On December 1, 2026, api.remove.bg stops accepting requests. Every integration still pointing at that endpoint breaks. This guide is the migration path for developers who need a working replacement without a signup process.
Remove.bg was acquired by Canva in 2021. For several years the standalone product continued operating alongside Canva's own background removal features. That ends on December 1, 2026.
Traffic to the API is being redirected to Leonardo.Ai, which is a separate generative AI platform with its own authentication, pricing, and rate limits. If you migrate to Leonardo, you are rebuilding your integration from scratch.
The alternative is to migrate to a different provider entirely. This guide covers migration to Remova, which is free on the public tier and requires no signup.
First, the URL. api.remove.bg/v1.0/removebg becomes removatool.com/api/process/image.
Second, the authentication. Remove the X-Api-Key header. The public tier does not require a key.
Third, the parameter names. image_file becomes file. size=auto becomes max_size=1200. bg_color is replaced by transparent=true or false.
Everything else stays the same. The request is still a multipart POST. The response is still a binary image blob.
The before code uses the requests library with an API key header. The after code drops the header and changes the field name.
Before: requests.post("https://api.remove.bg/v1.0/removebg", files={"image_file": open("photo.jpg", "rb")}, headers={"X-Api-Key": "YOUR_KEY"})
After: requests.post("https://removatool.com/api/process/image", files={"file": open("photo.jpg", "rb")}, params={"transparent": "true", "max_size": "1200"})
The response handling is identical. Both return binary data that you write to a file.
The fetch call changes the URL, drops the headers object, and renames the form field.
Before: fetch("https://api.remove.bg/v1.0/removebg", { method: "POST", headers: { "X-Api-Key": key }, body: form })
After: fetch("https://removatool.com/api/process/image?transparent=true&max_size=1200", { method: "POST", body: form })
The form field name changes from image_file to file. The blob handling in the response is unchanged.
The cURL command drops the -H flag and renames the -F field.
Before: curl -X POST https://api.remove.bg/v1.0/removebg -H "X-Api-Key: KEY" -F image_file=@photo.jpg -o result.png
After: curl -X POST "https://removatool.com/api/process/image?transparent=true" -F file=@photo.jpg -o result.png
If your shell script parses the response, nothing changes. The response body is still the raw PNG bytes.
Most production integrations keep the URL in a config file or environment variable. Find the line pointing at api.remove.bg and update it.
The API key line can be deleted entirely. There is nothing to replace it with on the public tier.
If your code reads the key from a secrets manager, remove that dependency. It is no longer needed.
Almost. You also need to rename image_file to file and delete the auth header. Those are the only code changes.
Leonardo is the official successor. It requires a new account, new authentication, and new pricing. The migration takes longer because there is no direct mapping between the request shapes.
No. The request shape is close enough that a shim would add complexity without saving much. Change the three things and you are done.
Thirty requests per minute per IP. That is enough for most applications. If you need more, the feedback button on the site is the contact point.