Building vs. Buying a Computer Vision Platform

Roboflow offers an end-to-end solution for building and deploying computer vision models, addressing many challenges faced by developers who build their own machine learning pipelines. The platform streamlines processes such as image uploading, annotation, dataset generation, model training, deployment, and performance optimization, alleviating common issues like version control, lack of centralization, and slow training times. By providing a centralized cloud-based workspace, Roboflow ensures that all team members, including non-technical stakeholders, have access to the entire workflow, thus reducing dependency on individual developers and mitigating setbacks from employee turnover. The tool supports transfer and active learning, enhancing model performance and reducing the time needed for training iterations. Roboflow also simplifies deployment across various platforms and offers expert support and educational resources, which can significantly lower long-term costs compared to maintaining an in-house team. The company encourages potential users to evaluate their existing systems through a "bake-off" to compare the effectiveness of Roboflow's platform against custom-built solutions.