Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

OpenCV VS ML5.js

Compare OpenCV VS ML5.js and see what are their differences

OpenCV logo OpenCV

OpenCV is the world's biggest computer vision library

ML5.js logo ML5.js

Friendly machine learning for the web
  • OpenCV Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-29
  • ML5.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-12

OpenCV features and specs

  • Comprehensive Library
    OpenCV offers a wide range of tools for various aspects of computer vision, including image processing, machine learning, and video analysis.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    OpenCV is designed to run on multiple platforms, including Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, and iOS, which makes it versatile for development across different environments.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source, OpenCV is freely available for use and allows developers to inspect, modify, and enhance the code according to their needs.
  • Large Community Support
    A large community of developers and researchers actively contributes to OpenCV, providing extensive support, tutorials, forums, and continuously updated documentation.
  • Real-Time Performance
    OpenCV is highly optimized for real-time applications, making it suitable for performance-critical tasks in various industries such as robotics and interactive installations.
  • Extensive Integration
    OpenCV can easily be integrated with other libraries and frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, and OpenCL, enhancing its capabilities in deep learning and GPU acceleration.
  • Rich Collection of examples
    OpenCV provides a large number of example codes and sample applications, which can significantly reduce the learning curve for beginners.

Possible disadvantages of OpenCV

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Due to the vast array of functionalities and the complexity of some of its advanced features, beginners may find it challenging to learn and use effectively.
  • Documentation Gaps
    While the documentation is extensive, it can sometimes be incomplete or outdated, requiring users to rely on community forums or external sources for solutions.
  • Resource Intensive
    Some functions and algorithms in OpenCV can be quite resource-intensive, requiring significant processing power and memory, which can be a limitation for low-end devices.
  • Limited High-Level Abstractions
    OpenCV provides a wealth of low-level functions, but it may lack higher-level abstractions and frameworks, necessitating more hands-on coding and algorithm development.
  • Dependency Management
    Setting up and managing dependencies can be cumbersome, especially when integrating OpenCV with other libraries or on certain operating systems.
  • Backward Compatibility Issues
    With frequent updates and new versions, backward compatibility can sometimes be problematic, potentially breaking existing code when updating.

ML5.js features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    ml5.js is designed with simplicity in mind, making machine learning accessible to artists, creative coders, and students, even those without a robust background in AI or machine learning.
  • Browser-based
    Operates directly in the browser, eliminating the need for any additional setup or dependencies, which makes it highly compatible with web projects.
  • Pre-trained Models
    Includes a variety of pre-trained models for quick implementation of complex machine learning tasks like image classification, pose detection, and text generation.
  • Community and Documentation
    Strong community support and well-documented guides and examples help new users get started quickly and find solutions to common issues.
  • Integration with p5.js
    Integrates seamlessly with p5.js, a popular JavaScript library for creative coding, facilitating the development of interactive and visually engaging applications.

Possible disadvantages of ML5.js

  • Performance Limitations
    Since it runs in the browser, it may not be suitable for performance-intensive applications or those requiring real-time processing of large datasets.
  • Limited Customization
    While it offers pre-trained models, there is limited functionality for training new models from scratch compared to more comprehensive libraries like TensorFlow.js.
  • Dependency on Web Standards
    Depends on the performance and capabilities of the client's browser, which can vary significantly between different users and devices.
  • Size of Models
    Some pre-trained models can be quite large, which may affect loading times and performance on slower network connections or less powerful devices.
  • Scope
    Focused on high-level tasks and applications, which might not be sufficient for advanced machine learning requirements or niche functionalities outside its provided models.

OpenCV videos

AI Courses by OpenCV.org

More videos:

  • Review - Practical Python and OpenCV

ML5.js videos

ml5.js: Train Your Own Neural Network

More videos:

  • Review - ml5.js: Image Classification with MobileNet
  • Review - Image classification to gif with ML5.js | Vue.js Virtual Meetup

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to OpenCV and ML5.js)
Data Science And Machine Learning
AI
0 0%
100% 100
Data Science Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare OpenCV and ML5.js

OpenCV Reviews

7 Best Computer Vision Development Libraries in 2024
From the widespread adoption of OpenCV with its extensive algorithmic support to TensorFlow's role in machine learning-driven applications, these libraries play a vital role in real-world applications such as object detection, facial recognition, and image segmentation.
10 Python Libraries for Computer Vision
OpenCV is the go-to library for computer vision tasks. It boasts a vast collection of algorithms and functions that facilitate tasks such as image and video processing, feature extraction, object detection, and more. Its simple interface, extensive documentation, and compatibility with various platforms make it a preferred choice for both beginners and experts in the field.
Source: clouddevs.com
Top 8 Alternatives to OpenCV for Computer Vision and Image Processing
OpenCV is an open-source computer vision and machine learning software library that was first released in 2000. It was initially developed by Intel, and now it is maintained by the OpenCV Foundation. OpenCV provides a set of tools and software development kits (SDKs) that help developers create computer vision applications. It is written in C++, but it supports several...
Source: www.uubyte.com
Top 8 Image-Processing Python Libraries Used in Machine Learning
These are some of the most basic operations that can be performed with the OpenCV on an image. Apart from this, OpenCV can perform operations such as Image Segmentation, Face Detection, Object Detection, 3-D reconstruction, feature extraction as well.
Source: neptune.ai
5 Ultimate Python Libraries for Image Processing
Pillow is an image processing library for Python derived from the PIL or the Python Imaging Library. Although it is not as powerful and fast as openCV it can be used for simple image manipulation works like cropping, resizing, rotating and greyscaling the image. Another benefit is that it can be used without NumPy and Matplotlib.

ML5.js Reviews

We have no reviews of ML5.js yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, OpenCV should be more popular than ML5.js. It has been mentiond 59 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

OpenCV mentions (59)

  • Top Programming Languages for AI Development in 2025
    Ideal For: Computer vision, NLP, deep learning, and machine learning. - Source: dev.to / 8 days ago
  • Why 2024 Was the Best Year for Visual AI (So Far)
    Almost everyone has heard of libraries like OpenCV, Pytorch, and Torchvision. But there have been incredible leaps and bounds in other libraries to help support new tasks that have helped push research even further. It would be impossible to thank each and every project and the thousands of contributors who have helped make the entire community better. MedSAM2 has been helping bring the awesomeness of SAM2 to the... - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • 20 Open Source Tools I Recommend to Build, Share, and Run AI Projects
    OpenCV is an open-source computer vision and machine learning software library that allows users to perform various ML tasks, from processing images and videos to identifying objects, faces, or handwriting. Besides object detection, this platform can also be used for complex computer vision tasks like Geometry-based monocular or stereo computer vision. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • F1 FollowLine + HSV filter + PID Controller
    This library is used for image and video processing, offering functions for tasks like object detection, filtering, and transformations in computer vision. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Built in Days, Acquired for $20K: The NuloApp Story
    First of all, OpenCV, an open-source computer vision library, was used as the main editing tool. This is how NuloApp is able to get the correct aspect ratio for smartphone content, and do other cool things like centering the video on the speaker so that they aren't out of frame when the aspect ratio is changed. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
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ML5.js mentions (10)

  • How AI is Transforming Front-End Development in 2025!
    Ml5.js: Built on top of TensorFlow.js, it provides a user-friendly interface for implementing machine learning in web applications.​. - Source: dev.to / 14 days ago
  • Riffr - Create Photo Montages in the Browser with some ML Magic✨
    Important APIs - ml5 for in-browser detection, face-api that uses tensorflow-node to accelerate on-server detection. VueUse for a bunch of useful component tools like the QR Code generator. Yahoo's Gifshot for creating gif files in-browser etc. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Brain.js: GPU Accelerated Neural Networks in JavaScript
    See also: https://ml5js.org/ "The library provides access to machine learning algorithms and models in the browser, building on top of TensorFlow.js with no other external dependencies.". - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago
  • [Showoff Saturday] I made a captcha prototype that requires a banana
    I used ml5js.org , p5js.org and https://teachablemachine.withgoogle.com to train the Banana images. When you create a new image project on Teachable Machine, you can output the p5js and basically use it right out of the box - I customized js, css, and html from there. Source: about 3 years ago
  • My First 30 Days of 100 Days of Code.
    Going forward: I'll be 100% into JavaScript. You can use JavaScript in so many fields nowadays. Websites React, Mobile Apps React Native, Machine Learning TensorFlow & ML5, Desktop Applications Electron, and of course the backend Node as well. It's kind of a no-brainer. Of course, they all have specific languages that are better, but for now, JavaScript is a bit of a catch-all. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing OpenCV and ML5.js, you can also consider the following products

Pandas - Pandas is an open source library providing high-performance, easy-to-use data structures and data analysis tools for the Python.

Amazon Machine Learning - Machine learning made easy for developers of any skill level

Scikit-learn - scikit-learn (formerly scikits.learn) is an open source machine learning library for the Python programming language.

Machine Learning Playground - Breathtaking visuals for learning ML techniques.

NumPy - NumPy is the fundamental package for scientific computing with Python

Evidently AI - Open-source monitoring for machine learning models