Unscreen was a free web app that used AI to erase the background from a video clip without a green screen. As of June 29, 2026, Unscreen.com is officially closed. Canva, which acquired Unscreen’s maker Kaleido AI in 2021, retired the standalone site and folded the same background-removal technology into Canva‘s own Video Background Remover, a Canva Pro feature.
Last updated: September 2026
What is Unscreen?
Unscreen launched as a companion product to remove.bg, the well-known photo background remover. Both tools were built by Kaleido AI, an Austrian computer-vision startup. Unscreen let anyone upload an MP4, GIF or image sequence and get back a version with the background automatically removed or replaced, using AI matting instead of a physical green screen.
In February 2021, Canva announced it had acquired Kaleido AI along with mockup tool Smartmockups, according to TechCrunch and Tech.eu. Canva kept remove.bg and Unscreen running as separate branded sites for several years while gradually building equivalent background-removal features directly into its own design and video editor. Kaleido AI itself was later rebranded internally as Canva Austria, according to a post on the company’s own blog, reflecting how fully the team and technology were absorbed into Canva rather than kept as an independent unit.
Is Unscreen still available in September 2026?
No. Canva’s help center page on the shutdown states plainly: “As of June 29, 2026, Unscreen.com has closed.” Canva explained the move as a decision to consolidate resources and focus on improving Canva’s own Video Background Remover rather than maintaining Unscreen as a separate platform. Visiting unscreen.com in September 2026 redirects straight to Canva’s video-background-remover feature page.
The shutdown is not an isolated event. Remove.bg, Unscreen’s sister product, is following the same path: Canva’s own remove.bg FAQ confirms the standalone remove.bg website will stop operating on December 1, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. CET, with its background-removal function moving fully into the Canva platform. Both closures fit a pattern of Canva winding down the separate tools it acquired from Kaleido AI in favor of one unified product.
What happens to videos you already made with Unscreen?
According to Canva’s shutdown notice, videos you exported from Unscreen before the closure remain usable. You can keep using those files in personal, commercial and client projects, and you can continue sharing them publicly. Canva does list content restrictions that still apply to old exports: they cannot be used for AI training, military purposes, adult content, gambling, misinformation, or content that promotes unlawful violence or discrimination. There is no way to process a new video through Unscreen itself anymore; any further editing has to happen in another tool.
What Unscreen used to offer
The features below describe what the Unscreen web app did while it was live. They are documented here for reference and for anyone who still has old exports or is deciding what replaces the workflow, not as a live product review.
One-click background removal for video
Unscreen’s core feature was uploading a video and getting a version with the background automatically erased, using frame-by-frame AI segmentation rather than chroma-key green screen software.
Transparent and replacement backgrounds
Once the subject was isolated, you could export with a transparent background (as a GIF or image sequence) or drop in a new background image or color, similar to a virtual green screen.
No green screen or studio setup required
Because the AI worked on ordinary footage, users did not need a physical green screen, special lighting or a dedicated recording space to get an isolated subject.
Support for GIFs and image sequences
Beyond standard video files, Unscreen also processed animated GIFs and image sequences, which made it popular for meme-style clips and simple motion graphics.
Browser-based, no install required
Unscreen ran entirely in the browser at unscreen.com, with no desktop software or plugin to install, which is why it was widely recommended as a quick, free option for one-off jobs.
Free tier for short clips
Unscreen offered a free way to process short, lower-resolution clips, with paid options for longer or higher-quality exports. Because the site is now closed, ToolsWorld could not verify Unscreen’s final pricing structure at shutdown, so no historical price figures are given here.
Why this matters if you relied on Unscreen
- No more free-standing tool: there is no unscreen.com left to send a new video to; any workflow, bookmark, browser extension or automation that pointed at Unscreen’s site or its former API will fail.
- The technology did not disappear: the same AI approach lives on inside Canva’s Video Background Remover, so the underlying capability is still accessible, just gated behind a Canva Pro subscription and Canva’s editor instead of a free standalone site.
- Old files are safe to keep using: Canva’s notice confirms previously exported videos remain usable under Canva’s content terms, so you do not need to redo past work.
- This is part of a broader consolidation: remove.bg’s parallel shutdown in December 2026 shows Canva is retiring the separate Kaleido AI brands entirely, not just Unscreen.
- Pricing has shifted from free to subscription: Unscreen’s core value was a no-cost, no-account way to process a clip; its nearest direct successor, Canva’s Video Background Remover, is only available on a paid Pro plan, so budget-conscious users now need to compare free-tier alternatives more carefully.
Who needs a video background remover in 2026
- Content creators: isolating a talking-head clip to drop onto a custom background for YouTube, TikTok or Reels, without a physical studio setup.
- Small business owners and marketers: placing a product or spokesperson video onto branded backgrounds for ads and landing pages.
- Educators and presenters: putting a lecturer or narrator over slides or diagrams for online courses.
- Meme makers and social editors: cutting a subject out of a short clip or GIF for reaction content, a use case Unscreen was especially popular for.
- Agencies and freelancers: quick client turnarounds where a proper green screen shoot is not practical.
How much does it cost to remove a video background now?
Since Unscreen no longer operates, the closest direct replacement is Canva’s Video Background Remover, which is bundled into a Canva subscription rather than sold on its own. Prices below are current as of September 2026 and come from each vendor’s own pricing page.
| Tool | Plan | Price | Video background removal included? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canva | Free | $0 | No; Video Background Remover is a Pro-only feature |
| Canva | Pro (one person) | $144/year | Yes, included with Pro |
| Adobe Express | Free | $0 | No; the free plan includes a GIF background remover, but full video background removal needs Premium |
| Adobe Express | Premium | $9.99/month | Yes, Remove Video Background is a Premium-plan feature |
| CapCut | Free | $0 | Yes, background removal is available in the free mobile app |
| Runway | Standard | $12/month billed annually ($15/month billed monthly) | Video editing and masking tools, not a single-click background remover |
Canva does not sell the Video Background Remover as a standalone purchase; it only ships inside the paid Pro plan alongside Canva’s other design and video features.
Unscreen pros and cons (as it existed)
Pros, historically
- Free, browser-based way to remove a video background with no green screen
- Simple, single-purpose interface that required no editing skill
- Supported GIFs and image sequences, not just standard video files
- Backed by Kaleido AI’s proven background-segmentation technology, the same engine behind remove.bg
Cons
- The service is permanently closed as of June 29, 2026; there is no way to process new videos with it
- Any bookmarks, tutorials or integrations built around unscreen.com now point to a dead product
- Its replacement, Canva’s Video Background Remover, is not free and requires a Canva Pro subscription
- ToolsWorld could not verify Unscreen’s final pricing or feature limits before shutdown, since the historical pages are no longer live
How to remove a video background now that Unscreen is closed
- Do not send new files to unscreen.com; it redirects to Canva and will not process video.
- If you already have Canva Pro, open Canva, start a video project, and use the Video Background Remover feature on your clip.
- If you do not have Canva Pro, Adobe Express’s Remove Video Background tool is available on its $9.99/month Premium plan; its free plan covers only GIF background removal, not full video clips.
- For more advanced masking, rotoscoping or AI video editing beyond simple background removal, consider a credit-based platform such as Runway.
- Keep any videos you previously exported from Unscreen; Canva confirms they remain usable under its content terms.
- Check the destination tool’s own terms before commercial use, since restrictions can differ from what Unscreen once allowed.
Unscreen alternatives
- Canva Video Background Remover: the direct, official successor built from the same Kaleido AI technology; pick it if you already pay for Canva Pro at $144/year.
- Adobe Express: pick it if you want a straightforward, well-known editor with a dedicated video background remover; the feature itself sits behind the $9.99/month Premium plan, while the free plan’s background removal is limited to GIFs.
- CapCut: pick it for a free, mobile-first editor with a built-in background remover; CapCut does not publish a fixed global price for its Pro tier, so check the cost shown in the app for your region.
- Runway: pick it when you need more than a one-click removal, such as fine-grained masking or generative video editing, with plans from $12/month billed annually.
Frequently asked questions
Is Unscreen still available in 2026?
No. Unscreen.com officially closed on June 29, 2026, according to Canva’s help center. The site now redirects to Canva’s Video Background Remover feature page, and there is no way to submit a new video for processing on Unscreen itself.
Why did Unscreen shut down?
Canva, which had owned Unscreen since acquiring its maker Kaleido AI in 2021, said it decided to consolidate resources and focus on improving Canva’s own Video Background Remover instead of running Unscreen as a separate site.
Can I still use videos I made with Unscreen?
Yes. Canva’s shutdown notice states that previously exported Unscreen videos remain usable for personal, commercial and client projects, and can still be shared publicly, subject to Canva’s usual content restrictions on things like AI training, military use, adult content and misinformation.
What replaced Unscreen?
Canva’s Video Background Remover, a feature available to Canva Pro subscribers, is the direct successor. It uses the same underlying AI background-removal approach that powered Unscreen and remove.bg.
Is remove.bg also shutting down?
The standalone remove.bg website is scheduled to stop operating on December 1, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. CET, according to Canva’s remove.bg FAQ, with its background-removal function moving into the Canva platform, following the same pattern as Unscreen.
What is the best free alternative to Unscreen?
CapCut is the closer free match for full video clips: its free mobile app includes background removal, and CapCut does not publish a fixed global price for its paid tier. Adobe Express’s free plan includes a GIF background remover, but full video background removal there requires the $9.99/month Premium plan.
Does Canva charge extra for the Video Background Remover?
No separate charge; it is bundled into a Canva Pro subscription, which costs $144 per year for one person as of September 2026. It is not available on Canva’s free plan.
Did Unscreen have an API for developers?
Unscreen previously offered a paid API for developers to process videos programmatically, separate from the free web app. Since unscreen.com is closed, that API no longer accepts new requests, and Canva’s Video Background Remover is a manual, in-editor feature rather than a documented public API, so a workflow built on Unscreen’s API needs a different provider entirely.
Verdict
Unscreen is gone. As of September 2026 it is a closed product, not a tool anyone can use, and any current recommendation to “try Unscreen” is out of date. The AI capability that made it useful, background removal from ordinary video, did not vanish: Canva absorbed it into its own Video Background Remover, a Canva Pro feature, and remove.bg is being folded into Canva the same way by December 2026.
If you already pay for Canva Pro, its Video Background Remover is the most direct replacement. If you want a free option for full video clips, CapCut’s mobile app is the closer match, since Adobe Express’s free plan covers only GIFs and its full Remove Video Background tool sits behind the $9.99/month Premium plan; Runway is worth considering if you need more advanced masking or generative video editing alongside the removal itself. Keep any videos you already exported from Unscreen; they remain usable, but there is no way to send new footage through the old service.
Sources
- Unscreen Officially Closed (Canva Help Center)
- remove.bg is moving to Canva (remove.bg FAQ)
- Video Background Remover (Canva)
- Canva pricing
- Canva acquires background removal specialists Kaleido (TechCrunch)
- Canva acquires Kaleido AI and Smartmockups (Tech.eu)
- Canva welcomes Smartmockups and Kaleido to the family (Canva Newsroom)
- Adobe Express pricing
- Runway pricing
- How much does CapCut Pro cost (CapCut Help)
- End of an era: remove.bg shuts down standalone service and moves to the Canva ecosystem (AlternativeTo)
