--- title: "Is there an app that changes the background of a photo?" url: https://isthereathing.com/an-app-that-changes-the-background-of-a-photo/ answer: "yes" summary: "Yes. Photoroom, Pixelcut, remove.bg and Canva all remove a photo's background and let you swap in a colour or a new scene. Pixelcut and remove.bg have free options, though remove.bg's website closes on 1 December 2026." category: "Photos & images" published: 2026-10-07 updated: 2026-10-07 author: "Jack Stovell" publisher: "Adapt Progress Evolve Limited" language: en-GB --- # Is there an app that changes the background of a photo? **Answer: yes.** Yes. Photoroom, Pixelcut, remove.bg and Canva all remove a photo's background and let you swap in a colour or a new scene. Pixelcut and remove.bg have free options, though remove.bg's website closes on 1 December 2026. (Source: [Photoroom pricing](https://www.photoroom.com/pricing)) Yes. Photoroom, Pixelcut, remove.bg and Canva all remove a photo's background and let you swap in a colour or a new scene. Pixelcut and remove.bg have free options, though remove.bg's website closes on 1 December 2026, and full quality usually costs. Swapping the background is one job, but a photo can have a second problem: a stray bin, a stranger walking through the frame. If that's what's bugging you, [cleaning up photos with AI](/an-ai-that-can-clean-up-photos/) is a different thing, and the page covers the built-in erasers on Apple, Google and Samsung phones, plus a free browser option too. ## The shortlist ### Photoroom An AI photo editor that removes and replaces backgrounds, built mainly for product photos. - Link: https://www.photoroom.com/ - Free tier: yes. You can get started for free, per Photoroom's own FAQ; free limits not stated. - Paid from: US$7.50 per month, billed yearly (Pro) (checked 2026-10-02; UK App Store in-app purchases run from £4.99 to £249.99, periods not stated) - Best at: Swapping a background for a studio setup, a lifestyle scene or a custom backdrop with AI Backgrounds. - The catch: Aimed at sellers and e-commerce. Its free plan limits are not spelled out: the pricing page says start for free, and its background remover page says upgrading adds high-resolution exports. - Platforms: ios, android, web - Source: [Photoroom pricing](https://www.photoroom.com/pricing) ### Pixelcut An AI photo editor whose background remover replaces the background with a colour or an AI-generated scene. - Link: https://www.pixelcut.ai/ - Free tier: yes. $0 plan with limited background removal and free export without watermark; the pricing FAQ says HD exports are a Pro feature. - Paid from: US$8 per month, billed yearly (Pro) (checked 2026-10-02; US$10 if billed monthly) - Best at: A free plan that exports without a watermark; the app's batch editor handles up to 100 photos at once, though the pricing page lists batch editing under Pro. - The catch: Background removal is limited on the free plan; unlimited removal, batch editing and HD exports come with Pro. - Platforms: ios, android, web - Source: [Pixelcut pricing](https://www.pixelcut.ai/pricing) ### remove.bg A background remover on the web and in apps that can also generate a new backdrop without a prompt. - Link: https://www.remove.bg/ - Free tier: yes. Preview images are always free on remove.bg until the website closes on 1 December 2026; full resolution needs credits. - Paid from: €3 for 3 credits (pay as you go) (checked 2026-10-02; remove.bg showed us euros because our request was located in Finland, so a UK visitor may see a different currency and amount. remove.bg's FAQ says unused pay as you go credits expire on 1 December 2026.) - Best at: Quick cut-outs on a white or transparent background, with free preview images on the website. - The catch: remove.bg says its standalone website will no longer be available from 1 December 2026 at 9:00am CET, as background removal moves to Canva; its Photoshop plugin and other integrations and plugins are discontinued the same day, it points desktop app users to Canva, and unused pay as you go credits expire then. Until then, free previews are not full resolution: full-resolution cutouts cost 1 credit an image. - Platforms: web, windows, mac, linux, android - Source: [remove.bg pricing and FAQ](https://www.remove.bg/pricing) ### Canva A design and photo editing app with a background eraser, templates and collage tools. - Link: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/canva-ai-photo-video-editor/id897446215 - Free tier: not verified. Free to download with in-app purchases; free allowance for the background eraser not verified. - Paid from: £12.99 per month (Canva Pro, UK App Store) (checked 2026-10-02; Pro yearly £99.99) - Best at: Removing a background and putting the subject straight into a design, post or collage; remove.bg's FAQ names Canva's Background Remover as its replacement and says it uses the same technology. - The catch: We could not confirm whether the background eraser is free or Pro only: Canva's website blocked us. - Platforms: ios, mac, web - Source: [Canva on the UK App Store](https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/canva-ai-photo-video-editor/id897446215) ## How they compare Which one suits you depends on what the photo is for, and each choice gives something up. ### If you want it free without a watermark Pixelcut is an AI photo editor whose background remover replaces the background with a colour or an AI-generated scene. Its $0 plan includes limited background removal and free export without a watermark. The app has a batch editor for up to 100 photos at once, though the pricing page lists batch editing under Pro. It runs on iOS, Android and the web. The cost is the word limited. Unlimited background removal comes with Pro, which also adds HD exports, 600 AI credits a month and a commercial licence, so free exports are not HD. Pro is US$8 a month billed yearly, or US$10 billed monthly. ### If you sell products online Photoroom is an AI photo editor built mainly for product photos. It removes and replaces backgrounds, batch edits product photos and sizes images for Shopify, Amazon, Etsy, Vinted and Instagram. Its AI Backgrounds can swap in a studio setup, a lifestyle scene or a custom backdrop. What you give up is clarity on the free side. Photoroom's own FAQ says you can get started for free, but the pricing page does not spell out the free plan's limits, and its background remover page says upgrading adds high-resolution exports. Pro is US$7.50 a month billed yearly and gives 8,000 AI credits and 1,000 exports a month, and AI Backgrounds use those credits, so a custom scene uses up part of your allowance even on a paid plan. ### If you just need a quick cut-out on the web before December remove.bg is a background remover on the web and in apps for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android. You upload an image on the website, remove the background, then refine it or add a new one, and it can generate a new backdrop without a prompt. Preview images on the website are free for as long as it stays open. The bigger catch is timing. remove.bg's own banner says its background removal is moving to Canva and the standalone website will no longer be available from 1 December 2026 at 9:00am CET. Its FAQ adds that the Photoshop plugin and its other integrations and plugins are discontinued the same day, points desktop app users to Canva, and says unused pay as you go credits expire then, so buy only what you will use before December. Until then, free previews are not full resolution, and full-resolution cutouts take 1 credit each. Pay as you go starts at €3 for 3 credits, shown to us in euros because our request was located in Finland, so the UK price may differ. A subscription's credits do not carry over month to month, and remove.bg says subscriptions end automatically on 1 December 2026, with a pro-rata refund for unused annual time. ### If the photo is going into a design Canva is a design and photo editing app with a background eraser, templates, filters and collage tools in one place, so you can cut out the subject and put it straight into a design, post or collage without moving between apps. remove.bg's own FAQ names Canva's Background Remover as its replacement and says it uses the same technology. It runs on iOS, Mac and the web. The gap in our checking is that we could not confirm whether the background eraser is free or Pro only, because Canva's website blocked us. The app is free to download with in-app purchases, and the UK App Store lists Canva Pro at £12.99 a month or £99.99 a year. ### When paying is worth it Pay when you need many full-quality images. Pixelcut Pro is US$8 a month billed yearly, or US$10 monthly, for unlimited background removal, and Photoroom Pro is US$7.50 a month billed yearly. For an occasional photo, Pixelcut's free plan or remove.bg's free previews may be enough, as long as you can accept limited removals or preview resolution. If you only need a handful of full-resolution cutouts before December, remove.bg's pay as you go credits avoid a subscription, but any you have not used expire on 1 December 2026. ## What to watch for Prices are the messy part. Several are shown in US dollars or euros on the vendors' own sites, while the UK App Store shows pounds, so the figure you see depends on where you look. Canva Pro, for example, is £12.99 a month or £99.99 a year there. remove.bg says that if you run out of credits, you cannot remove more backgrounds until your next billing cycle, apart from free previews. There are no overage charges, but you are locked out until it resets. Photoroom's UK App Store listing shows in-app purchases from £4.99 to £249.99 with periods not stated. That is a wide spread, so check the plan and the billing period before you subscribe. ## How we checked On 2026-10-02 we read Photoroom's pricing and background remover pages, Pixelcut's pricing page, remove.bg's home, pricing and FAQ pages (the pricing page showed us euros, as our request was located in Finland), and the UK App Store listings for Photoroom, Pixelcut and Canva, plus Apple's iPhone guide on lifting a subject. Canva's website and Adobe's site blocked our requests, so Adobe Express is left out. Nothing was tested hands-on. ## If none of these fit On an iPhone you can already cut out the subject of a photo for free: Apple's guide says you touch and hold the subject in Photos, then copy it, share it or add it as a sticker. That gives you the subject without its background, but you then need another app to put a new background behind it. ## Also typed as - is there an ai background remover - is there an app that changes your background ## Related questions - [Is there an ai that can edit photos?](https://isthereathing.com/an-ai-that-can-edit-photos/) - [Is there an ai that can clean up photos?](https://isthereathing.com/an-ai-that-can-clean-up-photos/) - [Is there an ai that can enhance image quality?](https://isthereathing.com/an-ai-that-can-enhance-image-quality/) ## Sources - [Photoroom pricing](https://www.photoroom.com/pricing) (checked 2026-10-02) - [Photoroom on the UK App Store](https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/photoroom-ai-photo-editor/id1455009060) (checked 2026-10-02) - [Pixelcut pricing](https://www.pixelcut.ai/pricing) (checked 2026-10-02) - [Pixelcut on the UK App Store](https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/pixelcut-ai-photo-editor/id1534785237) (checked 2026-10-02) - [remove.bg pricing and FAQ](https://www.remove.bg/pricing) (checked 2026-10-02) - [Canva on the UK App Store](https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/canva-ai-photo-video-editor/id897446215) (checked 2026-10-02) - [Apple iPhone User Guide: lift a subject from the photo background](https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/iphone/iphfe4809658/ios) (checked 2026-10-02) - [Photoroom background remover](https://www.photoroom.com/tools/background-remover) (checked 2026-10-02) - [remove.bg home page](https://www.remove.bg/) (checked 2026-10-02) - [remove.bg FAQ on the move to Canva](https://www.remove.bg/faq) (checked 2026-10-02) ## Questions people ask ### Is there a free AI background remover? Pixelcut's $0 plan includes limited background removal with no watermark, though HD exports are Pro. remove.bg's preview images are free on its website until it closes on 1 December 2026; full-resolution cutouts there cost 1 credit each. ### Can I change the background, not just remove it? Yes. Photoroom can replace it with a studio setup, lifestyle scene or custom backdrop, Pixelcut with a colour or AI-generated scene, and remove.bg has an AI background generator. ### Can an iPhone remove a photo's background on its own? It can cut out the subject: Apple's guide says touch and hold the subject in Photos, then copy or share it. Adding a new background needs another app. ### Which one is made for product photos? Photoroom is built for e-commerce: it batch edits product photos and sizes them for marketplaces like Amazon, Etsy and Vinted.