12 Best Image Annotation Tools of 2024

Simplifying The Selection

Picking the right image data annotation tool can be challenging, especially with so many new platforms emerging, each claiming to surpass the others in features, performance, or accuracy.

Your choice of an annotation tool for your computer vision projects significantly influences the outcome. The efficiency and productivity offered by your chosen tool directly affect the speed at which you can achieve your ultimate objective: developing a robust and reliable computer vision model.

To help, we've put together an easy-to-read list of the most popular image annotation tools of 2024. This list, focusing on key features and pricing, is designed to help you quickly identify the tool that fits your needs perfectly. If you are interested in exploring top open-source image annotation tools, you can find our detailed review here.

What We Will Explore:

Unitlab
Roboflow
Scale AI
SuperAnnotate
V7Labs
Appen
DataLoop
CVAT
Label Studio
Kili-technology
Segments AI
LabelBox

Enhance AI Development Speed: Annotate Data 15x Faster with Unitlab

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Need a fast comparison?

Check out our infographic! It highlights key features, letting you compare quickly without the details:

All right -

We review some of these in more detail!

Unitlab

We want to start by making it clear that we're not here to declare Unitlab Annotate as the best image annotation tool available.

We're not going to call ourselves the top Data Annotation Platform or boast about others calling Unitlab the most flexible and sophisticated tool for annotating images.

That's not our style.

We think it's not right to make big claims in our own post. Instead, we want to invite you to try Unitlab Annotate yourself. We encourage you to check if it really is as good as all the great reviews say ;-)

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Unitlab - AI-powered platform to manage, label, and enhance your data. It automatically collects raw data and enables collaboration with human annotators to produce highly accurate labels for your machine learning models.

Key features:

Rich auto-annotation tools: Batch auto-annotation, SAM (Segment Anything) auto-annotation, Crop auto-annotation, and Bring Your Own (BYO) Models.
Performance analytics and statistics: Real-time project statistics, and analytics on team members' contributions and progress.
Project & Dataset management: Version-able, Scalable, Customizable, Clone-able
Real-Time collaborations: Easily set up a team including annotators, reviewers, Managers, and an owner (you) including Image commenting, data annotation history and more.
Pixel-Level Brush Segmentation: Perfect-pixel segmentation tools rather than polygon-based segmentation tools.
The cost efficient labeling service: Starting at 0.02$ per image.

Pricing:

$0 in the Free plan (forever), $99 in the Active plan, $195 in the Pro plan
- Unlimited projects, unlimited workspaces
- 10K images / per month

Roboflow

Roboflow Annotate is developed with a focus on collaborative work, providing features designed to enhance teamwork during the data annotation process.

Key features:

Rich auto-annotation tools
Image History
Image Commenting
Ontology Locking (To ensure that annotators do not accidentally introduce new classes into your model).
Annotator insights
Labeling Service, starts at 0.03$ per box
Model Training (Directly train models on the platform.)

Pricing:

It offers a free plan, and the paid plan costs $249 per month.

Scale AI

Scale is a data platform designed for annotating extensive amounts of 3D sensor, image, and video data.

Scale offers machine learning-enhanced pre-labeling, an automated quality control system, dataset management, document processing, and AI-assisted data annotation, specifically tailored for data processing in autonomous driving.

Key features:

Advanced Auto-Annotation Tools
Nucleus Platform for Efficient Dataset Management
Specialized for Autonomous Driving Applications Involving LIDAR and Mapping
Automated Quality Assurance System Utilizing Gold Standard Datasets
Comprehensive Document Processing Capabilities
Data Curation Enhanced by Integrated Model Assistance

Pricing:

From $50,000

SuperAnnotate

Superannotate is a comprehensive image and video data annotation platform designed to optimize and automate workflows in computer vision.

SuperAnnotate enables the creation of superior training datasets for a range of computer vision tasks such as object detection, instance and semantic segmentation, keypoint annotation, cuboid annotation, and video tracking.

Key features:

AI-Assisted Labeling with Bring Your Own (BYO) Models
Superpixels for Enhanced Semantic Segmentation
Advanced Quality Control Systems
Supports a Variety of Formats via Image Conversion

Pricing:

Free 14-day trial / Custom Starter, Pro, Enterprise plans

DataLoop

The comprehensive cloud-based data annotation platform, equipped with integrated tools and automation, for creating top-quality datasets.

Dataloop supports the entire AI lifecycle, encompassing annotation, model evaluation, and enhancement, by leveraging human feedback in the process.

Key features:

Model-assisted data annotation
Support for Various Data Types
Sophisticated Team Workflows with Efficient Data Indexing and Querying System
Enhanced Video Support

Price:

Free trial / Custom Enterprise plans

LabelBox

Labelbox is a training data platform comprised of three foundational layers, designed to streamline the entire workflow from labeling to collaboration and iteration. Launched in 2018, it has rapidly gained popularity as one of the leading data annotation tools.

Labelbox provides AI-powered labeling tools, automated data annotation solutions, a human workforce for labeling tasks, comprehensive data management, a robust API for seamless integration, and a Python SDK to enhance extensibility.

Key features:

AI-Assisted Labeling with Bring Your Own (BYO) Models
Comprehensive Integrated Data Labeling Services
Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) Tooling and Label Review Workflows
Robust Labeler Performance Analytics
Customizable Interface for Task Simplification

Price:

Free 5000 images
Custom Pro and Enterprise plans.

V7Labs

V7 is an automated data annotation platform that integrates dataset management, image annotation, video data annotation, and autoML model training, enabling the automatic completion of labeling tasks.

What Is Data Annotation? Definition, Tools, Datasets [Guide]

V7 empowers teams to store, manage, annotate, and automate their data annotation workflows across various formats including images, video, DICOM medical data, microscopy images, PDF and document processing, as well as 3D volumetric data.

Key features:

Automated Data Annotation Features that Require No Prior Training
Composable Workflows with Integration of Multiple Models and Human-in-the-Loop Stages
Robust Dataset Management Capable of Handling Large-Scale Data
Integrated Data Labeling Services
Real-Time Collaboration and a Fluid User Experience
Precise Frame-Per-Frame Video Annotation Tool.

Price:

From 0$ (Education Plan), Custom Pro and Enterprise plans.

Conclusion

This guide highlights 12 essential data annotation tools for image labeling in computer vision, each offering unique benefits. For instance, Unitlab Annotate delivers advanced auto-annotation capabilities and integrated labeling services, including Bring-Your-Own (BYO) models for more efficient data annotation. Meanwhile, Scale, Roboflow, and V7labs stand out in automated machine learning operations (MLOps) and model training solutions.

We recommend experimenting with these tools to find the best fit for your needs. Consider factors like cost, data handling, and other relevant features. Remember, the right data annotation tool is crucial in computer vision projects, especially in enterprise contexts, as it greatly affects productivity and adherence to project deadlines.