Google Lens vs Search by Image

Google Lens is a visual search tool that works from a camera, image or screenshot. It can identify plants and animals, and provide information about artwork, murals and landmarks. For shopping, Lens can find a pictured item's maker, price and sellers, with refinements for patterns, colors and sizes. It can translate text in over 100 languages and copy text to a phone or computer. In the Google app, users can ask questions about what they see and find homework explainers, videos and web results across subjects including math, history, chemistry, biology and physics. Lens in desktop Chrome lets users select web content, search it and ask questions without leaving the tab. That page-search feature requires Google as the default search engine; Google says it sends a screenshot and page data when used. Lens is available on Android, iOS, macOS, web and Windows, and is listed as free.

Search by Image is a free website and browser extension for finding products from pictures or image links. Its artificial-intelligence visual recognition searches for similar images across AliExpress, Alibaba, Amazon, and eBay. You can upload a photo from a computer or mobile device, paste an image URL, or use an extension for Chrome, Edge, Opera, Firefox, Whale, or Yandex. In a browser, right-click an image and choose “Find product by image,” or enter its URL in the extension popup. The site also describes finding products shown in YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram videos by uploading a screenshot. It says shoppers can compare marketplace and online-store prices. The Free plan is free, covering the website and browser extensions. Results can fail when images are low quality, contain too many objects, or product servers are overloaded; cropping or trying another image may help.