What should I use instead of the remove.bg API?
If you only need background removal, a field-compatible API is the smallest change: bgclear accepts remove.bg's image_file, image_url, image_file_b64, size, format, bg_color and crop, so you swap the URL and the auth header. Leonardo.Ai is the official successor if you want its wider generative toolkit.
The mapping, before/after code in four languages and the honest list of unsupported parameters (zip output, type, roi, scale, position, add_shadow) are on the remove.bg API alternative page; the alternatives comparison covers Photoroom, Clipdrop, Pixian and the $0.001-per-image tier with their listed prices.
Test with free previews first — size=preview is unlimited — then buy a pack sized to a month. Credits never expire and failed jobs are never charged.