How to move from remove.bg before it closes

remove.bg has said its website and API close on 1 December 2026. If you rely on it, you have a few weeks to sort things out. This guide covers what to save, what to switch, and what Cut Remove Done can and cannot do for you today.

First, save what you have

Before anything else, collect the things that will be hard to get back once the service is gone.

• Invoices and receipts. Download them from your remove.bg account for your accounting.
• Processed images you still need. If you kept results only in their dashboard or in a tool that links to their servers, download them now.
• Unused credits. Check your balance and use what you can before the closing date. We cannot transfer credits from another service.
• A list of every place you call the API. Plugins, scripts, Zapier steps, CMS integrations, cron jobs. Search your code and settings for api.remove.bg and X-Api-Key.

If you use the website

This part is easy and works today. Open the CRD editor, drop an image, and download a transparent PNG at full resolution. It is free, it needs no account, and there is no watermark.

The cutout runs on your own device, so your photo is never uploaded. You get an erase and restore brush for touch-ups, backgrounds (colour or your own image), drop shadows, crop and margin, and exports as PNG, JPG or WebP. For a whole folder, use batch mode and download everything as one ZIP.

If you call the API

We are building a hosted API with the same request and response shape as remove.bg, so that switching is a change of host and key rather than a rewrite. The API reference shows the planned interface.

You can still prepare now, so the switch takes minutes when it opens:

1. Move the remove.bg host and key into environment variables if they are hard coded.
2. Wrap the call in one function, so there is exactly one place to change.
3. Note which parameters you send, such as size, type, format, bg_color and crop, so you can check them against our reference.
4. Make sure your code handles a 429 response by waiting for Retry-After. Any API will rate limit you at some point.

When the API opens, the change should look like this:

# before
REMOVEBG_API_URL=https://api.remove.bg/v1.0
REMOVEBG_API_KEY=your-old-key

# after (once the CRD API is live)
REMOVEBG_API_URL=<CRD API URL, published at launch>/v1.0
REMOVEBG_API_KEY=<your CRD key>

Pick a plan only when you need one

In-browser removal is free with no monthly cap. Paid plans are for cloud HD images and the API, and their credits never expire. Have a look at pricing when you get there. There is no need to pay for anything to replace the remove.bg website.

Questions

The help centre covers formats, devices, privacy and billing. If something in your setup does not fit this guide, the contact page explains how to reach us.