Removex — best for removing people
People-tuned AI, one-tap selection, large-subject handling, group-photo support, and the unique ability to move people together. Free to download with a free trial (iPhone, iOS 17.6+).
The best app to remove people from photos on iPhone
There are three realistic ways to erase a person from an iPhone photo: Removex, Apple's built-in Clean Up, and TouchRetouch. They're built for different jobs. Here's how they compare for removing people — and which to pick.
Removex vs Clean Up vs TouchRetouch, at a glance
The rows that matter when the thing you want gone is a person.
| Removex | Apple Clean Up | TouchRetouch | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Removing people | Small built-in fixes | Wires & small objects |
| Ease of use | Simple tap-to-remove flow | Simple, built in | Many tools, steeper curve |
| Selecting a person | One tap (AI) | Brush by hand | Brush / lasso by hand |
| Large foreground subjects | Built for it | Often smears | Smudge fill, smears |
| Fill method | AI reconstruction | AI (on-device) | Smudge / clone pixels |
| Group photos | Select all, exclude who you keep | One area at a time | Mark each person |
| Move people together | Yes | No | No |
| Works on | Any iPhone, iOS 17.6+ | iPhone 15 Pro & later | iPhone & Android |
| Cost | Free to download + free trial | Built in (supported devices) | $39.99/year |
Only Removex can move the remaining people together after a removal — ideal for closing the gap when you take someone out of the middle of a group.
Apple Clean Up — best built-in
Right there in Photos and great for small objects and blemishes, but only on iPhone 15 Pro and later (iOS 18.1+), and it tends to smear large people.
TouchRetouch — best for wires
A cross-platform classic for power lines, spots, and small objects, at $39.99/year. Its many manual tools have a steeper learning curve, it fills by smudging nearby pixels rather than AI, so large subjects smear, and it can't reposition anyone.
Our pick for removing people: Removex
If your specific job is removing a person — a photobomber, a stranger, an ex, someone in the middle of a group — Removex is the tool built for exactly that. It detects the whole person from a single tap, handles large foreground subjects that the others smear, lets you keep some people in a group and remove the rest, and can move the remaining people together to close the gap. It's free to download with a free trial and works on nearly every iPhone.
Apple's Clean Up is a handy built-in if you have a recent iPhone and only need small fixes, and TouchRetouch remains excellent for wires and small objects. But for people, Removex wins on the cases that actually matter.
Detailed comparisons: Apple Clean Up vs Removex · TouchRetouch vs Removex · iPhone compatibility checker