Don’t settle when it comes to data quality. Leading AI teams trust Labelbox as their preferred Appen alternative.
Why choose Labelbox over Appen?
![Everything in one place](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.ctfassets.net%2Fj20krz61k3rk%2F5tpAPzyZxPstZIV3E9MXrs%2F45f39d250970856913bdc922a48a6f57%2FSocial_Card_Platform__1_.png&w=3840&q=75)
Everything in one place
Leverage an end-to-end system that offers everything you need to improve model performance. From data curation to model training and diagnostic workflows, we help you build quality AI products faster than ever.
![Higher quality data in less time](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.ctfassets.net%2Fj20krz61k3rk%2F6ya1aIxamGYLf1r0gi6Dis%2F187492f36cef4d5409ca0506b6224f73%2FSocial_Card_Platform__3_.png&w=3840&q=75)
Higher quality data in less time
Your model is only as good as the quality of your data. Get the most out of your QA workflow with more granular and tangible insights, such as review time or average time per label, to dramatically improve labeling efficiency.
![Configurable and flexible](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.ctfassets.net%2Fj20krz61k3rk%2F74ZeIUTUVs6vyBdz8QyAfJ%2Ff710b1f6229871ac76a8c7c3e0742471%2FSocial_Card_Platform__5_.png&w=3840&q=75)
Configurable and flexible
We understand that every ML project might look a little different. Easily create customizable review workflows, flexible ontologies, and unique labeling tasks based on your project-specific needs.
![testimonial-dialpad](http://images.ctfassets.net/j20krz61k3rk/45gzVEmS0ZhiCbcJT9K7Ye/98f5d2720576650b9d7cc461e5879914/dialpad_logo.png)
We switched over from using crowdsourcing through Appen back in March and have been absolutely blown away by the quality and speed of Labelbox services. Not only that, we thought we would be paying more for the quality but in actuality I think we have been spending less due to the major reduction in wasted spend, annotation duplication, and need for fewer pilot/test runs.
Anne, Dialpad
![But I'm using Appen Crowd and don't have a dedicated team in-house](/_next/image/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.ctfassets.net%2Fj20krz61k3rk%2F3odLK7MpzvbiGULOykf0Ui%2Fd05d0de8303b8ca454db15c30c559df2%2Fboost.png&w=3840&q=70)
But I'm using Appen Crowd and don't have a dedicated team in-house
Labelbox Boost is here to help. Our on-demand labeling teams and ML experts can help provide guidance every step of the way.
The Appen Crowd network may seem large in number, but pay attention to the numerous reviews on their workforce quality. As an alternative, Labelbox Boost is here to help you create a smarter and more efficient labeling operation.
We carefully curate labeling teams and match your project with labelers who are already well-versed in your use case, taking you from initiation to production-scale labels in just a few days with maximum quality and accuracy. In addition, unlike Appen that charges per labeled object, Labelbox Boost bills per screen activity time so your costs stay the same even as projects scale.
![Appen already does everything for me, I don’t want to spend more time overseeing my labeling process](/_next/image/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.ctfassets.net%2Fj20krz61k3rk%2F799HN1oJFLAhR3aktpsbvp%2F2cf14e3fb9106d0bc4123dfaa31f7b11%2Feffortless_quality_assurance_illustration.png&w=3840&q=70)
Appen already does everything for me, I don’t want to spend more time overseeing my labeling process
As a traditional BPO, Appen primarily offers labeled data as a service. While this hands-off approach might appear convenient, it actually makes it hard to effectively manage and oversee labeling quality and review.
This lack of transparency into labeling QA and individual labeler performance metrics can mean you end up paying more for lower quality data. With Labelbox, your team has visibility into actionable metrics that help you achieve desired data quality while keeping human supervision costs low.
Plus, we’ll work with you to find the most efficient workflows to drive down labeling costs. Your labels can be reviewed, edited, and re-used at any time, enabling your team to prioritize rapid iteration and continuous improvement.
With Labelbox, we’re able to generate high-quality annotations by allowing our team of domain experts and labelers to collaborate more efficiently. The workflow we’ve built queues up all the work for our labelers to create image annotations, which are then sampled and reviewed by experts, and fed into ML models to make better AI diagnoses.
![I’ve been with Appen for a long time. Why should I switch?](/_next/image/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.ctfassets.net%2Fj20krz61k3rk%2F68YVdSylaZwDzFUBh9ORVm%2Ffd4a67f6ce05d07c16bea9f2d9e37d58%2FFrame_2792.png&w=3840&q=70)
I’ve been with Appen for a long time. Why should I switch?
Appen isn't a viable option for teams who want to decrease labeling costs and accelerate AI and ML projects in the long run. While they might help you get off the ground, Appen doesn’t provide the resources to dramatically accelerate your production timeline. You’ll find that your labeling spend will quickly grow proportionally to the volume of data you’re labeling. More data quickly becomes more money spent.
With Labelbox’s Catalog, you can quickly search and visualize all of your unstructured data in one place — unlocking active learning workflows to help identify the most impactful data to label next. With Labelbox’s Model, you’re able to manage every aspect of your training data preparation, model configuration, and model error analysis to iterate faster.
![But Appen meets my security and compliance needs](/_next/image/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.ctfassets.net%2Fj20krz61k3rk%2F5em3CAZ2V2vbgMQ58Zd0tm%2F77f7b682d5f301d18a8d6e7de21485e3%2Fsecurity.png&w=3840&q=70)
But Appen meets my security and compliance needs
Service providers like Appen get smarter off of your data while training their own proprietary models. All efficiency gains stay with the vendor due to their business model, while Labelbox helps reduce human labeling by up to 80% with automation that stays with you.
In addition to being SOC2 Type II certified as well as GDPR and HIPAA compliant, Labelbox gives you full control over your data. Easy export and deletion options mean you can use Labelbox as a secure, scalable, and enterprise-ready platform to store all your unstructured and structured data.
![I don't want an Appen alternative, I'm looking to improve model performance with a better solution](/_next/image/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.ctfassets.net%2Fj20krz61k3rk%2F3xjWzErrw81c7l8WwW6MqL%2Fd6cdc699e5751af766f9d738ecd9cc02%2Fmodel-hero.png&w=3840&q=70)
I don't want an Appen alternative, I'm looking to improve model performance with a better solution
Labelbox isn’t just an Appen alternative, every aspect of our platform is meant to accelerate model performance.
Labelbox is an enterprise-grade data engine engineered by and for those who build AI products. We’ve built a data engine that provides teams with data management, quality and performance monitoring, and advanced techniques to improve the speed and efficiency of their labeling operations.
Reducing our data requirements is huge because we can get the same amount of improvement in our model’s performance in half the time and with half the effort. This was enabled through targeting the model’s weaknesses with Labelbox’s Model product and then being able to prioritize the right data through Catalog. By doing so, we’ve reduced our labeling spend and data needs by over 50%.