CVAT.ai
Data labeling software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
Take the quiz to check if CVAT.ai and its alternatives fit your requirements.
$23 per month
Free Trial unavailable
Free version
Small
Medium
Large
- Transportation and logistics
- Manufacturing
- Media and communications
What is CVAT.ai
CVAT.ai is a computer vision annotation tool used to label images and videos for training and evaluating machine learning models. It supports common vision tasks such as bounding boxes, polygons, polylines, keypoints, and segmentation masks, and it is used by ML engineers and labeling teams to create ground-truth datasets. CVAT is available as open-source software for self-hosting and also as a hosted offering under the CVAT.ai domain. It emphasizes flexible annotation workflows, role-based collaboration, and integration options (e.g., APIs) for dataset pipelines.
Broad vision annotation support
CVAT supports a wide range of annotation types used in computer vision, including object detection, instance/semantic segmentation, keypoints, and tracking across video frames. It includes tooling for frame-by-frame video labeling and interpolation features that can reduce repetitive work in some scenarios. This breadth makes it suitable for teams that need one tool across multiple vision projects rather than separate tools per task.
Open-source and self-hostable
CVAT’s open-source distribution enables organizations to deploy the platform in their own infrastructure for data residency, security, or cost-control requirements. Self-hosting can be important for regulated environments where training data cannot leave a controlled network. The open-source model also allows internal customization of workflows and integrations when out-of-the-box behavior does not match requirements.
Workflow and integration features
CVAT provides project/task organization, user roles, and review/QA-oriented workflows that support multi-annotator teams. It exposes APIs that can be used to integrate labeling into data pipelines and MLOps processes. It also supports importing/exporting datasets in multiple formats, which helps teams move data between training environments and labeling operations.
Operational overhead for self-hosting
Running CVAT at scale typically requires managing containers, storage, backups, and upgrades, which can be non-trivial for smaller teams. Performance and reliability depend on the organization’s infrastructure choices and operational maturity. Teams looking for a fully managed experience may need additional platform work compared with managed labeling services.
Limited built-in workforce services
CVAT primarily provides tooling rather than an integrated managed labeling workforce. Organizations that need rapid access to large pools of trained annotators, staffing management, and service-level guarantees may need to source those capabilities separately. This can increase vendor coordination and process complexity for high-volume labeling programs.
Advanced data ops vary by edition
Compared with some end-to-end data labeling platforms, capabilities such as dataset versioning, integrated model training/active learning loops, and deeper analytics may require additional tooling around CVAT or depend on the hosted offering’s feature set. Teams may need to integrate external systems for full data operations governance. Evaluating feature parity between open-source and hosted deployments is important to avoid gaps in required functionality.
Plan & Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 (Free) | 1–2 members; Projects: 1; Tasks: 3; Internal storage: 1 GB; API access limited; Internal AI tool calls: 100/month; subject to Fair Usage Policy; community support. |
| Solo | $33 per month (monthly) or $23 per month (billed annually) | Personal workspace (single user); "Unlimited" plan for personal workspace; Projects: 10; Tasks: 250; Internal storage: 75 GB; API Access and higher AI-call allowances vs Free (see pricing page for exact limits). |
| Team | $33 per user/month (monthly) — minimum 2 seats (i.e., $66/month minimum); $23 per user/month (billed annually) — minimum 2 seats (i.e., $46/month minimum) | Multi-user/organization collaboration; Projects: 50; Tasks: 1,250; Internal storage: 125 GB; API access and larger AI-call allowances; SSO & advanced security available (SSO noted as available only on annual plans). |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing — suitable for private/on-prem deployments; listed as "starting at $12,000 per year" | Private hosting/self-hosting in customer infrastructure; advanced security/compliance (SSO/SAML/OIDC, RBAC), dedicated support, larger storage and quotas; contact sales for full pricing and SLAs. |
Notes: All pricing details taken from CVAT.ai official pricing page (CVAT Online). Annual billing receives a 30% savings messaging on the site. Feature/limit numbers (projects, tasks, storage, API/AI call allowances) are listed on the official pricing page and differ by tier; refer to the vendor page for exact per-tier limits and Fair Usage Policy.
