remove.bg

Best Self Hosted Alternatives to remove.bg

A curated collection of the 3 best self hosted alternatives to remove.bg.

remove.bg is a cloud service that automatically removes image backgrounds using AI segmentation, outputting transparent PNGs or cutouts via web app and REST API for design, e-commerce, and editing workflows.

Alternatives List

#1
withoutBG

withoutBG

Open-source background-removal toolkit offering Focus/Snap local models, a Docker web app and Python SDK, plus a Pro API (Inferentia‑accelerated) for production use.

withoutBG screenshot

withoutBG is an open-source toolkit and hosted API for automatic image background removal. It provides lightweight local models for offline use (Focus and Snap), a Dockerized web UI, a Python SDK and a paid Pro API optimized for production inference.

Key Features

  • Open-source Focus and Snap matting models (Apache-2.0) for local, privacy-preserving background removal
  • withoutBG Pro API: higher-quality model variant running on AWS Inferentia for lower latency and improved edge detail
  • Dockerized web app with drag-and-drop UI, CLI and Python SDK returning PIL Image objects for easy integration
  • Pipeline combines depth estimation, saliency/segmentation signals and a downstream refiner to improve edge and hair/fur handling
  • Small local model footprint (~320 MB total) with cached model downloads and batch-processing support for efficiency
  • Privacy-first design: in‑memory processing, minimal logging, and explicit policy not to store or use customer images for training

Use Cases

  • E-commerce and product photography: bulk-remove backgrounds for catalogs and marketplace listings
  • Content creation and design: quick cutouts for thumbnails, compositing and UI assets
  • Privacy-sensitive or offline workflows: run models locally for on-device or air-gapped processing

Limitations and Considerations

  • Transparent or highly translucent materials (glass, water, sheer fabrics) can produce inconsistent results due to complex light interactions
  • Cases with subjective foreground/background separation may produce results that differ from user expectations; very ambiguous scenes may need manual post-processing

withoutBG combines an easy-to-use developer workflow (CLI, Docker, Python SDK) with an option to scale via a hosted API. It is suitable for teams needing both private local processing and a production-ready hosted inference service.

755stars
33forks
#2
Moocup

Moocup

Open-source web app that transforms screenshots into styled, exportable mockups with drag-and-drop, 3D transforms, borders and background presets.

Moocup screenshot

A lightweight visual editor for quickly turning plain screenshots into polished presentation images. Users drop an image, apply preset styles or adjust transforms, then export final assets for portfolios, documentation, or social media.

Key Features

  • Drag-and-drop image input with automatic base styling applied.
  • Visual controls for 3D transform, scale, position and rotation to create mockup perspective effects.
  • "Smart" border controls (color, width, radius) and fixed margin handling.
  • Background presets and gradient styles for quick, portfolio-ready visuals.
  • One-click export to common image formats (WebP, PNG, JPEG).
  • Frontend-focused build (Vite/TypeScript) with an available Docker image and simple self-host or deploy templates.

Use Cases

  • Create polished app or product screenshots for portfolios, case studies, and marketing assets.
  • Rapidly generate social-media-ready visuals from raw screenshots without full design tools.
  • Produce consistent, styled images for documentation, blog posts, or slide decks.

Limitations and Considerations

  • Focused on styling and presentation of single screenshots; not a full-featured image editor (no advanced bitmap retouching, layer compositing, or vector design tools).
  • No built-in user accounts, team collaboration, or cloud sync; edits and exports are client-focused unless self-hosted with added infrastructure.
  • Feature set and extensibility depend on the open-source roadmap; users needing plugin ecosystems or extensive automation may find functionality limited compared to commercial mockup suites.

Moocup is a focused, simple tool for creating attractive screenshot visuals quickly. It emphasizes fast results with opinionated defaults and lightweight tooling suitable for self-hosted or static deployments.

272stars
15forks
#3
Imagor Studio

Imagor Studio

Self-hosted image gallery and live editing app with virtual scrolling, non-destructive edits, instant URL-based transforms, S3/local storage support, and mobile-optimized UI.

Imagor Studio screenshot

Imagor Studio is a self-hosted image gallery and live editing web application designed for creators. It provides a high-performance gallery plus professional, non-destructive image editing with instant preview and URL-based transforms.

Key Features

  • High-performance virtual-scrolling gallery for fast browsing of large photo collections
  • Live, non-destructive image editing with real-time preview, color adjustments, effects, and cropping
  • Instant URL generation for transformed images to enable on-the-fly delivery and embedding
  • Universal storage support: local filesystems and S3-compatible object stores
  • Zero-configuration quick start with SQLite by default and Docker images for easy deployment
  • Touch-optimized, responsive React-based interface with EXIF metadata display
  • Built on a performant image processing stack (libvips/imagor) for efficient transforms and streaming

Use Cases

  • Photographers and hobbyists managing large local photo libraries with fast browsing and edits
  • Designers and content creators applying quick non-destructive transforms and producing shareable image URLs
  • Teams or websites that need on-the-fly optimized images via generated URLs backed by an image processing server

Limitations and Considerations

  • Intended primarily for single-site or small-team use; large-scale, multi-tenant deployments may require separate imagor scaling, caching, and storage tuning
  • Feature set assumes an external imagor processing backend for heavy production workloads; performance depends on that infrastructure

Imagor Studio combines a modern, touch-friendly UI with a high-performance image processing ecosystem to provide fast browsing and professional live editing for creators. It is suited for local and S3-backed collections and is deployable via Docker for quick setup.

179stars
4forks

Why choose an open source alternative?

  • Data ownership: Keep your data on your own servers
  • No vendor lock-in: Freedom to switch or modify at any time
  • Cost savings: Reduce or eliminate subscription fees
  • Transparency: Audit the code and know exactly what's running