Model comparison · YOLO11 vs YOLOv8

YOLO11 vs YOLOv8

A size-tier-by-size-tier comparison of Ultralytics YOLO11 and Ultralytics YOLOv8: published COCO accuracy, parameter counts, licensing and which one to reach for. Every figure is the model authors' own, linked to its source.

CompareYOLO11
AgainstYOLOv8
42%fewer params

mAP comparison

YOLO11YOLOv8
34.540.346.051.857.5mAPNanoSmallMediumLargeExtra largeModel size tierYOLO11n: 39.5 mAP, 2.6M paramsYOLO11s: 47.0 mAP, 9.4M paramsYOLO11m: 51.5 mAP, 20.1M paramsYOLO11l: 53.4 mAP, 25.3M paramsYOLO11x: 54.7 mAP, 56.9M paramsYOLOv8n: 37.3 mAP, 3.2M paramsYOLOv8s: 44.9 mAP, 11.2M paramsYOLOv8m: 50.2 mAP, 25.9M paramsYOLOv8l: 52.9 mAP, 43.7M paramsYOLOv8x: 53.9 mAP, 68.2M params

YOLO11

  • Nano 39.5
  • Small 47.0
  • Medium 51.5
  • Large 53.4
  • Extra large 54.7

YOLOv8

  • Nano 37.3
  • Small 44.9
  • Medium 50.2
  • Large 52.9
  • Extra large 53.9
COCO mAP at 640px, as published by each model’s authors. The y axis spans 34.5 to 57.5 rather than starting at zero, so small differences stay visible. Points are the published checkpoints; the joining lines are for reading order only.

Accuracy and size, tier by tier

Each row pairs the equivalent rung of both size ladders, so the numbers sit side by side at comparable capacity. Every figure is the model authors’ own.

  • COCO mAP50-95 @ 640px
  • mAP: higher is better
  • Params (M): lower is better
YOLO11 and YOLOv8 compared at each size tier: published COCO mAP50-95 at 640px and parameter counts in millions.
TierYOLO11YOLOv8Δ mAP
ModelmAPParamsModelmAPParams
NanoYOLO11n39.52.6MYOLOv8n37.33.2M+2.2
SmallYOLO11s47.09.4MYOLOv8s44.911.2M+2.1
MediumYOLO11m51.520.1MYOLOv8m50.225.9M+1.3
LargeYOLO11l53.425.3MYOLOv8l52.943.7M+0.5
Extra largeYOLO11x54.756.9MYOLOv8x53.968.2M+0.8

Δ mAP is YOLO11 minus YOLOv8: positive means YOLO11 is ahead at that tier. Sources: YOLO11 docs · YOLOv8 docs

Additional information

  • YOLO11 posts the higher published COCO mAP at all 5 matched size tiers, averaging 1.38 mAP ahead of YOLOv8. The gap is widest at the nano tier, where YOLO11 leads by 2.2 mAP. At the top of each range, YOLO11 reaches 54.7 mAP against 53.9.

  • 42% fewer parameters, same accuracy. YOLO11l reaches 53.4 mAP from 25.3M parameters, matching or beating YOLOv8l at 52.9 mAP from 43.7M.

    Parameter count is not latency. It is a good proxy for download size and memory, but throughput depends on your hardware, batch size and export format, so measure on your own target.

YOLO11

The best-supported all-round default across five tasks.

Released
2024 · Ultralytics
License
AGPL-3.0
Framework
Ultralytics (PyTorch)
Tasks
Detect, Segment, Classify, Pose, OBB

An anchor-free, single-pass detector that predicts objects in one shot across five vision tasks, giving a strong balance of speed and accuracy for everyday production use.

Download YOLO11 weights →

YOLOv8

The workhorse that made anchor-free multi-task YOLO mainstream.

Released
2023 · Ultralytics
License
AGPL-3.0
Framework
Ultralytics (PyTorch)
Tasks
Detect, Segment, Classify, Pose, OBB

The anchor-free model that made multi-task YOLO mainstream: one architecture for detection, segmentation, pose, classification and OBB, with the largest ecosystem.

Download YOLOv8 weights →

YOLO11 and YOLOv8 against the whole lineage

YOLO11 and YOLOv8 against every other detector here, on one shared scale. The rest are dimmed; hover any row to bring it back.

Every YOLO detector in this section, with release year, publisher, published COCO mAP50-95 range at 640px, parameter-count range and licence.
ModelReleasedmAP rangeParams rangeLicence
YOLO26202640.9 to 57.52.4M to 55.7MAGPL-3.0
YOLO12202540.6 to 55.22.6M to 59.1MAGPL-3.0
YOLO11202439.5 to 54.72.6M to 56.9MAGPL-3.0
YOLOv10202438.5 to 54.42.3M to 29.5MAGPL-3.0
YOLOv9202438.3 to 55.62.0M to 58.1MGPL-3.0
YOLOv8202337.3 to 53.93.2M to 68.2MAGPL-3.0
YOLOv5 (v5u)202034.3 to 53.22.6M to 97.2MAGPL-3.0