Labelme editions
Unofficial preview. Docsbook assembled this page from the public
wkentaro/labelmeREADME.mdandexamples/directory. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or maintained by the Labelme project. The official documentation lives at labelme.io/docs.
There are two supported ways to run Labelme, plus a third for Linux users whose distribution packages it. They annotate the same way and write the same JSON; they differ in what you have to install first.
The open-source package, GPL-3.0
Needs a supported Python and pulls PySide6 as a dependency. This is the route if you already work in Python, want to pin a version in a requirements file, or want to run the export scripts from examples/ next to your training code.
The standalone executable
The README describes this as installation "without any dependencies (Python, Qt)" and as "a one-time payment for lifetime access, and it helps us to maintain this project". It is the route if you do not want a Python environment on the machine at all.
Which one should you pick?#
| Question | pip package | Standalone app |
|---|---|---|
| Do I need Python installed? | Yes, 3.12–3.14 for v7.x | No |
| Do I need Qt installed? | Pulled in as PySide6 | No |
| Can I pin the version in a project? | Yes, pip install 'labelme<7' and similar |
Not applicable |
| What does it cost? | Free, GPL-3.0 | One-time purchase — see the current prices |
| Where do I get it? | PyPI | labelme.io/download |
This preview deliberately does not reproduce prices or per-plan feature lists. They change, and a stale copy is worse than a link. The plan names visible on labelme.io/pricing at the time this page was written were Starter, Pro, Pro (Lifetime) and Team.
Installing from a Linux distribution#
Some Linux distributions package Labelme in their native repositories, so it installs with the distribution's own tooling. The repository tracks which distributions ship it and at which version through a Repology badge.
Which release line am I on?#
Labelme has two active lines. v7.x is where all new development happens. v6.3.x is a maintenance line for people still on Qt5, Python 3.10 or 3.11, or an older operating system, and it receives critical fixes only — security issues, data-loss or annotation-corruption bugs, and install or launch breakage caused by dependency drift. Feature backports are out of scope.
pip install 'labelme<7'All previous releases stay installable from PyPI, so existing pins keep working. If you are moving forward instead, read upgrading to v7 first — it removes the Python import surface.
Related#
- Platform support — the exact Python, Qt and OS matrix
- Upgrade to v7 — what breaks and what to change
- Frequently asked questions