Remove Background Free

PNG or WebP for a transparent image

Three cutouts from this site saved in every common format, weighed and compared at the edge.

Processing happens on our server. The upload and the result are deleted within 30 minutes, and you can delete them yourself the moment the PNG is ready.

The short answer: for a website, use WebP at quality 90. In our test it was 4.6 to 8.9 times smaller than the PNG, and the transparency stayed exactly the same. Keep the PNG as your original, and use it when a program or upload form does not accept WebP.

The test

Three transparent PNGs were downloaded from this site exactly as you get them: a pair of sneakers, a water bottle and a tea cup. Each was then saved in five other ways: PNG re-saved with optimisation, PNG squeezed with oxipng, WebP lossless, WebP at quality 90 with full alpha quality, and AVIF at quality 80. Then we compared the bytes and the pixels.

File sizes

FormatSneakers, 1920 x 2095Bottle, 1920 x 1920Cup, 1280 x 853
PNG, as downloaded2,720 KB803 KB231 KB
PNG, re-saved with optimisation2,711 KB793 KB225 KB
PNG, oxipng level 42,419 KB693 KB200 KB
WebP lossless1,594 KB423 KB138 KB
WebP quality 90366 KB90 KB50 KB
AVIF quality 80303 KB74 KB20 KB

Sizes in kilobytes of 1000 bytes. What the numbers say:

  • Optimising the PNG barely helps. Even a dedicated tool like oxipng saved only 11 to 14%.
  • WebP lossless is free size. 1.7 to 1.9 times smaller than the PNG with every pixel identical.
  • WebP quality 90 is the big win. 7.4, 8.9 and 4.6 times smaller. The transparency was bit for bit the same as the PNG; colours moved by about one level out of 255, which no one can see.
  • AVIF is smaller still, but it changes the transparency itself: edge pixels shifted by up to 15, 14 and 10 levels, about 1 level on average.

The edges, up close

Each strip below shows the same piece of edge in PNG, WebP quality 90 and AVIF quality 80, enlarged four times and placed on near black, where any edge problem is easiest to see.

The same sneaker edge in PNG, WebP and AVIF side by side, enlarged four times on a dark background
Sneakers: sole and lace edge Left to right: PNG, WebP q90, AVIF q80. The three panels are indistinguishable. The faint grey fringe is in the PNG too: it comes from the cutout, not from the format. Source photo: Daderot, Wikimedia Commons, CC0. Cutout: this site, unedited.
The same bottle edge in PNG, WebP and AVIF side by side, enlarged four times on a dark background
Bottle: cap and side Left to right: PNG, WebP q90, AVIF q80. Again no visible difference at four times enlargement. Source photo: Dirt Smurf, Wikimedia Commons, CC0. Cutout: this site, unedited.

One more thing we checked: none of the formats painted over the fully transparent area. The hidden colour under transparent pixels stayed black in all of them, so there is no risk of a coloured box appearing when an app ignores transparency differently.

Which one to use

Where the image goesFormat
Your own website or online shopWebP quality 90
Marketplace or upload formWhatever it asks for, usually PNG or JPG on white
Slides, documents, office appsPNG
Further editingPNG, the original as downloaded
Archive, must stay exactPNG or WebP lossless

How to convert

  1. STEP 01

    Download the PNG from the result page

    Files are deleted from the server within 30 minutes, so save it right away.

  2. STEP 02

    Open it in an editor that exports WebP

    Most current editors do, including free ones such as GIMP and online tools like Squoosh.

  3. STEP 03

    Export at quality 90, with alpha kept at full quality

    Some tools have a separate setting for the transparency. Leave it at 100 or lossless.

  4. STEP 04

    Check it over a dark background

    If the edge looks the same as the PNG, you are done.

Questions people actually ask

Does WebP support transparency?
Yes. WebP has a full alpha channel in both its lossless and lossy modes, and every current major browser displays it. In our tests the lossy WebP at quality 90 kept the transparency exactly the same as the PNG, pixel for pixel.
Why does this site give me a PNG and not a WebP?
Because PNG opens everywhere: old editors, office suites, print services and upload forms that reject anything else. A PNG is the safe original. If you need a smaller file, convert it afterwards; you lose nothing by starting from PNG.
Is AVIF better than WebP for cutouts?
AVIF made the smallest files in our test, but it also changed the transparency slightly: some edge pixels moved by up to 15 levels out of 255. That is invisible in most uses, but WebP at quality 90 was almost as small and kept the transparency exact. Support for AVIF is also still patchier outside browsers.
Will converting to WebP remove the grey halo around my cutout?
No. A halo is part of the cutout itself: the edge pixels carry a bit of the old background. Every format reproduces it faithfully. To get rid of it you need to change the edge in an editor, or place the cutout on a background similar to the original.

Written and maintained by Denis. Last updated: November 2, 2026