About Background Remove

Background Remove is a free tool that removes image backgrounds directly in your browser. No uploads, no accounts, no fees. The entire process runs on your device.

Why we built this

Most background removal tools fall into two categories: paid services that charge per image, and free services that require you to upload your photos to someone else's server. We wanted a third option — something that costs nothing and keeps your images private.

Modern browsers can now run neural networks at near-native speed through WebAssembly. This made it possible to pack a production-quality background removal model into a website, with no backend infrastructure needed. The tool uses the same type of AI model found in desktop editing software, compressed and optimized for the browser.

How it stays free

Running AI models on a server costs money — that is why most tools charge. Background Remove avoids those costs entirely by running the model on your device. We do not process your images on our servers because we do not have image processing servers. The only ongoing cost is hosting a static website, which is negligible.

There is no venture capital, no growth targets, and no plan to add a paid tier. The tool exists because it can, and because the web is better when useful things are freely available.

The technology

Background Remove uses the ISNet neural network architecture, running through the ONNX runtime compiled to WebAssembly. Two model variants are available:

  • Quick mode — ISNet quint8, a quantized model that processes images in 1–2 seconds on modern hardware. Small enough to cache easily, accurate enough for most everyday use.
  • Pro mode — ISNet FP16, a full-precision model that preserves finer detail around hair, fur, and complex edges. Uses more memory and takes longer to download on first use, with results that are visibly sharper for challenging images.

Everything is built with standard web technologies: Astro for static site generation, the IMG.LY background removal library for the AI pipeline, and Vercel for hosting.