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Test scope & comparison notes
These are recorded facts, not a unified ranking. Tested tiers and scope are not consistently recorded. Read pricing with its date and timing with its conditions. Privacy observations reflect visible flows and statements, not a security audit.
Cross-task capability coverage across selected products
Each product is scored independently per task edge; switch tasks below while keeping shared products selected| Task edge | Adobe | Depositphotos | Switch / compare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Background removal | 77/100 2048 × 2048 · PNG | 69/100 2048 × 2048 · PNG | Active task |
| Image upscaling | 88/100 2048×2048 (4.0x Unwatermarked JPG) · Historical description; output not attached | 81/100 1024×1024 (JPG · 2.0x Unwatermarked) · Historical description; output not attached | |
| Object removal | 89/100 2048×2048 (Full-Res Unwatermarked PNG) · Historical description; output not attached | Not tested in topic | Compare in task topic → |
| Image generation | 90/100 1024 × 1024 · PNG | Not tested in topic | Compare in task topic → |
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Browse this task →| Criterion | Adobe Firefly (Express) BG Remover Background removal 77/100 Seven-aspect task score Free full-size export without login opens the Firefly editor; the subject is retained, but gaps between curls need cleanup. Tested export 2048 × 2048 · PNG Historical test · 2026-10-16 | DepositPhotos Background Remover Background removal 69/100 Seven-aspect task score You can preview first, but registration is demanded at download; roughly 30 seconds end to end adds friction to getting the result. Tested export 2048 × 2048 · PNG Historical test · 2026-10-16 |
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| Pricing & rules | ||
| Pricing plans | US individual Firefly web free feature and four monthly subscriptions; excludes student/business, full Creative Cloud and other regions; includes four generative credit add-on subscriptions · 2026-10-20 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits Firefly web background remover2026-10-20 ↗ Free Free Free Official feature page describes free removal; single JPG/PNG/WebP input up to 50MB Count and free export specification are not stated; subsequent generative editing may require separate credits Firefly Standard2026-10-20 ↗ USD 9.99/month — Monthly 2,000 generative credits/month; not removal counts Rules [1] Firefly Pro2026-10-20 ↗ USD 19.99/month — Monthly 4,000 generative credits/month; not removal counts Rules [1] Firefly Pro Plus2026-10-20 ↗ USD 34.97/month — Monthly 10,000 generative credits/month; not removal counts First-year promotion advertised through October 21; regular price USD 49.99/month. Renewal and eligibility follow the offer terms. Rules [1]Firefly Premium2026-10-20 ↗ USD 139.91/month — Monthly 50,000 generative credits/month; not removal counts First-year promotion advertised through October 21; regular price USD 199.99/month. Renewal and eligibility follow the offer terms. Rules [1]2,000 generative credit add-on2026-10-20 ↗ USD 9.99/month — Monthly 2,000 generative credits/month; not removal counts 7,000 generative credit add-on2026-10-20 ↗ USD 29.99/month — Monthly 7,000 generative credits/month; not removal counts 10,000 generative credit add-on2026-10-20 ↗ USD 49.99/month — Monthly 10,000 generative credits/month; not removal counts 50,000 generative credit add-on2026-10-20 ↗ USD 199.99/month — Monthly 50,000 generative credits/month; not removal counts 9 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. Four US individual Firefly monthly plans and four credit add-on subscriptions are listed. Pro Plus/Premium first-year promotions end October 21, with regular prices separately shown. Official pages do not quantify daily free removal counts or regional tax amounts. Generative credits concern other AI features and do not establish a payment requirement for free removal. Verification has gaps; unknown prices and quotas are not inferred. Cancellation, sources & verification recordSelf-serve cancellation in Adobe Account (monthly plans cancel anytime; annual billed-monthly plans subject to Adobe terms) Official plans and usage terms ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ US individual Firefly subscriptions ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ Official generative credit add-on subscriptions ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ | This web background remover; excludes desktop software and stock subscriptions · 2026-10-20 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits Free web tool2026-10-20 ↗ Free Free Free Officially free background removal with transparent PNG output Inputs up to 30MB; free export size and count not specified 1 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. Inputs up to 30MB; free export size and count not specified Cancellation, sources & verification recordCredit packs remain valid for 1 year; subscriptions can be cancelled anytime in account settings Official plans and usage terms ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ |
| Free & trial allowance on the test date | Quick web background removal & full-res download are free without login; generative AI features in Firefly use Generative Credits | New registered accounts receive free trial download credits, after which Background Remover credit packs apply |
| Cancellation & refunds | Self-serve cancellation in Adobe Account (monthly plans cancel anytime; annual billed-monthly plans subject to Adobe terms) | Credit packs remain valid for 1 year; subscriptions can be cancelled anytime in account settings |
| Disclosure of costs & limits | File formats (JPG/PNG/WEBP) and 50MB limit are disclosed directly inside the upload dropzone | Account requirement is disclosed only after processing when clicking Download |
| Task quality | ||
| Measured fixture results | Edge error MAD: 0.1235 (Lower is better) · Global error SAD(k): 49.851 (Lower is better) · Foreground retention: 99.850% (Higher is better) · Background residue: 0.442% (Lower is better) | Edge error MAD: 0.1259 (Lower is better) · Global error SAD(k): 59.256 (Lower is better) · Foreground retention: 99.680% (Higher is better) · Background residue: 0.143% (Lower is better) |
| Fixture findings | Hair and subject are largely retained; some background remains between curls. | The subject is largely preserved; translucent background halos remain around the curls. |
| Original historical observation | Very high foreground hair preservation (fg_recall=99.85%) in a 9.23MB 2048×2048 PNG, though a small patch of bookshelf background remained inside left curly hair gaps (bg_leak=0.442%, mad_band=0.1235, SAD(k)=49.85). | Server generates a full 2048×2048 Alpha mask (99.68% foreground recall), though outer curly hair transition bands retain noticeable semi-transparent background halos (mad_band=0.1259, SAD(k)=59.26). |
| Suitable uses · historical assessment | Designers and everyday users who value Adobe's enterprise privacy standards and want a zero-login 2048×2048 full-res PNG | Commercial users already in the DepositPhotos / VistaPrint ecosystem who value an explicit 'automatically removed after 7 days' retention policy |
| Result & output evidence | ||
| Delivery capabilities | ||
| Recorded export specifications | 2048 × 2048 · PNG · No watermark in test | 2048 × 2048 · PNG · No watermark in test |
| Historical specification note · not an official maximum | 2048×2048 (Guests directly download full 2048×2048 PNG without sign-in; supports files up to 50MB) | 2048×2048 (result panel displays 'Image size: 2048 × 2048 px' and S3 delivers a 2048×2048 alpha mask; clicking Download requires account sign-up) |
| Watermark observation | None | None |
| Batch & API | Batch workflows available via Photoshop, Lightroom, or Creative Cloud APIs | Single-image web uploader + commercial API Suite |
| Recorded free-tier dimensions | 2048 × 2048 | 2048 × 2048 |
| Attached file dimensions | 2048 × 2048 · PNG | 2048 × 2048 · PNG |
| Speed & reliability | ||
| Timing observation | Network-observed server wait: 7.75s · End-to-end reference: 11.98s | Network-observed server wait: 3.57s · End-to-end reference: 30.41s |
| Date & fixture | 2026-10-16 · anchor_bgremove_v1 · US-West (California, AS2914) | 2026-10-16 · anchor_bgremove_v1 · US-West (California, AS2914) |
| Repeated tests & reliability | No standardized repetition count, success rate or variability range is recorded. | No standardized repetition count, success rate or variability range is recorded. |
| Interaction experience | ||
| Account requirements | No login in this test | Account required in this test |
| Sign-in methods | No login required for background removal and full-res PNG download; Adobe sign-in only needed for Generative Fill in Firefly | Guests can preview only; clicking Download requires creating/logging into an account (Google / Facebook / Email) |
| Manual adjustment | Seamlessly opens in Adobe Firefly canvas for Remove brush & Generative Fill | Manual erase / adjustment recorded in the historical flow |
| Interaction observations | Removed the legacy mandatory Adobe ID sign-in wall for downloading! Clicking Download immediately saves the PNG while opening firefly.adobe.com/hub in a new tab (-2 pts) alongside a floating chat bubble (-2 pts). | Clean upload and preview experience without ad clutter, but blocks guest download at the final step with a mandatory sign-up modal (Google / Facebook / Email). |
| Background & reputation | ||
| Service lifecycle notice | The legacy Adobe Express background-remover URL now redirects to the upgraded Adobe Firefly visual pipeline (/products/firefly/features/remove-background.html). | Not verified |
| Operator | Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) | DepositPhotos Inc. (Subsidiary of VistaPrint / Cimpress plc, NASDAQ: CMPR) |
| Recorded origin | San Jose, California, USA | New York, USA (Publicly traded Cimpress group) |
| Domain history record | Domain registered 1986 / Firefly pipeline 2023–2026 | Founded 2009 (17-year track record) |
| Background & reputation assessment | Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE, creator of Photoshop, Creative Cloud, and Firefly), global authority in digital imaging. | DepositPhotos Inc. (Founded 2009 in New York, top-5 global stock photography marketplace acquired by public company VistaPrint / Cimpress [NASDAQ: CMPR] in 2021). |
| External reputation record | Users historically criticized Adobe Express for forcing sign-in before download; our 2026 test confirms the migrated Firefly page now lets guests download full-res PNGs without logging in. | Major commercial stock photography platform with strong enterprise compliance. |
| Engineering & privacy | ||
| Processing location | Uploaded for cloud processing | Uploaded for cloud processing |
| Third-party tracking record | Adobe Experience Platform / Alloy | Google Analytics · Google Ads · Bing Ads · Pinterest Tag · LinkedIn Insight |
| Engineering & privacy assessment | Backed by Adobe Creative Cloud enterprise blob storage (acp-aep-cs-blobstore-prod-va6-data.adobe.io) with signed temporary URLs and strict enterprise privacy commitments. | Workspace footer explicitly states its retention policy: 'Processed files will be removed automatically after 7 days'; distributes the 2048×2048 mask via AWS S3 (eu-west-1). |
| Retention statement | Claims deletion within 4 hours; deletion not independently verified | Explicit retention period unconfirmed; inspect policy record |
| Evaluation basis | ||
| Pricing transparency | 40 / 40 Landing page clearly states 'Remove the background from your image for free' and 'File must be JPEG (JPG), PNG, or WEBP and up to 50MB'; real-machine testing confirms guests download a 2048×2048 full-res PNG (9.23MB) without any sign-in wall. | 20 / 40 Landing page headlines 'Free online background remover' without disclosing upfront that an account is required; after processing, the card shows 'Image size: 2048 × 2048 px' and clicking Download triggers a 'To download this image, create an account' modal. |
| Interaction restraint | 16 / 20 Removed the legacy mandatory Adobe ID sign-in wall for downloading! Clicking Download immediately saves the PNG while opening firefly.adobe.com/hub in a new tab (-2 pts) alongside a floating chat bubble (-2 pts). | 14 / 20 Clean upload and preview experience without ad clutter, but blocks guest download at the final step with a mandatory sign-up modal (Google / Facebook / Email). |
| Background & reputation | 25 / 25 Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE, creator of Photoshop, Creative Cloud, and Firefly), global authority in digital imaging. | 24 / 25 DepositPhotos Inc. (Founded 2009 in New York, top-5 global stock photography marketplace acquired by public company VistaPrint / Cimpress [NASDAQ: CMPR] in 2021). |
| Engineering & privacy | 15 / 15 Backed by Adobe Creative Cloud enterprise blob storage (acp-aep-cs-blobstore-prod-va6-data.adobe.io) with signed temporary URLs and strict enterprise privacy commitments. | 11 / 15 Workspace footer explicitly states its retention policy: 'Processed files will be removed automatically after 7 days'; distributes the 2048×2048 mask via AWS S3 (eu-west-1). |
| Task quality | 39.1 / 65 Transition band error mad_band=0.1235 · Global SAD(k)=49.851 · Foreground recall 99.85% / Background leak 0.442% | 39.2 / 65 Transition band error mad_band=0.1259 · Global SAD(k)=59.256 · Foreground recall 99.68% / Background leak 0.143% |
| Deliverable specifications | 20 / 20 True Alpha channel (8/8); Max deliverable spec: 2048×2048 (Guests directly download full 2048×2048 PNG without sign-in; supports files up to 50MB) | 20 / 20 True Alpha channel (8/8); Max deliverable spec: 2048×2048 (result panel displays 'Image size: 2048 × 2048 px' and S3 delivers a 2048×2048 alpha mask; clicking Download requires account sign-up) |
| Processing speed | 10 / 15 Network-observed server wait: 7.75s (API mode: async; network upload 0.01s / end-to-end 11.98s shown for reference only, never penalized) | 10 / 15 Network-observed server wait: 3.57s (API mode: async; network upload 14.95s / end-to-end 30.41s shown for reference only, never penalized) |
