Labelbox alternative for image annotation teams with flat monthly plans
If your team uses Labelbox to label photos for detection or segmentation models, ImageLabeling is a narrower alternative built only for image annotation. You pay a flat monthly plan instead of Labelbox Units, get AI pre-labels on every plan, a review workflow with consensus from the Team plan at 149 USD a month, frozen dataset versions and COCO, YOLO and Pascal VOC export. If you label video, PDFs, LLM conversations or medical tiles, Labelbox still covers more.
Is there a cheaper Labelbox alternative for image labeling?
For image only work, usually yes. Labelbox now calls itself a data factory for frontier model development, and most of its roadmap goes to LLM evaluation, preference data and its Alignerr expert network. Billing runs on Labelbox Units (LBUs), so labeling, storage and model predictions each draw from the same meter. A computer vision team that labels a few thousand images a month often ends up paying for a platform shaped around other work.
ImageLabeling does one job. You upload images, the AI proposes boxes, polygons, masks, keypoints and classes, labelers fix them, reviewers approve them, and you export a version your training code reads without edits. The how it works page walks through the full flow.
Labelbox vs ImageLabeling for image annotation
Labelbox figures come from the Labelbox documentation (limits and billing pages) as read in October 2026. The public Labelbox pricing page returned a 404 at that time, so ask their sales team for a current quote before you compare.
| What you compare | Labelbox | ImageLabeling |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Multimodal data for frontier AI, with LLM evaluation, preference data, video, PDF, geospatial and medical imagery | Image annotation for computer vision teams |
| Entry plan | Free with 500 LBUs a month, up to 30 users and 50 projects | Starter at 49 USD a month, or 24 USD a month billed yearly |
| How usage is billed | LBUs at a documented Starter rate of 0.10 USD each, Enterprise by quote | Flat plan with a fixed number of AI pre-labeled images, from 1,000 to 35,000 a month |
| Labeling cost per image | 1 LBU per labeled data row, skipped rows count as labeled | Manual labeling never counts, an image counts once when the AI pre-labels it |
| Storage cost | 1 LBU per 60 images stored, charged every month | 10,000 to 5,000,000 stored images included in the plan |
| Model predictions | 1 LBU per 5 data rows on Model | AI pre-labels included in the plan quota |
| Review workflow | Workflow and review steps inside projects | Single reviewer on Starter, full review with consensus from Team at 149 USD |
| SSO | Add on for Enterprise, billed separately | Google and Microsoft SSO on Business, SAML SSO on Enterprise |
| Export formats | JSON export through the SDK, other formats converted in your own code | COCO JSON, YOLO txt with data.yaml, Pascal VOC XML and CSV from the editor |
| Workforce | Alignerr expert network and labeling services | Managed labeling as a monthly retainer on Business and Enterprise |
| Data use | Per Labelbox terms | Images are used only to label your dataset, never to train third party models |
What 3,000 labeled images a month cost on each
Take a vision team that adds 3,000 new images a month, keeps about 30,000 images in storage and wants AI pre-labels on all new images.
This is a rough estimate from the published LBU rates, not a Labelbox quote. Enterprise contracts are negotiated, and your numbers change with how many images you store and how often you rerun predictions. The point is the shape of the bill. On Labelbox every image you keep and every label you add moves the meter. On a flat plan, finance sees one number for the year.
| Item | Labelbox at the documented Starter rate | ImageLabeling Team |
|---|---|---|
| Labeling 3,000 images | 3,000 LBUs | Included |
| Storing 30,000 images | 500 LBUs a month | Included, up to 100,000 images |
| Model pre-labels on 3,000 images | 600 LBUs | Included, up to 3,500 images a month |
| Total meter | About 4,100 LBUs, roughly 410 USD a month | 149 USD a month, or 74 USD billed yearly |
| Seats | No user limit on Starter | 10 seats |
When Labelbox is still the better choice
We would rather you pick the right tool once. Stay on Labelbox, or choose it, if one of these describes you.
If that is your situation, ImageLabeling would cover only a slice of your work.
- You label more than images. Video with frame level tracking, PDFs, text, audio, chat transcripts or LLM outputs belong in a multimodal platform, and Labelbox handles them in one place.
- You run RLHF, preference ranking or model evaluation projects for large language models.
- You need a large outside workforce of domain experts, which Labelbox supplies through Alignerr.
- You work with tiled geospatial or medical imagery at scale and need a viewer built for it.
- Your company already has an enterprise agreement with Labelbox that bundles these services.
When an image-only Labelbox alternative fits better
Plans and limits are side by side on the image annotation tool pricing page.
- You train detection, segmentation or keypoint models on photos, and images are the only data type you label.
- Your budget owner wants a fixed yearly cost instead of a usage meter that grows with storage.
- You want exports your trainer reads directly, such as YOLO txt with data.yaml and train, val and test folders, instead of writing a converter for each run.
- You need review with consensus and QA scores per labeler without starting an enterprise sales cycle.
- Your team is between 3 and 30 people, and the labelers are your own staff or a managed team you hire monthly.
How to move a project from Labelbox
Most teams move a project in a day.
- Export the project from Labelbox with the Python SDK or the export button, which gives you NDJSON with one row per image and its labels.
- Convert that export to COCO JSON with a short script, or keep the images and relabel with AI pre-labels if the old labels were never reviewed.
- Upload the images to a new ImageLabeling project and import the COCO file. Images match by file name and categories become classes in your schema.
- Send imported labels to review, then freeze a dataset version.
- Export COCO or YOLO for the next training run. The COCO annotation tool page shows how IDs and categories are kept, and the YOLO labeling tool page covers data.yaml and splits.
Teams that move image work off Labelbox
Comparing several vendors at once? The Roboflow alternative page runs the same comparison against Roboflow credits.
- Manufacturing quality teams labeling defect photos every week, see defect detection datasets.
- Robotics teams that retrain pick and place models for each release, see robotics dataset labeling.
- Agtech teams labeling drone images of fields during the season.
- Startups that began on the Labelbox free tier and hit the 500 LBU ceiling once storage started counting.
FAQ
What is the best alternative to Labelbox?
It depends on what you label. For image annotation only, a focused tool with flat pricing such as ImageLabeling usually costs less and exports YOLO and COCO directly. For self hosted labeling, CVAT and Label Studio are common choices. For multimodal and LLM data, SuperAnnotate, Encord and Scale AI compete more directly with Labelbox.
How much does Labelbox cost?
Labelbox does not publish a price list as of October 2026. Its documentation lists a free tier with 500 LBUs a month and a Starter rate of 0.10 USD per LBU, and Enterprise is quoted by sales. Labeling uses 1 LBU per image, storage 1 LBU per 60 images a month, and SSO is a paid Enterprise add on.
Is Labelbox free?
Labelbox has a free tier with 500 LBUs a month, up to 30 users and 50 projects. When the LBUs run out you can still view and export data, but you cannot add data rows, labels or predictions until the next month. Storage also uses LBUs, so a growing dataset shrinks what is left for labeling.
Can I import my Labelbox labels into ImageLabeling?
Yes. Export your project from Labelbox as NDJSON, convert it to COCO JSON, upload the same images and import the file. Boxes, polygons and classes come in as editable objects, so reviewers can check old labels before you freeze the next version.
Does ImageLabeling support video or text labeling?
No. ImageLabeling labels images only. You can upload video frames as images and label them, but there is no video timeline, and text, audio and LLM data are out of scope. If those matter to you, a multimodal platform like Labelbox is the better fit.
Can I try ImageLabeling before I buy?
Yes. The demo on the homepage labels one of your own images with AI pre-labels that you can edit, with no account needed. Plans start at 24 USD a month billed yearly and you can cancel anytime.
Label one of your Labelbox images now
Drop an image from your current project into the demo and see the AI pre-labels and the editor before you move a single file.