Video background removal models compared (2026)
Tested on 2026-10-09: six AI models, the same two 1080×1920 clips, real costs from our provider bill.
Results
| Model (on fal.ai) | List price | Cost per minute at 30 fps | Time for a 9.4 s clip | What we saw |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VEED fast (edge refine on) | $0.012 / 30 frames | $0.72 | 22 s | Clean hair strands and arm gaps |
| VEED (edge refine on) | $0.0225 / 30 frames | $1.35 | 27 s | Indistinguishable from VEED fast on our clips |
| Pixelcut | $0.022 / 30 frames | $1.32 | 334 s | Nearly identical to VEED fast, much slower |
| Bria VRMBG v3 | $0.05 / second | $3.00 | 68 s | Visible warm/red color shift on skin |
| BEN v2 | $0.001 / megapixel | ≈$3.73 at 1080p | 298 s | Slightly crisper edges |
| BiRefNet v2 (Portrait) | $0.0008 / compute second | ≈$1.5–2.5 (estimated from billing) | 232 s | Comparable edges |
Times include provider queueing on the test day. Total spend for the test: $2.24.
Test clips
Two free-license Pexels clips at 1080×1920: a presenter outdoors with a bob haircut and interlaced fingers (9.4 s, 30 fps), and a person with long wavy hair signing in front of a light wall (10.8 s, 29.97 fps). Results were composited over solid green or navy to expose halos and gaps.
What we chose and why
We use VEED fast with edge refinement. On these clips its edges matched the more expensive models, it was the fastest, and it costs about $0.72 per minute of 30 fps video — which is what lets us offer free 10-second clips.
Limits of this test
- Two clips only, both with one person and fairly plain or blurred backgrounds.
- Not tested: blond hair on white, fast motion, several people, low light, low-resolution phone video.
- Our frame-to-frame flicker metric did not separate the models; quality judgments are visual.