• Packed with limitless tools, features, and functions.

Cons:

• Not user-friendly;
• Since Photoshop does not work server-side, if your hardware is too weak, it may not be able to execute some functions quickly, if at all;
• If you’re looking solely for a background remover and nothing else, Photoshop is definitely overkill.

Pricing

The most basic subscription to Photoshop costs $31.49, though users can choose to subscribe to a yearly plan that will be slightly more affordable.
 

Adobe Express - Streamlined Experience

If buying and learning how to use Photoshop is not an option for you, there’s Adobe Express, a far more accessible option, both financially and practically. Adobe Express offers a slew of image editing and enhancement tools that don’t require users to spend too much time learning. And the background remover tool is quite self-explanatory and processes the images server-side, which means you can turn any photo into transparent PNGs within seconds.

Pros:

• Far easier to use than Photoshop;
• A way more affordable package that comes with a ton of great tools;
• Results are instantaneous thanks to the software processing server-side.

Cons:

• Image rendering is not of the best quality;
• A lot of useful features are locked for Free users;
• Limited design templates.

Pricing

Completely free with a Premium Version for a $9.99 monthly subscription.
 

GIMP - Best Completely Free Software

For those that have always considered Photoshop too pricey and its learning curve too steep, there’s always GIMP, a completely free, open-source software that is legendary in the photo editing community. It is a completely viable alternative to Photoshop, and while it may not come with as many tools or features, it does offer users a wide array of useful functions, including background removal.

Pros:

• An effective background remover that’s easy to learn how to use;
• Tons of additional features through third-party plugins;
• Open source with a dedicated community.

Cons:

• Results are not as accurate as software made specifically for background removal;
• Selection tool can be tricky to use;

Pricing

Completely free and users have the option to donate money to the developers.
 

Canva - Incredibly User-Friendly

If you’ve ever created a presentation, redesigned a CV, or simply edited a photo, there’s a very good chance you’ve used Canva. Even professional photo editors and graphic designers, who are used to far more professional software, often use Canva as it’s just so convenient. Thanks to its incredibly user-friendly design philosophy, it is one of the most accessible photo editing software around and its background remover works like a charm.

Pros:

• A background remover that gets the job done on top of many other useful photo enhancement tools and features;
• Incredibly user-friendly and super easy to learn;
• Free account comes with a ton of great features.

Cons:

• Requires a stable internet connection and has been known to work slowly from time to time;
• Editing tools are somewhat limited.

Pricing

Many of Canva’s AI tools (including the image sharpener) can be used for free. However, Canva offers additional features for two separate monthly pricing plans of $12.99 for Canva Pro and $14.99 for Canva for Teams.
 

PhotoWorks - Small and More Focused Software

PhotoWorks is another great app in the line of user-friendly photo editing software. It comes with a great number of tools, including auto-correction tools, lighting, color tweaking, adding virtual makeup, and of course, a background remover.

Pros:

• AI-powered software that delivers sharp results;
• Instant background removal;
• Additional image enhancement and editing capabilities.

Cons:

• Slow performance;
• Tools are not as accurate as those in higher-end professional photo editing software.

Pricing

Three payment plans Standard, Deluxe, and Pro which cost $19.25, $29.40, and $29.20 along with a free trial model.
 

FAQ
 

How to remove the background from image for free?

Removing the background from a photo is made super easy thanks to modern image editing software. You can remove the background, leaving behind the subject of the photo on a transparent canvas, pretty much instantly. You can create a Claid.ai account and claim your free image editing credits for 10 image edits. There’s also Let’s Enhance which also offers free edits when you create an account, or you can always try free apps like Canva, GIMP, or Adobe Express.

How to remove backgrounds of multiple images online?

If you’re looking to edit multiple images at once, Claid.ai is your best bet. Claid.ai was designed with scalability in mind and in order to help businesses improve the visual content, it allows for image editing on a very large scale. You can upload large batches of images and receive the same, great results. And if you have images numbering in the thousands or more, you can always request for the API for the same great service, but on a much larger scale.

How to remove the background without losing quality?

Any time extensive edits are made to photos, there’s always the question of the image quality and whether or not it is gone. Image compression is a possibility with some lower-end editing software and background removers. However, for the best results after removing the background, use AI-based software such as Claid.ai and Let’s Enhance.

How to remove the image background with AI?

Thanks to AI, removing the backgrounds of images has become a matter of a few seconds and even fewer clicks. Before, photo editors had to go through each individual section of an image and remove the background inch-by-inch. Even accurate selection tools like the ones in Photoshop, don’t always work as intended and so removing backgrounds can be somewhat finicky. 

AI has significantly streamlined this process and software like Claid.ai and Let’s Enhance allow for instant background removal.