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Pyyan / Compare / OWLv2 vs YOLO26 vs YOLOv12

OWLv2 vs YOLO26 vs YOLOv12

3 of 5

Object Detection · verified 13 Aug 2026

×OWLv2Googlecurrent
×YOLO26Ultralyticscurrent
×YOLOv12Ultralyticscurrent
2 slots left
SpecificationOWLv2YOLO26YOLOv12
SummaryOpen-vocabulary detection trained with self-labelling.The latest in the line most people mean by object detection.Attention-centric YOLO, still widely deployed.
COCO mAP~45 zero-shot~55~55
SpeedModerateVery highVery high
LicenceApache 2.0AGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
FamilyOpen vocabularySingle stageSingle stage
Open vocabularyYesNoNo
Released202320262025
CategoryObject DetectionObject DetectionObject Detection
OfficialGoogle ↗Ultralytics ↗Ultralytics ↗

Highlighted rows are where these differ.

OWLv2

  • Accepts an image as the query, not just text

Best for querying by example image.

Full spec sheet →

YOLO26

  • Strong on Jetson, Snapdragon and ARM CPUs
  • AGPL-3.0: open-source your derivative work or buy a licence

Best for edge and mobile deployment.

Full spec sheet →

YOLOv12

  • Attention added to the classic single-stage design
  • Same licensing consideration as YOLO26

Best for teams already on the YOLO toolchain.

Full spec sheet →