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VGG Image Annotator
What it is
VGG Image Annotator (VIA) is a free suite of tools for manually labeling images, audio, and video. Its web applications are distributed as single HTML files and can run offline in a browser without installation or setup. VIA3 supports images, video, audio, and shared or collaborative projects. VIA2 works with image files, remains maintained, and does not support shared projects. Annotation options 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 projects can use the Visual Geometry Group’s public free Version File Store, or users can run their own VFS. Developed at the University of Oxford’s Visual Geometry Group, VIA is released under the two-clause BSD license for academic and commercial use. ZIP archives and standalone HTML copies are available for versions 2 and 3. The makers provide an in-app guide, FAQ, and email contacts.
For and against
For
- Runs offline in a browser without installation.
- VIA3 supports collaborative projects.
- Exports annotations as CSV, JSON, and COCO.
- Released under a two-clause BSD license.
- Available as standalone HTML files.
Against
- VIA2 does not support shared projects.
- No model-assisted labeling.
- VIA2 supports image files only.
The verdict
VIA offers offline manual annotation, several export paths, and a permissive license, with collaborative projects available in VIA3. Choose the version based on media and sharing needs: VIA2 is limited to images and lacks shared projects.
Who it suits
VIA may suit researchers, academic projects, and commercial applications that need manual annotation of images, audio, or video. VIA3 is the option for users who need shared projects.
Plans and prices
Free
No paid tiers or usage limits stated
Read 21 Oct 2026 · roboflow.com
VGG Image Annotator
Released under the two-clause BSD license · no paid tiers or usage limits stated
Read 8 Oct 2026 · robots.ox.ac.uk
On the record
- Annotation attributes
- Region descriptions can use free text or predefined checkbox, dropdown, radio-button and image-list values.zenodo.org · read 21 Oct 2026
- Annotation features
- The user guide describes drawing regions such as rectangles, circles and points, and importing or exporting annotations as CSV or JSON.robots.ox.ac.uk · read 8 Oct 2026
- Audio annotation
- VIA3 includes an audio annotator for marking speech or other time ranges.robots.ox.ac.uk · read 21 Oct 2026
- Browser operation
- The applications run as standalone HTML files in modern browsers without installation or setup.robots.ox.ac.uk · read 21 Oct 2026
- Browser requirements
- The project reports testing in Firefox, Chrome and Safari, with users also reporting success in other browsers.robots.ox.ac.uk · read 21 Oct 2026
- Browser support
- The makers say they tested the application in Firefox, Chrome and Safari, and report that users have found it works in other browsers too.robots.ox.ac.uk · read 8 Oct 2026
- Bulk editing
- The image-grid view supports bulk updating annotations across many images.robots.ox.ac.uk · read 21 Oct 2026
- COCO interoperability
- Official scripts convert or export VIA annotations to COCO and other formats.robots.ox.ac.uk · read 21 Oct 2026
- Dependencies
- The core software uses HTML, CSS and JavaScript without external libraries.robots.ox.ac.uk · read 21 Oct 2026
- Documentation
- Documentation includes an in-app getting-started guide, FAQ, user guides, JSON-format documentation and per-version code documentation.robots.ox.ac.uk · read 21 Oct 2026
- Downloads
- The page offers downloadable ZIP archives and standalone HTML copies for VIA versions 2 and 3.robots.ox.ac.uk · read 8 Oct 2026
- Funding
- The project credits UKRI Visual AI and EPSRC Seebibyte research grants for development and maintenance.robots.ox.ac.uk · read 21 Oct 2026
- Image annotation
- VIA supports manual annotation of still images for tasks such as object detection and segmentation.robots.ox.ac.uk · read 21 Oct 2026
- Import and export
- VIA imports and exports annotation data in CSV and JSON formats.robots.ox.ac.uk · read 21 Oct 2026
- Independent user praise
- A Reddit participant described VIA as their preferred tool because it was simple, self-hosted and fast.reddit.com · read 21 Oct 2026
- Integrations and formats
- The page lists scripts for converting or exporting annotations in COCO and Web Annotation formats, and a Python package for converting VIA projects to COCO.robots.ox.ac.uk · read 8 Oct 2026
- Intended users
- The page describes the software as suitable for academic projects and commercial applications, and includes tools for researchers annotating images, audio and video.robots.ox.ac.uk · read 8 Oct 2026
- License
- VIA is released under the permissive two-clause BSD license for academic and commercial use.robots.ox.ac.uk · read 21 Oct 2026
