Labelme vs VGG Image Annotator

Labelme is an AI-powered desktop annotation tool for creating image training datasets, aimed at researchers, engineers, and teams. Annotation options include polygons, rectangles, oriented rectangles, circles, lines, points, masks, and rich attributes. Local model support includes SAM, SAM2, SAM3, EfficientSAM, and YOLO-World. SAM3 accepts box and text prompts; SAM2 and EfficientSAM support point prompts, while YOLO-World returns bounding boxes. The maker says images, annotations, and exports stay on the user’s machine, without cloud processing or telemetry. Model weights are downloaded on first use; afterward, annotation and AI assistance can work offline, including in air-gapped setups using transferred models or the offline pack. Pro adds conversion and dataset tools, with exports including YOLO, YOLO-OBB, Pascal VOC, masks, visualizations, and statistics. The application is GPL-3.0, while the Pro toolkit is closed source. It runs on Apple Silicon macOS, 64-bit Windows, and 64-bit Linux; Intel Macs are supported only through v7.0.4. Starter costs $49, paid once, Pro $79, paid once, and Pro (Lifetime) $249, paid once.

VGG Image Annotator (VIA) is a suite of lightweight browser tools for manually annotating images, audio, and video. The applications are distributed as single HTML files, allowing offline use without installation or setup. VIA3 handles images, video, audio, and shared or collaborative projects. VIA2 works with image files, does not support shared projects, and remains maintained. Annotation shapes include rectangles, circles, ellipses, points, polygons, and polylines. Projects can import or export annotations as CSV or JSON, while scripts support COCO and Web Annotation formats; a Python package converts VIA projects to COCO. Shared work can use a free public Version File Store maintained by the Visual Geometry Group, or a user-run VFS. VIA is built with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript without external libraries and released under the two-clause BSD license for academic and commercial use. Downloads include ZIP archives and standalone HTML files for versions 2 and 3. The makers provide a guide, FAQ, and email contacts.