VGG Image Annotator review
A free, offline-ready manual annotator for straightforward image, video, and audio projects.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
VGG Image Annotator is a free, open-source annotation tool from the Visual Geometry Group at the University of Oxford. It runs as a self-contained HTML application in a modern web browser, without installation or setup. The tool is designed for manual annotation of images, video, and audio, making it a practical fit for individuals and teams that need a straightforward way to create labeled datasets offline. Users can work with local files or image URLs, define spatial regions, and add attributes to regions and files.
Its strongest area is the range of manual annotation controls within a lightweight workflow. VIA supports rectangles, circles, ellipses, points, polygons, and polylines, along with temporal segments for video and audio. VIA3 adds collaborative shared projects, while CSV and JSON import/export support common annotation workflows. COCO annotation import and export also help connect projects to dataset formats used in computer vision. The browser-based design keeps the software portable, and offline operation is useful when annotation needs to stay on a local machine.
VGG Image Annotator is a good choice when free, open-source software and manual control matter more than automation or service integrations. The published product details show no AI assistance, model-assisted labeling, or API, so teams seeking automated suggestions, programmatic access, or a broader production platform should consider another tool. It is also distributed as a standalone browser application rather than a conventional hosted SaaS product. The listed releases include VIA 3.0.13 and VIA 2.0.12, with the latest listed release dates from 2024.
VGG Image Annotator pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Free, open-source tool that operates offline in a web browser
- Supports images, video, audio, and six region annotation shapes
- Exports and imports CSV, JSON, and COCO annotations
- Where it doesn't
- No AI-assisted or model-assisted labeling workflows
- No API for programmatic integration
- Focused on manual annotation rather than advanced automation
VGG Image Annotator fact sheet, pricing and score →
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