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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 | Recraft | Switch / compare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Background removal | 77/100 2048 × 2048 · PNG | 75/100 2048 × 2048 · PNG | Active task |
| Image upscaling | 88/100 2048×2048 (4.0x Unwatermarked JPG) · Historical description; output not attached | 92/100 2048 × 2048 · PNG | |
| Object removal | 89/100 2048×2048 (Full-Res Unwatermarked PNG) · Historical description; output not attached | 89/100 2048 × 2048 · PNG | |
| Image generation | 90/100 1024 × 1024 · PNG | 94/100 1024×1024 (1.62MB unwatermarked PNG, 100% pixel retention) · Historical description; output not attached |
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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 | Recraft AI (Infinite Canvas Background Remover) Background removal 75/100 Seven-aspect task score Full-size export and an ad-free design canvas suit continued editing; login and credits are needed, and some curly-hair detail is lost. 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 ↗ | All web Basic/Pro/Teams volumes; Teams per seat; API excluded · 2026-10-20 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits Basic2026-10-20 ↗ USD 12/month USD 120/year Monthly 1,000 general credits/month; Teams billed per seat Rules [1] Annual 1,000 general credits/month; Teams billed per seat Rules [1] Pro 2k2026-10-20 ↗ USD 20/month USD 192/year Monthly 2,000 general credits/month; Teams billed per seat Rules [1] Annual 2,000 general credits/month; Teams billed per seat Rules [1] Teams 2k / seat2026-10-20 ↗ USD 22/month USD 211/year Monthly 2,000 general credits/month; Teams billed per seat Rules [1] Annual 2,000 general credits/month; Teams billed per seat Rules [1] Pro 4k2026-10-20 ↗ USD 40/month USD 384/year Monthly 4,000 general credits/month Rules [2] [3] Annual 4,000 general credits/month Rules [2] [3] Teams 4k2026-10-20 ↗ USD 44/month USD 422/year Monthly 4,000 general credits/month per seat Rules [3] [4] Annual 4,000 general credits/month per seat Rules [3] [4] Pro 8k2026-10-20 ↗ USD 80/month USD 768/year Monthly 8,000 general credits/month Rules [2] [3] Annual 8,000 general credits/month Rules [2] [3] Teams 8k2026-10-20 ↗ USD 88/month USD 844/year Monthly 8,000 general credits/month per seat Rules [3] [4] Annual 8,000 general credits/month per seat Rules [3] [4] Pro 16k2026-10-20 ↗ USD 160/month USD 1,536/year Monthly 16,000 general credits/month Rules [2] [3] Annual 16,000 general credits/month Rules [2] [3] Teams 16k2026-10-20 ↗ USD 176/month USD 1,688/year Monthly 16,000 general credits/month per seat Rules [3] [4] Annual 16,000 general credits/month per seat Rules [3] [4] 18 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. All 2k/4k/8k/16k Pro/Teams monthly and annual tiers are listed. Top-ups require Basic/Pro/Teams, but the public page does not quote pack prices or quantify free removal counts/per-removal cost. Subscription credits do not roll over; purchased top-ups never expire. Free-plan generated images are public and not licensed for commercial use; this statement is not generalized to rights in uploaded material. Verification has gaps; unknown prices and quotas are not inferred. Cancellation, sources & verification recordCancel anytime, effective at period end. Discretionary refunds may be requested within 30 days with no use since payment or under 30 lifetime credits used. Official plans and usage terms ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ · Capture 2 ↗ All credit volumes and usage rules ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ · Capture 2 ↗ · Capture 3 ↗ · Capture 4 ↗ · Capture 5 ↗ · Capture 6 ↗ · Capture 7 ↗ · Capture 8 ↗ |
| 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 | Free accounts receive 50 Credits daily; Remove Background costs 1 Credit per image (up to 50 free 2048px cutouts per day) |
| Cancellation & refunds | Self-serve cancellation in Adobe Account (monthly plans cancel anytime; annual billed-monthly plans subject to Adobe terms) | Cancel anytime, effective at period end. Discretionary refunds may be requested within 30 days with no use since payment or under 30 lifetime credits used. |
| Disclosure of costs & limits | File formats (JPG/PNG/WEBP) and 50MB limit are disclosed directly inside the upload dropzone | Remaining credits (56 -> 55) and per-action cost are shown in the top-right bar |
| 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: 0.147 (Lower is better) · Global error SAD(k): 58.952 (Lower is better) · Foreground retention: 99.330% (Higher is better) · Background residue: 0.076% (Lower is better) |
| Fixture findings | Hair and subject are largely retained; some background remains between curls. | Clean background removal suited to defined contours; fine outer hair is cropped inward. |
| 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). | Uses a crisp contour segmentation profile: background removal is ultra-clean (bg_leak=0.076%, fg_recall=99.33%), though fine outer curly hair flyaways are tightly trimmed inward (mad_band=0.147, SAD(k)=58.95). |
| 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 | Designers building posters or product composites inside Recraft who need instant non-destructive layer cutouts |
| 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 (Free account direct 2048×2048 300DPI RGBA PNG export, unwatermarked) |
| Watermark observation | None | No watermark (visible AI label toggle is off by default) |
| Batch & API | Batch workflows available via Photoshop, Lightroom, or Creative Cloud APIs | Drop multiple images onto the canvas for sequential processing |
| 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: 3.2s · End-to-end reference: 4.3s |
| 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 | Free login via Google, Discord, Apple, or 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). | Professional infinite-canvas workflow; the "Add visible AI label" switch in the Export panel is OFF by default, with zero ad popups. |
| 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) | Recraft Inc. |
| Recorded origin | San Jose, California, USA | London, UK |
| Domain history record | Domain registered 1986 / Firefly pipeline 2023–2026 | Founded 2022; Recraft V3/V4 leads global design benchmarks |
| Background & reputation assessment | Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE, creator of Photoshop, Creative Cloud, and Firefly), global authority in digital imaging. | Recraft Inc. (London, UK, backed by Khosla Ventures and Madrona), world-renowned #1 text-to-image and vector design platform. |
| 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. | Designers praise its non-destructive side-by-side layer creation on the infinite canvas. |
| Engineering & privacy | ||
| Processing location | Uploaded for cloud processing | Uploaded for cloud processing |
| Third-party tracking record | Adobe Experience Platform / Alloy | Sentry Error Monitoring · Amplitude / First-party Telemetry (t.recraft.ai) |
| 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. | Uses AWS US-West infrastructure and WebGL infinite canvas layers with customizable export DPI (300 DPI default). |
| 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. | 35 / 40 Requires free Recraft login (50 free daily credits); clicking "Remove background" on a 2048×2048 image costs 1 Credit, places the transparent cutout non-destructively beside the original, and exports a full 2048×2048 300DPI unwatermarked RGBA PNG (4.10MB). |
| 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). | 20 / 20 Professional infinite-canvas workflow; the "Add visible AI label" switch in the Export panel is OFF by default, with zero ad popups. |
| Background & reputation | 25 / 25 Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE, creator of Photoshop, Creative Cloud, and Firefly), global authority in digital imaging. | 24 / 25 Recraft Inc. (London, UK, backed by Khosla Ventures and Madrona), world-renowned #1 text-to-image and vector design platform. |
| 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. | 14 / 15 Uses AWS US-West infrastructure and WebGL infinite canvas layers with customizable export DPI (300 DPI default). |
| 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% | 34.8 / 65 Transition band error mad_band=0.147 · Global SAD(k)=58.952 · Foreground recall 99.33% / Background leak 0.076% |
| 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 (Free account direct 2048×2048 300DPI RGBA PNG export, unwatermarked) |
| 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) | 13 / 15 Network-observed server wait: 3.2s (API mode: async; network upload 1.1s / end-to-end 4.3s shown for reference only, never penalized) |
