Top Free Face Detection tools, APIs, and Open Source models
Tags: ai, topfreeap, facedetection, opensourcemodels
Published: 2023-10-26 07:38:52

## **What is [Face Detection API](https://www.edenai.co/feature/face-detection-apis?referral=top-free-face-detection-tools-apis-and-open-source-models)?**
The [Face Detection API](https://www.edenai.co/feature/face-detection-apis?referral=top-free-face-detection-tools-apis-and-open-source-models) utilizes machine learning and computer vision algorithms to identify and locate human faces in an image. It allows users to examine facial characteristics, comprising eyes, nose, mouth, and eyebrows, to recognize individual faces and gather pertinent data. Such APIs are frequently required in facial recognition and analysis applications, including security systems and photo tagging.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/82jl98dqxof5rh9k9o43.png)


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By analyzing facial expressions and other visual cues, these APIs are capable of identifying emotions like happiness, sadness, anger or surprise. In addition, they can furnish data pertaining to the age and gender of the person in the image.

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## **Top Open Source (Free) AI Face Detection models on the market**
For users seeking a cost-effective engine, opting for an open-source model is the recommended choice. Here is the list of best Face Detection Open Source Models:

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**1. [MTCNN](https://github.com/omaarelsherif/Face-Detection-Using-MTCNN?referral=top-free-face-detection-tools-apis-and-open-source-models)**
The field of face detection and recognition has been revolutionized by the MTCNN (Multi-Task Cascaded Convolutional Networks) algorithm, a technology developed in 2016. The algorithm employs a cascading series of neural networks to accurately and rapidly detect, align, and extract facial features from digital images.

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**2. [YOLO](https://github.com/elyha7/yoloface?referral=top-free-face-detection-tools-apis-and-open-source-models)**
YOLO serves as an object detection framework, yet through training with face datasets, it can be modified for face detection. The system carries out object detection and localization in a single pass, rendering it rapid and resourceful. YOLOv3 and YOLOv4 are highly preferred due to their ability to perform with precision in real-time.

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**3. [Blazeface](https://github.com/hollance/BlazeFace-PyTorch?referral=top-free-face-detection-tools-apis-and-open-source-models)**
Blazeface was created by Google as a fast and effective face detection model for real-time applications, specifically on mobile devices. It is recognised for its speed and prowess, suiting applications such as video conferencing and augmented reality.

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**4. [Dlib](https://github.com/coneypo/Dlib_face_detection_from_camera?referral=top-free-face-detection-tools-apis-and-open-source-models)**
Dlib is a C++ library that presents an array of machine learning instruments, such as facial recognition. It offers a face detection model that is pre-trained and well-renowned for its robustness, functioning commendably amidst diverse orientation and lighting conditions. Python bindings are integrated with Dlib, which makes it applicable to a variety of programming languages.

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**‍5. [OpenCV Haar Cascade Classifier](https://github.com/basista21/face-detection?referral=top-free-face-detection-tools-apis-and-open-source-models)**
OpenCV offers Haar Cascade classifiers for detecting faces, which rely on Haar-like characteristics. These classifiers provide both speed and versatility, making them ideal for an array of purposes, from image manipulation to real-time video examination.

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**‍6. [InsightFace](https://github.com/deepinsight/insightface?referral=top-free-face-detection-tools-apis-and-open-source-models)**
InsightFace is a comprehensive Python library for analyzing 2D and 3D facial features. It incorporates a diverse range of cutting-edge algorithms for facial detection, recognition, and alignment that are optimized for training and deployment purposes.

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**‍7. [CenterFace](https://github.com/Star-Clouds/CenterFace?referral=top-free-face-detection-tools-apis-and-open-source-models)**
CenterFace is a face detection model that accurately locates faces and estimates facial keypoints, including eyes, nose, and mouth.

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## **Cons of Using Open Source AI models**
‍While open source models offer many advantages, they also come with some potential drawbacks and challenges. Here are some cons of using open source models:

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**- Not Entirely Cost Free:** Open-source models, while providing valuable resources to users, may not always be entirely free of cost. Users often need to bear expenses related to hosting and server usage, especially when dealing with large or resource-intensive data sets.
**- Lack of Support:** Open source models may not come with official support channels or dedicated customer support teams. If you encounter issues or need assistance, you might have to rely on community forums or the goodwill of volunteers, which can be less reliable than commercial support.
**- Limited Documentation:** Some open source models may have incomplete or poorly maintained documentation. This can make it difficult for developers to understand how to use the model effectively, leading to frustration and wasted time.
**- Security Concerns:** Security vulnerabilities can exist in open source models, and it may take longer for these issues to be addressed compared to commercially supported models. Users of open source models may need to actively monitor for security updates and patches.
**- Scalability and Performance:** Open source models may not be as optimized for performance and scalability as commercial models. If your application requires high performance or needs to handle a large number of requests, you may need to invest more time in optimization.
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## **Why choose Eden AI?**
Given the potential costs and challenges related to open-source models, one cost-effective solution is to use APIs. Eden AI smoothens the incorporation and implementation of AI technologies with its API, connecting to multiple AI engines.

Eden AI presents a broad range of AI APIs on its platform, customized to suit your specific needs and financial limitations. These technologies include data parsing, language identification, sentiment analysis, logo recognition, question answering, data anonymization, speech recognition, and numerous other capabilities.

To get started, we offer free $10 credits for you to explore our APIs.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/yo8n87cyndc6fu365upd.png)

**[Try Eden AI for FREE](https://app.edenai.run/user/register?referral=top-free-face-detection-tools-apis-and-open-source-models)**


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## **Access Face Detection providers with one API**
Our standardized API enables you to integrate Face Detection APIs into your system with ease by utilizing various providers on Eden AI. Here is the list (in alphabetical order):


- AWS
- api4ai
- Clarifai
- Google Cloud
- Microsoft Azure
- PicPurify
- Skybiometry


**1. AWS- Available on [Eden AI](https://app.edenai.run/user/register?referral=top-free-face-detection-tools-apis-and-open-source-models)**
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![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/7hk1pohbs1gzw6vvdjlb.png)




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AWS offers a Face Detection API through their Amazon Rekognition service. This feature allows users to identify faces, analyze facial characteristics, detect emotions, and recognize facial landmarks, such as the eye position. Moreover, it allows users to compare faces in various images.

In addition, Amazon Rekognition can store facial metadata for subsequent searches, allowing swift and efficient identification of targeted individuals in images with exceptional precision thanks to advanced machine learning algorithms.

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**2. api4ai- Available on [Eden AI](https://app.edenai.run/user/register?referral=top-free-face-detection-tools-apis-and-open-source-models)**
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![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/xtf1lhxnfdohkvot3klw.png)


api4ai's Face Analysis is a versatile solution that provides human face detection, analysis and recognition functionalities. The API can automatically detect five crucial points on a human face, which include the left and right eyes, nose and the left and right corners of the lips.

In addition, the algorithm can determine if faces from disparate images belong to the same individual through embeddings. The solution provided by api4ai is renowned for its strength, enabling optimal performance despite variations in lighting, orientation, and minor distortions.

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**3. Clarifai- Available on [Eden AI](https://app.edenai.run/user/register?referral=top-free-face-detection-tools-apis-and-open-source-models)**
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![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/h5v7rsupa6kz3pwzre14.png)




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Clarifai is a prominent supplier of computer vision and image recognition technologies driven by AI, providing a comprehensive Face Detection solution with great precision and a rapid response time. Utilizing Clarifai, developers are able to swiftly and conveniently integrate facial detection functions into their applications, bestowing a range of advantages upon end-users, including strengthened security measures, identity verification improvement, and more personalized and immersive user interactions.

Additionally, the robust set of tools and resources supporting Clarifai's Face Detection API include comprehensive documentation, example code, and expert assistance, simplifying the process for developers to incorporate these capabilities into their applications.

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**4. Google Cloud- Available on [Eden AI](https://app.edenai.run/user/register?referral=top-free-face-detection-tools-apis-and-open-source-models)**
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![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/lcfzkq5bkel90hf3fgji.png)




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Google Cloud provides a potent system for identifying several faces in an image while simultaneously detecting their facial properties and emotional status. It enables users to submit a maximum of 2000 image files for processing and obtain response JSON files, which are saved in their Cloud Storage bucket, through the offline asynchronous batch image annotation feature.

This function is exceedingly efficient, making it a desirable option for developers and enterprises seeking robust and scalable facial recognition solutions.

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**5. Microsoft Azure- Available on [Eden AI](https://app.edenai.run/user/register?referral=top-free-face-detection-tools-apis-and-open-source-models)**
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![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/hjp8xgnkgmlv0r0vl4rs.png)



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The Azure platform offers a precise and effective API that employs advanced deep learning algorithms to analyse and identify facial features in pictures or videos. Users of Azure can easily detect and extract crucial facial attributes, including age, gender, emotions and facial landmarks, and also carry out facial recognition by comparing against a database of known faces. Furthermore, Azure's solution is effortlessly tailored to meet individual business needs, being perfectly suited to cover a vast array of applications such as security, surveillance, marketing and customer analytics.

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**6. PicPurify- Available on [Eden AI](https://app.edenai.run/user/register?referral=top-free-face-detection-tools-apis-and-open-source-models)**
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![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/wx6hgw3p92z1w2uw2umh.png)






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PicPurify enables users to detect faces in images, including information on their gender and age range. The API offers various options, such as face detection, gender detection, age detection, or a combination of all three. Using this API, users can easily identify the number of faces in an image, their location, and obtain a thumbnail for each face.

The detection options for gender and age groups offer supplementary insights to aid users in comprehending their images better. Additionally, the API is flexible and can be tailored to meet the specific requirements and budget of the users by selecting the necessary options.

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**7. Skybiometry- Available on [Eden AI](https://app.edenai.run/user/register?referral=top-free-face-detection-tools-apis-and-open-source-models)**
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![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/nvgrcji4igbthh5zrg0l.png)



With the Skyobiometry API, users have the capability to detect and monitor faces in real-time, identify gender, age, ethnicity, and emotions, and even estimate the facial attributes of individuals such as glasses and facial hair. The API is scalable and delivers exceptional accuracy and speed, offering an optimal solution for businesses and developers that require high-performance face detection capabilities.

Furthermore, the API from Skybiometry can be conveniently incorporated into pre-existing applications, with the added benefit of an extensive selection of customisation possibilities, rendering it an immensely adaptable and versatile option.

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## **Pricing Structure for Face Detection API Providers**
Eden AI offers a user-friendly platform for evaluating pricing information from diverse API providers and monitoring price changes over time. As a result, keeping up-to-date with the latest pricing is crucial. The pricing chart below outlines the rates for smaller quantities for October 2023, as well as you can get discounts for potentially large volumes.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/jublwrwaddqjgpj6x3s2.png)


**[Check the current prices on Eden AI](https://app.edenai.run/user/register?referral=top-free-face-detection-tools-apis-and-open-source-models)**

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## **How Eden AI can help you?**
Eden AI is the future of AI usage in companies: our app allows you to call multiple AI APIs.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/h6f3z3vt5vt79pp03qfu.gif)




- Centralized and fully monitored billing on Eden AI for Face Detection APIs
- Unified API for all providers: simple and standard to use, quick switch between providers, access to the specific features of each provider
- Standardized response format: the JSON output format is the same for all suppliers thanks to Eden AI's standardization work. The response elements are also standardized thanks to Eden AI's powerful matching algorithms.
- The best Artificial Intelligence APIs in the market are available: big cloud providers (Google, AWS, Microsoft, and more specialized engines)
- Data protection: Eden AI will not store or use any data. Possibility to filter to use only GDPR engines.
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You can see Eden AI documentation [here](https://docs.edenai.co/reference/image_face_detection_create?referral=top-free-face-detection-tools-apis-and-open-source-models).

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## **Next step in your project**
The Eden AI team can help you with your AI Content Generation integration project. This can be done by :

- Organizing a product demo and a discussion to better understand your needs. You can book a time slot on this link: [Contact](https://www.edenai.co/contact?referral=top-free-face-detection-tools-apis-and-open-source-models)
- By testing the public version of Eden AI for free: however, not all providers are available on this version. Some are only available on the Enterprise version.
- By benefiting from the support and advice of a team of experts to find the optimal combination of providers according to the specifics of your needs
- Having the possibility to integrate on a third-party platform: we can quickly develop connectors.
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**[Create your Account on Eden AI](https://app.edenai.run/user/register?referral=top-free-face-detection-tools-apis-and-open-source-models)**