Alternative to Affinity Photo
A free alternative to Affinity Photo for background removal
Affinity Photo is a genuinely great product. It is a one-time purchase (around seventy dollars), it does not have a subscription, and it handles ninety percent of what Photoshop does. Background removal is one of the ten percent it does not automate well. You either use the Selection Brush (manual) or pay for a plugin. Remova fills that gap.
No signup. No watermark. Processed in about twenty seconds.
Drop an image to try it
PNG, JPG, or WebP. About twenty seconds.
Why people look for an alternative
- —Affinity has no native one-click background removal. Selection Brush requires manual work.
- —The Affinity add-on ecosystem for background removal is limited compared to Photoshop plugins.
- —Batch processing in Affinity requires macros, which are fragile.
- —Affinity costs seventy dollars once. Remova is free.
Combining Affinity and Remova
- 01Process the image in Remova first to get a clean cutout.
- 02Download the transparent PNG.
- 03Open it in Affinity Photo for colour grading, compositing, or export.
- 04Save the completed composite in Affinity.
Affinity is the right tool for the rest of the edit. Remova removes the ten-minute masking step that Affinity makes you do by hand.
At a glance
| Feature | Remova | Affinity Photo |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | ~$70 one-time |
| Automatic background removal | Yes, one click | No |
| Full editing suite | Manual mode has brush, lasso, chroma key | Yes, Photoshop-compatible |
| Batch processing | Up to 20 files | Macro-based |
| Install required | No | Yes |
Common questions
Is Affinity worth buying?
Yes, if you do a lot of design work. It replaces Photoshop for most workflows at a one-time price. It is just not the fastest tool for one-off cutouts.
Can I use Remova output in Affinity?
Yes. Affinity opens PNGs with alpha channels and treats them like any other layer.
What about Affinity Designer?
Designer is for vectors. For photo compositing and cutout refinement, Photo is the right tool.