kitio.aiScale AI vs Prodigy
A side-by-side look at pricing plans, free tiers, features, pros and cons, updated for 2026. Scale AI starts at See pricing page and Prodigy starts at See pricing page. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
At a glance
Best for
Category
Pricing model
Starting price
Free plan
Made by
Based in
Rating
Key features
- Managed data labeling
- RLHF and expert data
- Model evaluations
- Data Engine platform
- Public leaderboards
- Model-assisted annotation
- NER and text classification
- Image and AV labeling
- LLM prompt evaluation
- spaCy training
- Custom Python recipes
| Feature | Scale AI | Prodigy |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Training data, evaluation and data labeling for frontier AI | Scriptable annotation tool for training NLP, vision and LLM models |
| Category | Data & analytics | Data & analytics |
| Pricing model | Paid | Paid |
| Starting price | See pricing page | See pricing page |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Made by | Scale AI | Explosion |
| Based in | United States | Germany |
| Rating | No ratings yet | No ratings yet |
| Key features |
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Pricing compared
Scale AI starts at See pricing page and Prodigy starts at See pricing page. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
Free plan
Cheapest paid plan
Top plan
Free trial
Prices in USD, checked Oct 28, 2026 or later. Plans change often, so confirm on each tool's site before you buy.
Pros and cons
Scale AI
- Handles very large labeling projects
- Expert contributors for hard tasks
- Strong evaluation work
- Built for large contracts
- Some labs moved to rivals after Meta deal
Prodigy
- Runs fully on your own machines
- Tight integration with spaCy
- Highly scriptable workflows
- Needs command-line and Python skills
- No free tier
- You manage installation and hosting
Which one should you choose?
Choose Scale AI if you want:
- Handles very large labeling projects
- Expert contributors for hard tasks
- Strong evaluation work
Watch out: built for large contracts.
Choose Prodigy if you want:
- Runs fully on your own machines
- Tight integration with spaCy
- Highly scriptable workflows
Watch out: needs command-line and python skills.
Scale AI vs Prodigy FAQ
What is the difference between Scale AI and Prodigy?
Scale AI: Training data, evaluation and data labeling for frontier AI. Prodigy: Scriptable annotation tool for training NLP, vision and LLM models. Both are data & analytics tools.
Is Scale AI or Prodigy cheaper?
Scale AI starts at See pricing page and Prodigy starts at See pricing page. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
Do Scale AI and Prodigy have free plans?
Scale AI: No. Prodigy: No.
Who makes Scale AI?
Scale AI is made by Scale AI, based in United States.
Who makes Prodigy?
Prodigy is made by Explosion, based in Germany.
Which should I choose, Scale AI or Prodigy?
Choose Scale AI if you value handles very large labeling projects and expert contributors for hard tasks. Choose Prodigy if you value runs fully on your own machines and tight integration with spacy.