About CleanImage
Why it exists
Removing the background from a photo is something people need every day, for shop listings, profile pictures, school projects and social posts. Many tools make you sign up, add a watermark, limit you to a few images, or upload your photos to a server. CleanImage is an independent project that tries to do the opposite: free to use, no signup, no watermark, full resolution, and private by design.
How it works
An AI model (BiRefNet) runs inside your browser using your device’s graphics chip when it can (WebGPU) and plain WebAssembly otherwise. Computers with a capable graphics chip use a larger, sharper model; phones and older devices use a smaller one. Your image is never sent anywhere. The model files are downloaded once from our storage and checked against a fingerprint before use.
How it is paid for
Because the work happens on your device, running the free tool costs very little. Optional donations (support the project on Ko-fi)help cover hosting, and a paid developer API for bulk and high-resolution work is planned.
Open-source credits and licences
This project stands on the work of others. Thank you.
| Component | Author | Licence |
|---|---|---|
| BiRefNet (the background-removal AI) | ZhengPeng et al. | MIT |
| BiRefNet-lite 512 ONNX export (standard model) | Studio Ludens | MIT |
| BiRefNet-lite 1024 WebGPU ONNX export (high-quality model) | jiabins0303 | MIT |
| Transformers.js | Hugging Face | Apache-2.0 |
| ONNX Runtime Web | Microsoft | MIT |
| Astro, React and Tailwind CSS (this website) | their respective authors | MIT |
The licence notice for the BiRefNet model and its 512 px export:
MIT License Copyright (c) 2024 ZhengPeng Copyright (c) 2026 Studio Ludens V.O.F. Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
Transformers.js is licensed under theApache License 2.0.
Sample photos
- Portrait: Joshua McKnight, CC0
- Product: Longines-Wittnauer Watch Co, CC0
- Pet: Cedurr, CC BY 4.0
Contact
See the privacy policy for how to reach us.