Background Removal API

A production REST API that removes the background from any image and returns a clean transparent PNG. One HTTP call. Under 3 seconds. $0.0025 per image — 8× cheaper than Photoroom and roughly 80× cheaper than remove.bg's paid tiers. 5,000 free credits (24-hour trial), no credit card.

Quick start — one API call

Sign up, copy your key from the dashboard, and POST your image. The endpoint returns a generation id; poll until status=completed, then download the transparent PNG.

curl -X POST https://api.pixelapi.dev/v1/image/remove-background \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -F "image=@product.jpg"
# Response: {"generation_id": "uuid", "status": "queued", ...}

# Poll until completed
curl https://api.pixelapi.dev/v1/image/UUID \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
# Response: {"status": "completed", "output_url": "https://..."}

pip install pixelapi
---
from pixelapi import PixelAPI

client = PixelAPI(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")
result = client.remove_background(image="product.jpg")
result.save("product_cutout.png") # transparent PNG

npm install pixelapi
---
import { PixelAPI } from "pixelapi";

const client = new PixelAPI({ apiKey: process.env.PIXELAPI_KEY });
const result = await client.removeBackground({ image: "./product.jpg" });
await result.save("product_cutout.png"); // transparent PNG

composer require pixelapi/pixelapi
---
<?php
use PixelAPI\Client;

$client = new Client(getenv("PIXELAPI_KEY"));
$result = $client->removeBackground(["image" => "product.jpg"]);
file_put_contents("product_cutout.png", $result->getBody());

gem install pixelapi
---
require "pixelapi"

client = PixelAPI::Client.new(api_key: ENV["PIXELAPI_KEY"])
result = client.remove_background(image: "product.jpg")
File.binwrite("product_cutout.png", result.body)

go get github.com/pixelapi/pixelapi-go
---
import "github.com/pixelapi/pixelapi-go"

client := pixelapi.New("YOUR_API_KEY")
result, err := client.RemoveBackground("product.jpg")
if err != nil { panic(err) }
result.Save("product_cutout.png")

Pricing — 8× cheaper than Photoroom, 80× cheaper than remove.bg

Pricing verified from each rival's public pricing page in May 2026. PixelAPI's per-image price is set at 8× cheaper than the cheapest commercial rival per our pricing principle — never below (signals low quality), never above (not competitive).

What you get back

Common workflows

The Background Removal API is the foundation for these production workflows. Each links to a setup guide:

More use-case guides: all 33 industries →

Integrations & SDKs

Comparison vs alternatives

Rate limits & error handling

Default 60 requests/minute on the free tier, 600 on paid tiers. Exceeding the limit returns HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header. Recommended: exponential backoff starting at 2s, doubling on each retry up to 30s. The Python and Node SDKs handle this automatically.

# Python SDK auto-retries 429 with backoff
from pixelapi import PixelAPI
client = PixelAPI(api_key="...", max_retries=4)
result = client.remove_background(image="bulk.jpg") # auto-retries on 429

Frequently asked questions