COCO Annotator vs Scale Rapid

COCO Annotator is a web-based tool for creating image annotations used in training data for localization and object detection. It supports bounding boxes, polygons, segmentation masks, keypoints, and points, along with disconnected shapes treated as one instance, multiple labels on an image segment, and custom metadata. Users can import existing COCO datasets and export annotations in COCO format. Assisted options include DEXTR, MaskRCNN, Magic Wand, semi-trained model annotation, and Google Images dataset generation. The software includes user authentication and a REST API, with a Swagger interface at localhost:5000/api. It is self-hosted on Linux or Windows, and Docker with docker-compose is required because Docker is the only supported installation method. Documentation covers development and production builds, centralized datasets, and external access. The server uses Flask, Eventlet, and Gunicorn, while long-running requests go to RabbitMQ workers. The project recommends HTTPS to encrypt browser-to-site communication and invites users to its Discord community. It is listed as free under an MIT-licensed plan.

Scale Rapid provides machine learning engineers and researchers with labeled data and instruction feedback for experiments, with availability described as being possible in as little as one hour. Customers can create labeling projects, write and submit their own instructions, and upload data through the web interface or API. They can improve quality by creating or updating evaluation tasks, then inspect quality and throughput metrics, including edge case detection. Rapid supports bounding box, polygon, line, cuboid, ellipse, and point annotations, and includes a review workflow. Research teams and startups can use it while iterating on experimental models and labeling instructions. Scale describes Rapid as early access and directs interested customers to a waitlist or contact process. The paid, pay-as-you-go plan is billed per label, with no minimum commitments, annual contracts, or platform fees. Listed platforms are web and API. Scale documentation includes product guides, workflows, API concepts, and endpoint references.