remove.bg shutdown · checked 11 November 2026
remove.bg is shutting down on 1 December 2026: what happens to your credits, subscription and API
A plain checklist built from remove.bg's own FAQ and API page. Each point quotes or links the source, so you can act before 1 December 2026, 9:00 CET (08:00 UTC).
What changes, item by item
| You have | What remove.bg says happens | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The website and your account | “From 1 December 2026 at 9:00 a.m. CET … the website and accounts won't be accessible.” | Export your credit usage report and invoices from your Account page before then. remove.bg says you can't download them afterward. |
| Pay-as-you-go credits | “Any unused PAYG credits will expire on 1 December 2026.” | Spend them on full-resolution jobs you still need before the date. |
| Monthly subscription | Works until 1 December 2026, 9:00 CET, then ends automatically. “Any final renewal on or after 1 November is free.” | Nothing required. You can cancel earlier from the remove.bg dashboard. |
| Annual subscription | Works until the same time, then ends; unused time after that date gets a pro-rata refund to the original payment method, with no action needed. | Check that the refund arrives; keep your invoice export as proof. |
| Self-service API | “The self-service API will stop accepting requests from 1 December 2026.” The API page adds that background removal moves to Leonardo.Ai. | Migrate integrations before the date, or calls will fail. Enterprise API contracts are not affected. |
| Photoshop plugin | Won't be available after 1 December 2026; remove.bg points to Affinity, whose background removal needs a Canva Pro subscription. | Plan an alternative for retouching workflows. |
| Other integrations and plugins | “These will be discontinued on 1 December 2026.” | Check any design-tool plugin or no-code automation that calls remove.bg. |
Sources: remove.bg FAQ and remove.bg API page, both read 11 November 2026. Quotes are verbatim; the “What to do” column is our summary.
Your 10-minute checklist
- Log in and export your credit usage report and every invoice you may need for tax or expenses.
- Count unused PAYG credits and use them on the images that most need full resolution.
- List every place remove.bg is wired in: API keys in scripts, the Photoshop plugin, design-tool plugins, no-code automations.
- Pick a replacement per use: Canva for bulk in a browser, Leonardo.Ai for API volume, and a free on-device tool such as CutFairy for quick single cutouts.
- Test the replacement before 30 November, so nothing breaks on the morning of 1 December.
Need a quick cutout today?
CutFairy Background removes the background from one image at a time, free, inside your browser. No account, no upload, transparent PNG out. It is not a bulk or API replacement; for those, use the routes above.
FAQ
Is remove.bg shutting down?
Its standalone website is. remove.bg says the site will no longer be available from 1 December 2026 at 9:00am CET, with background removal moving to Canva and API access to Leonardo.ai (remove.bg FAQ, checked 11 November 2026).
What happens to my remove.bg credits?
remove.bg says any unused pay-as-you-go credits expire on 1 December 2026 and recommends using them before then.
Will I get a refund for my annual subscription?
According to remove.bg, unused time after 1 December 2026 is refunded pro rata to your original payment method, and you don't need to do anything to receive it.
Can I download my invoices after the shutdown?
No. remove.bg says to export your credit usage report and invoices from your Account page before 1 December 2026, because you won't be able to download them afterward.
What happens to the remove.bg API?
The self-service API stops accepting requests from 1 December 2026, and remove.bg directs API users to Leonardo.Ai. Enterprise API contracts continue as normal.
What is 9:00 CET in my time zone?
On 1 December 2026, 9:00 CET is 08:00 UTC, 16:00 in Beijing, 17:00 in Tokyo, and 03:00 in New York.
CutFairy Background is an independent tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to remove.bg, Canva, Leonardo.Ai, or Kaleido. remove.bg is a trademark of its owner and is named here only to describe its announced changes. Facts about remove.bg were checked on its own pages on 11 November 2026 (Asia/Shanghai).