Editing photos is a fundamental task in design, marketing, and content creation, and removing an image's background for free unlocks a world of creative possibilities. Whether you're building a sleek website, designing social media banners, or preparing product photos for e-commerce, a transparent or clean background can dramatically improve the professionalism and versatility of your visuals.
Thanks to advances in artificial intelligence, today’s free software to remove background from images can deliver results that once required hours of manual editing. They now detect and isolate subjects, people, animals, or objects, with impressive accuracy.
In this guide, we’ll explore the best free tools available in 2026. We tested several options and selected the ones that offer the best mix of accuracy, speed, and usability.
What Is Background Removal?
Background removal means isolating the subject (person, object, animal) from the rest of the image and removing everything else. The result is typically a transparent background (PNG) or a new background applied in its place.
AI, specifically, deep learning segmentation models, has revolutionized background removal. It can detect fine details, such as hair, fur, and shadows, with high accuracy. Besides, many background removers combine AI with "brush tools" so you can get a result with even more refined edges. This way, it's possible to remove backgrounds quickly and cleanly — even in challenging photos.
How Does AI Background Removal Work?
An AI background remover uses algorithms and machine learning to identify the edges of a subject in an image and make a clean and precise cutout. The AI divides the images into segments and isolates the background from the subject.
The deep learning technology, which is a subset of machine learning, is what enables this process. It uses neural networks to analyze visual data and is trained with a huge amount of data, including images, to recognize patterns and learn how to define edges.
How to Choose the Best Free Background Remover
Consider Your Use Case:
Before deciding which is the best free background removal tool for you, it's essential to consider how you are going to use it. This way, you can focus on the features that are going to deliver the best results according to your needs.
- E-commerce / Product Photography: You need high-precision extraction, possibly batch processing, and a transparent output (PNG).
- Marketing & Social Media: Speed, usability, and good-enough quality are priorities to create ads and creative posts.
- Portraits / Complex Backgrounds: In this case, it's important to opt for tools that can preserve hair, fur, and fine edges.
- Design & Layouts: If you design infographics, landing pages, or presentations, you want flexibility to reinsert background or manipulate the cut-out creatively.
Free vs. Freemium Limitations
Many background remover tools have free versions, but with limitations such as:
- Resolution caps: The free version may limit the image size you can process or download.
- Watermarks: Some tools allow background removal only, but they add a watermark to the image when you download it.
- Usage limits: There might be a limit on how many images you can process daily or monthly.
Compare the features included in the free plans, and choose the one that is most advantageous for you. You may also create free accounts in multiple tools to test their functionality, and subscribe to a paid plan once you find one that is worth it.
AI Quality Differences
Test if the AI used in the background remover tool provides high-quality results. It must use a modern segmentation model (deep learning) and be capable of detecting subtle edges like hair and fur.
Pay close attention to how it handles shadows and semi-transparent areas. There should also be options for manual refinement, with tools like brushes, lasso, and eraser. If you are going to need to remove the background of a high number of images at the same time, the AI needs to support batch processing, uploading many images at once.
Online vs. Software vs. Mobile Apps
There are different types of background removal tools: the ones that can only be used online, software that needs to be installed, and mobile apps. All of them have pros and cons. The best choice depends on what your needs are. And, you can always use more than one type, of course.
Online tools are best for quick tasks, as they require no installation. They are ideal for one-off images. While a desktop software gives you more control, often higher resolution, and more editing options. They are great for professionals or large jobs.
On the other hand, mobile apps are ideal for creators on the go, especially when you want to remove backgrounds from smartphone shots or social content. They are practical, fast, and deliver the result you need to create posts for social media.
10 Best Free Software to Remove Background From Images
1. Kittl
Free software to remove background from images - Kittl
Kittl provides several tools for image editing, including a background remover powered by AI. With the free plan, you can create up to 5 projects, and it gives you access to professional templates, 100 AI images, and over 1 million photos, graphics, and fonts without extra costs.
With an intuitive interface, the background remover is quick and easy to use. All you need to do is upload an image and click on the "remove background" button. You will get the results in just a few seconds, just like in the example above.
As you can see, the tool defined the Eiffel Tower edges and was able to make the cutout with precision in most parts. However, one of the edges was covered by the busher in front of it, so it isn't well-defined. In this case, you can solve the problem using other editing features available, like the "eraser".
Key features:
- One-click removal
- Professional editing tools
- Kittl AI
- Infinite canvas
- Kittl teams
- Image, graphics, and font libraries
2. Icons8 Background Remover
Free software to remove background from image - Icons8
Icons8 Background Remover makes it easy to remove the background from your images for free. It uses AI offered by the companies working on ai development services to give you accurate and quick results. You can also see a preview result with a built-in zoom tool before downloading it. Furthermore, it doesn’t reduce the quality of processed photos.
It comes with a simple and intuitive interface to remove the background in a few seconds. There are only 2 main buttons on this website: «browse» and «download», so you can work there even if you see this tool for the first time in your life.
Key features:
- Automatic background removal process
- Absolutely free
- Simple and beginner-friendly interface
3. Freepik Background Remover
Free software to remove backgroung from image - Freepik
The Freepik AI Background Remover helps you clean up your images instantly with professional-grade precision. It’s built for speed and ease, delivering clear cutouts perfect for graphic design, marketing assets, and online stores.
With its smooth interface and powerful features, editing has never been this effortless. You don’t need any editing experience to get started. Just upload your image, and the AI does the rest—no messy selections, no manual work. The tool is part of a complete photo editor that allows you to continue enhancing your image, all in one place.
Key features:
- AI precision cutouts
- Instant background removal
- High-quality transparent PNG
- User-friendly interface
- Works on all devices, both desktop and mobile
4. Clipping Magic
Free software to remove background from image - Clipping Magic
Clipping Magic offers a quick online tool to remove the background. It provides a satisfactory result, as shown in the image above, and you can edit the result by using tools like the eraser.
You also have the option to make other changes, like put a solid color in the background, crop the image, rotate it, and adjust shadows, brightness, highlights, temperature, and saturation.
Clipping Magic doesn't have a free plan, but a free trial where you can download a size-limited preview result free for non-commercial use. The paid plans include the Bulk Clipping tool, where you can remove the background of multiple images at the same time.
Key features:
- Auto-clip AI
- Smart Editor
- Scalpel tool for precision cutouts
- Hair clipping tool
- Smart Auto Crop
5. Fotor
Free software to remove background from image - Fotor
With Fotor, you can automatically remove the background from images online. You just need to upload your photo, then the AI will detect the photo's subject and erase the background, with no need to install anything or to edit yourself, saving you time.
If you don't have a subscription, Fotor allows you to download a preview with lower resolution, but without any watermark. You can also enjoy the 7-day free trial and test the premium features, which include advanced AI toolkits, templates, design resources, and HD downloads.
Key features:
- Automatic background remover
- AI-powered
- Delete background with accuracy
- Replace and change backgrounds
6. Wepik
Wepik is a versatile online design tool that offers a multitude of functionalities to its users. It's an innovative platform that allows you to create stunning visual content, be it for digital media or print. Its background remover feature enables users to effortlessly remove backgrounds from images, providing a clean and professional look to their designs.
Wepik's photo editor comes packed with a variety of other features that enhance image editing capabilities. With an intuitive interface, this platform facilitates easy cropping, resizing, and adjusting of images.
It also includes various filters and effects that can be applied to images, adding a creative touch to your designs. Moreover, you can add text, icons, and stickers to your images, making Wepik an all-in-one solution for your design needs.
Key features:
- Background remover
- Free photo editor
- Logo maker
- Social media templates
7. Apowersoft Background Eraser
Free software to remove background from image - Apowersoft
Apowersoft Background Eraser uses Artificial Intelligence, enabling you to use the fully automatic crop-out, which works for images with people, animals, or objects, regardless of the complexity of the background. The AI is continuously improving to always deliver the best results.
But, you also have the option to remove the background manually using the keep/remove tool for precision control. You will be able to adjust, crop, zoom in and out, move, and duplicate the image. It's also possible to combine your cutouts with custom images, creating new ones.
Key features:
- Apowersoft AI
- Keep/remove tool
- Bulk image background eraser
- Remove signature
8. Adobe Express Background Remover
Free software to remove background from images - Adobe Express
The Adobe Express background remover is a one-click, free tool with an intuitive interface that delivers satisfactory results. You just need to upload an image and click on the "remove background" option.
After that, you can edit the image as you wish, adjust the color and light, add a new background, erase objects, align it, insert text, and much more. You can download the results without having to pay anything, and choose the file format and size.
Key features:
- Automatically remove the background
- Edit the image
- Resize and crop
- Free templates
- Download without watermark
9. Remove.bg
Free software to remove background from image - Remove.bg
With Remove.bg, you can automatically remove the background online by uploading the image to the website. After you get the result, you can download the image. However, the free version allows you to download only a preview with lower resolution.
It isn't necessary to create an account or anything; the removal just takes a few clicks, and it's very precise. If you want to erase or restore any other part of the image, you just need to select it with the "magic brush" tool. You can add a new background if you want, and adjust other image details as well.
Key features:
- Remove image background automatically
- AI-powered
- Integrates with other software
10. GIMP
Free software to remove background from image - GIMP
GIMP is a free and open-source image editor, which provides several tools for high-quality image manipulation service, including background removal. It supports different photo files, from JPEG to TIFF, and can be installed if you use Linux, Microsoft Windows, macOS, Sun OpenSolaris, or FreeBSD.
To erase the background image with GIMP, you will have to use the "Fuzzy Select Tool" and mark the area you want to remove. If the background has just one color, it's also possible to use the "Select by color" tool, which will take off the color you have selected.
Key features:
- Open-source image editor
- Customizable interface
- Photo enhancement
- Digital retouching
