An obs-backgroundremoval alternative, honestly compared
Both are free and GPL. Here is what is genuinely built differently, and when switching would be a waste of your afternoon.
Written by Hakeemify and last checked on . ProMatte is free software under GPL-2.0-or-later.
obs-backgroundremoval is a good plugin. It is GPL-2, it has been around longer, it works, and plenty of people are happy with it. If it is working for you, there is no reason in this article to switch.
Both plugins run ONNX Runtime and overlapping sets of models, so this is not a contest about whose neural network is better. They largely are not different networks.
What differs is the plumbing: how a frame reaches the model without stalling the compositor, what happens to the matte on the way back, and whether the plugin measures your machine and adapts to it.
The differences that are real
obs-backgroundremoval is a good plugin. It is GPL-2, it has been around longer than ProMatte, it works, and a lot of people are happy with it. If it is working for you there is no reason to switch. What follows is what is built differently, not a claim that it is bad.
Where obs-backgroundremoval (occ-ai) is strong: It has years of real-world use behind it, a larger model selection including some ProMatte does not ship, and a community that has already answered most questions about it.
| Feature | obs-backgroundremoval (occ-ai) | ProMatte |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0-or-later |
| Inference runtime | ONNX Runtime 1.12 (DirectML / CUDA / CPU) | ONNX Runtime 1.24.4 (DirectML / CPU shipped; CUDA, TensorRT, CoreML, OpenVINO when present) |
| Frame readback | Reads back the whole frame at AI resolution | GPU downscale to AI resolution, then a staging ring mapped one frame late so the map never stalls the compositor |
| Temporal handling | No motion-adaptive temporal filter | Motion-adaptive stabiliser: static regions converge slowly, moving regions follow within a frame |
| Edge treatment | Mask blur and a contour filter | Joint bilateral upsampling, feather, edge decontamination, halo removal |
| Adaptive quality | Not present | Tier ladder plus model and backend fallback, measured and remembered per machine |
| UI language | Exposes ML terms: threshold, contour, mask every X frames | Six named presets; the ML controls are there under Advanced |
| GPU selection on laptops | Defaults to adapter 0, usually the iGPU | Uses the adapter OBS renders on, and it is selectable |
When obs-backgroundremoval (occ-ai) is the better choice
- You are already using it and it works. Switching costs you time and gains you nothing certain.
- You want a model it ships and ProMatte does not.
- You are on a platform where ProMatte has not been verified. ProMatte is proven on Windows, confirmed loading and removing backgrounds on Apple Silicon, and untested inside a real OBS on Linux.
- You want the option with the longer track record and the bigger pile of existing answers. That is a real thing to want.
What adapting looks like in practice
CPU backend, PP-HumanSeg v2 Portrait, 256x144, for all six presets on a 2017 low-end laptop (i7-7500U + GeForce 940MX, Windows 11)
Measured: capture/out/manifest.json, capture run 2026-09-09, ProMatte 1.0.2 in OBS 32.2.2Before you switch, check the platform
Verified end to end on Windows, on one 2017 laptop with a real webcam. Every measurement in this repo comes from that machine.
On Apple Silicon, 1.0.2 loads in OBS 32.2.2 and removes the background, with OBS holding 30/30 fps at 23.6 % CPU. That is a confirmation from a screenshot, not an instrumented run, and there are no benchmark numbers for macOS.
The Intel Mac slice is built and every load command in it resolves, but nobody has run it. Both the CI runner and the machine that confirmed Apple Silicon are Apple Silicon.
Linux builds, passes its unit tests, and produces a package whose module loads with every library resolving. It has never been run inside a real OBS against a camera.
What neither of them fixes
Known limits
- Every shipped model is single-person or person-class. A second person is only kept if the model happens to segment them. The largest connected region is always kept, so you are never the one who disappears.
- A microphone in front of your face or a mug in your hand is background as far as the person-segmentation models are concerned. RVM handles held objects better because it mattes rather than classifies.
- Robust Video Matting is the best-looking model and the most expensive. On the 2017 test laptop it costs 71 to 96 ms a frame, so Auto does not pick it there. Choose it manually on that class of hardware and you get a high-quality matte that visibly lags.
- Every number here comes from one machine, a 2017 dual-core laptop with a Maxwell GPU. Mid-range and high-end performance has not been verified by anyone.
Real-time AI background removal for OBS. Free, open source, and it never leaves your PC.
Windows installer, Linux .deb and .tar.gz, macOS bundle. Free, GPL-2.0-or-later. ProMatte is GPL-2.0-or-later and stays that way. Sponsorship never buys code, features-behind-a-paywall, or a licence. It buys time, hardware and models.
Questions people actually ask
Is it really free?
Yes. GPL-2.0-or-later, no account, no licence key, no paid tier. Sponsorship is optional and funds development time, hardware and models, never the code.
Do I need an NVIDIA card?
No. It runs on any D3D12-capable GPU through DirectML, including Intel and AMD, and falls back to the CPU. The machine every number here was measured on is a 2017 laptop with a GeForce 940MX.
Will it slow OBS down?
Inference runs on its own thread and the render thread never waits for it. On the test laptop the filter cost 1.7 to 3.3 ms of render time while OBS held 30 fps. Source: docs/final-verification.md section 3.3
Does it work on Mac and Linux?
On Apple Silicon, 1.0.2 loads in OBS 32.2.2 and removes the background at 30/30 fps. There are no benchmarks for macOS and the Intel Mac slice has never been run. On Linux it builds, installs and loads, but it has never been run inside a real OBS. Source: CHANGELOG.md 1.0.2
Related
- OBS Background Removal: The Complete Guide
- OBS Virtual Background Without a Green Screen
- How to Blur Your Background in OBS
ProMatte is free software under GPL-2.0-or-later, built by Hakeemify. Every measurement on this page names the machine it came from.