{"slug": "i-built-a-background-remover-that-doesn-t-upload-your-photos-no-40-month", "title": "I built a background remover that doesn't upload your photos (no $40/month)", "summary": "A developer built Cutout, an AI background remover that runs entirely in the browser using WebAssembly and WebGPU, ensuring no photos are uploaded to any server. The tool offers instant removal, batch mode, background replacement, and manual refinement, all without requiring a subscription or sign-up.", "body_md": "Remove.bg is a great tool, but it has a problem: they upload your photos to their servers. For personal photos, product images, or sensitive pictures, that's not ideal.\n\nSo I built Cutout — an AI background remover that runs entirely in your browser. No backend, no uploads, no sign-up, no $40/month subscription.\n\nTry it: [https://cutout-murex.vercel.app](https://cutout-murex.vercel.app)\n\nSource: [https://github.com/JeffreyHamilton6399/Cutout](https://github.com/JeffreyHamilton6399/Cutout)\n\nHow it works\n\nThe app uses [@imgly](https://dev.to/imgly)/background-removal, a powerful AI library that runs directly in the browser via WebAssembly.\n\nWhen you drop an image:\n\nThe AI model downloads (one-time, ~40MB, then cached by the browser)\n\nThe model runs locally via WebGPU/WASM to segment the foreground\n\nThe background is removed, leaving a transparent PNG\n\nYou download the result\n\nYour photo literally never leaves your device. There is no server.\n\nFeatures\n\nInstant removal: Drop a photo, get a transparent PNG in seconds.\n\nBatch mode: Remove backgrounds from multiple images at once.\n\nBackground replacement: Keep it transparent, or add a solid white/black background for JPEG export.\n\nManual refine: If the AI isn't perfect, use the eraser/restore brush to clean up edges.\n\nThe privacy model\n\n100% client-side — photos are processed in your browser\n\nZero network requests during processing (except the one-time model download)\n\nNo accounts, no tracking, no analytics\n\nNo server-side storage — there IS no server\n\nOpen source — read every line of code\n\nTry it\n\nLive: [https://cutout-murex.vercel.app](https://cutout-murex.vercel.app)\n\nSource: [https://github.com/JeffreyHamilton6399/Cutout](https://github.com/JeffreyHamilton6399/Cutout)\n\nFeedback welcome — happy to answer questions about the WASM model or the architecture.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-built-a-background-remover-that-doesn-t-upload-your-photos-no-40-month", "canonical_source": "https://dev.to/jeffrey_hamilton6399/i-built-a-background-remover-that-doesnt-upload-your-photos-no-40month-ofd", "published_at": "2026-07-07 19:21:49+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-07 19:28:13.986864+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "computer-vision", "developer-tools", "ai-tools", "machine-learning"], "entities": ["Cutout", "Remove.bg", "@imgly/background-removal", "WebAssembly", "WebGPU", "JeffreyHamilton6399"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-built-a-background-remover-that-doesn-t-upload-your-photos-no-40-month", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-built-a-background-remover-that-doesn-t-upload-your-photos-no-40-month.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-built-a-background-remover-that-doesn-t-upload-your-photos-no-40-month.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-built-a-background-remover-that-doesn-t-upload-your-photos-no-40-month.jsonld"}}