# Install backgroundremover with Homebrew, Nix

Remove background from images and video using AI. Version 0.4.5 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-11. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#backgroundremover.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:backgroundremover
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install backgroundremover
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#backgroundremover
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ba/backgroundremover/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:backgroundremover
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.4.5
- **Source summary:** Remove background from images and video using AI
- **Homepage:** <https://backgroundremoverai.com>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-11T03:30:54Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- backgroundremover (alias)
- backgroundremover-server (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.4.5
## Project history and usage

BackgroundRemover is an open-source command-line and server tool for removing backgrounds from images and video with AI models. It packages a common creator workflow behind a Python CLI instead of a hosted-only web service.

### Project history

The GitHub repository was created in May 2021, and the README says the tool was made by nadermx to power BackgroundRemoverAI.com. The first GitHub release listed by the repository is v0.1.1 in July 2021, with later releases continuing into 2026.

The README documents a practical evolution from simple local image/video processing toward Docker usage, GPU acceleration, folder processing, stdin/stdout pipelines, and an HTTP API server exposed through backgroundremover-server.

### Adoption history

The official README points users to PyPI for installation and documents Docker use for repeatable local runs. The supplied package-manager facts show Homebrew and Nix packages, which gives the project an unusually convenient path for a Python/PyTorch media utility.

### How it is used

Users run backgroundremover against image files, videos, folders, standard input, or an HTTP upload endpoint. The README documents U2-Net model choices, alpha matting, custom background replacement, mask-only output, GPU fallback behavior, and model caching under ~/.u2net for Docker runs.

### Why package nerds care

BackgroundRemover matters to package nerds as an example of AI media tooling becoming a normal CLI package: it wraps PyTorch, ffmpeg, model downloads, optional GPU acceleration, and server mode into a tool installable from general package managers.

### Timeline

- 2021: GitHub repository created for nadermx/backgroundremover.
- 2021: v0.1.1 published as the earliest GitHub release listed by the repository.
- 2025: README documents folder processing, pipe usage, Docker model persistence, and GPU guidance.
- 2026: v0.4.4 published in GitHub releases.

### Related projects

- The README names PyTorch and torchvision as core requirements, ffmpeg for video processing, and U2-Net model variants for segmentation. BackgroundRemoverAI.com is the hosted service the README says the tool was made to power.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/nadermx/backgroundremover>
- <https://api.github.com/repos/nadermx/backgroundremover/releases>
- <https://github.com/nadermx/backgroundremover#readme>
- source_facts.package-manager


## Security Notes

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for backgroundremover. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.


## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - backgroundremover: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ba/backgroundremover/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/backgroundremover.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/backgroundremover.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph