Yes, Cleanup.pictures is free for unlimited images, but free exports are limited to 720px. Its pricing page says Pro removes the resolution limit and, as of October 2026, costs $5 a month or $36 a year.
Cleanup.pictures is the AI tool that removes objects, people, text and marks from a photo: you brush over what you don't want and it fills the gap. For social posts the free version is often enough. For print, product photos or anything you'll crop, the 720px limit is the catch. Here's what you get on each plan, from Cleanup.pictures' own pricing page and FAQ, checked as of October 2026.
What Cleanup.pictures' free plan includes
The pricing page lists the free plan with two lines: unlimited images, and resolution limited to 720p. The FAQ adds the detail: you can import and edit a picture of any size, but export is limited to 720px on the free version.
So you aren't blocked from working on a big photo. You just get a smaller file back. Cleanup.pictures says you can drag and drop an image onto the site to get started for free, and its FAQ says a Pro subscription works on both mobile and desktop.
Free vs Pro
| Free | Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Images | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Export resolution | Limited to 720px | No size limit |
| High quality refiner | Not listed | Yes |
| Price | Free | $5 a month or $36 a year |
Prices are from Cleanup.pictures' FAQ as of October 2026. It says the yearly plan works out at $3 a month, and that its trial lets you test the HD quality for free before you buy.
The refund rule to read first
This is what most people miss. Cleanup.pictures treats its free trial as a "free look period" and asks you to test everything before buying. Once your Pro licence is active, refunds are only given in rare cases, such as technical difficulties or platform incompatibilities. In those cases it's a full refund if the subscription is under 14 days old, and a partial, prorated refund after that.
Each subscription is also limited to one user, so a team needs one per person.
Who uses Cleanup.pictures
Cleanup.pictures' own page lists the kinds of people it's built for, and they're mostly small businesses:
- Photographers, who use it to remove time stamps or tourists from holiday pictures before printing them for customers
- Creative agencies, who remix existing photos and replace parts with their own
- Estate agents, who remove clutter and depersonalise photos of rooms, flats and houses
- Online shops, who tidy product photos for listings and Instagram stories
It also explains why AI does a better job than an old clone stamp tool. A clone tool needs a background reference to copy from, while Cleanup.pictures' AI guesses what was behind the text, person or object you've painted over.
What you can remove with it
- People, such as tourists in the background of a holiday shot
- Objects and clutter, which is why estate agents use it on room photos
- Text, logos and date stamps
- Cracks and defects on scanned old photos
- Blemishes and wrinkles on profile pictures
On watermarks, Cleanup.pictures adds its own warning: watermarks usually mean an image has restrictive copyright, so only remove them from images you have an explicit licence for. That's good advice for any business using photos online.
How to get the best result for free
- Open Cleanup.pictures and drag your image onto the page.
- Pick a brush bigger than the thing you're removing.
- Paint slightly past the edges, including any shadow, which Cleanup.pictures says helps the AI rebuild what was behind it.
- Download the result and check it at full size.
- If 720px is too small for where you'll use it, test the HD quality with the trial before you pay.
If you want to compare options, my guide to photo object remover tools covers free and paid alternatives, and if you already design in Canva, my walkthrough on how to use Magic Eraser in Canva may save you a step.
Is 720px enough?
For a lot of small business uses, yes. A photo for an Instagram story, a WhatsApp status or a blog body image often looks fine at that size. It's not enough for print, for product shots buyers will zoom into, or for website hero banners. In 23 years in marketing, the most common photo problem I see is a great shot ruined by one thing in the background, and that's exactly the job this tool does well.
What about background removal?
Cleanup.pictures doesn't do background removal itself. Its FAQ points you to ClipDrop for that, and its pricing page lists a separate ClipDrop Pro plan that bundles Cleanup with remove background, replace background, uncrop, generative fill and other tools. If you only need objects gone, plain Cleanup Pro is the cheaper route; if you also cut out product photos, it's worth comparing the two.
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Developers and the API
Cleanup.pictures also offers an inpainting API with usage-based pricing, so developers can add object removal to their own products. It says the API works in environments such as Node.js, SwiftUI and Kotlin, with documentation, a live demo and samples.
My verdict: is Cleanup.pictures free?
Yes, with a size limit. You can clean up as many photos as you like for free, but exports stop at 720px. If you need full resolution, Pro was $5 a month or $36 a year as of October 2026. Use the free trial to test HD quality first, because refunds after that are only for rare technical problems.
To sharpen a low resolution photo afterwards, see a free image upscaler.
Frequently asked questions
Is Cleanup.pictures free?
Yes. The free plan gives you unlimited images, with export resolution limited to 720px.
How much is Cleanup.pictures Pro?
As of October 2026 Pro was $5 a month or $36 a year, which Cleanup.pictures says is $3 a month.
Does Cleanup.pictures work on phones?
Yes. Its FAQ says a subscription works on both mobile and desktop.
Can I get a refund from Cleanup.pictures?
Only in rare cases such as technical problems: in full under 14 days, prorated after that.
Can I share a Cleanup.pictures subscription?
No. Each subscription is limited to one user.
Can Cleanup.pictures remove a background?
Not on its own. Its FAQ recommends ClipDrop for background removal, which is part of the separate ClipDrop Pro plan.
Is the free version lower quality?
The free version is limited to 720px exports. Pro adds unlimited resolution and a high quality refiner.
Can Cleanup.pictures remove text from a photo?
Yes. You paint over the text, logo or date stamp and it removes it in a few seconds.
