Roboflow

RoboflowReleased Mar 2025Apache 2.0

RF-DETR

On COCO val2017 (measured January 15, 2026), RF-DETR scores 48.4 to 59.9 mAP 50:95 across 6 sizes, the highest of the 60 detectors on leaderboard.roboflow.com.

RF-DETR is Apache 2.0 from Nano to Large; XL and 2XL use PML 1.0, which includes commercial use when you deploy on Roboflow.

RF-DETR Interactive Demo

RF-DETR Benchmarks

Accuracy and size of each RF-DETR size on the COCO val2017 detection benchmark, as measured by leaderboard.roboflow.com.

SizeMeasured atParamsmAP 50:95mAP 50Small objectsLicenseDemo
Nano384×38430.5M48.467.525.3Apache 2.0Try
Small512×51232.1M53.072.131.8Apache 2.0Try
Medium576×57633.7M54.873.636.0Apache 2.0Try
Large704×70433.9M56.374.837.4Apache 2.0Try
XL700×700126.4M58.577.140.1PML-1.0Try
2XL880×880126.9M59.978.243.2PML-1.0Try

COCO val2017 results from leaderboard.roboflow.com, last run January 2026.

RF-DETR Overview

RF-DETR is a real-time transformer-based object detection model developed by Roboflow, with code and weights first released in March 2025. Its largest size, 2XL, reaches 59.9 mAP 50:95 on Microsoft COCO val2017, the highest of the 60 detectors on leaderboard.roboflow.com. It is built on a DINOv2 vision transformer backbone, with weight-sharing neural architecture search used to identify accuracy-latency trade-offs. The full family spans six sizes from Nano (30.5M parameters, 384×384 input) to 2XL (126.9M parameters, 880×880 input), with the accompanying research paper accepted to ICLR 2026.

Deploy RF-DETR with an API

RF-DETR runs as a hosted REST endpoint through Roboflow Workflows. Pick a task, then hand the prompt to your coding agent or copy the code. Deploying the workflow into a free Roboflow workspace replaces the your-workspace and YOUR_API_KEY placeholders with your own.

Connect your agent to Roboflow (once)

Add the Roboflow MCP server

claude mcp add --transport http roboflow https://mcp.roboflow.com/mcp

Run /mcp and authorize Roboflow in your browser when the OAuth flow opens.

Start a new Claude Code session so the MCP loads, then paste the prompt below (it works the same in any agent).

Deploy this workflow to your Roboflow workspace to use it.

Integrate the Roboflow "RF-DETR" workflow into my app.

- Endpoint: POST https://serverless.roboflow.com/<your-workspace>/workflows/rf-detr-object-detection-coco-medium
- Auth: send my Roboflow API key as `api_key` in the request body, read from the ROBOFLOW_API_KEY env var (never hardcode).
- Body: { "api_key": ..., "inputs": { `image`: { type: "url" | "base64", value } } }.

With the Roboflow MCP connected, call `workflows_get` on "rf-detr-object-detection-coco-medium" to read the exact input schema (the source of truth), then `workflows_run` on a sample image to confirm the output shape before writing code (the MCP is authenticated, so this needs no key). Without the MCP, use the contract above.

Before running the app, set up these keys so it does not error at runtime:
- `ROBOFLOW_API_KEY` (sent as `api_key`) from https://app.roboflow.com/settings/api
Create a .gitignore'd .env with these variables, using placeholder values for any I haven't given you. Then pause and tell me directly, in your reply: the full path to the .env file, exactly which keys I need to paste in, and the link to get each one. Wait for me to confirm I've added them before you run anything. Do not run the app until I confirm.

Then add the integration to my codebase: match my project's language, framework, and conventions; read every key from environment variables (never hardcode); add basic error handling; and include a small runnable example. If you can't tell what language my project uses, ask me.
Installpip install inference-sdk

Deploy this workflow to your Roboflow workspace to use it.

# 1. Import the library
from inference_sdk import InferenceHTTPClient

# 2. Connect to your workflow
client = InferenceHTTPClient(
  api_url="https://serverless.roboflow.com",
  api_key="YOUR_API_KEY"
)

# 3. Run your workflow on an image
result = client.run_workflow(
  workspace_name="your-workspace",
  workflow_id="rf-detr-object-detection-coco-medium",
  images={
    "image": "YOUR_IMAGE.jpg"  # Path to your image file
  },
  use_cache=True  # cache workflow definition for 15 minutes
)

# 4. Get your results
print(result)

Deploy this workflow to your Roboflow workspace to use it.

const response = await fetch('https://serverless.roboflow.com/your-workspace/workflows/rf-detr-object-detection-coco-medium', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    api_key: 'YOUR_API_KEY',
    inputs: {
      "image": {"type": "url", "value": "IMAGE_URL"}
    }
  })
});

const result = await response.json();
console.log(result);

Deploy this workflow to your Roboflow workspace to use it.

curl --location 'https://serverless.roboflow.com/your-workspace/workflows/rf-detr-object-detection-coco-medium' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
  "api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
  "inputs": {
    "image": {"type": "url", "value": "IMAGE_URL"}
  }
}'

RF-DETR License

Apache-2.0 · Permissive license

RF-DETR is released under the Apache 2.0 license, so it's commercially usable out of the box: you can ship it in closed-source, commercial products, including self-hosted deployments, without paying a license fee or open-sourcing your code. The RF-DETR license is permissive, so no separate commercial license is required. RF-DETR XL and 2XL use the Roboflow Platform Model License (PML 1.0): commercial use is included when you deploy on Roboflow, and commercial self-hosting requires the Enterprise add-on.

Commercial use
Permitted. Because Apache-2.0 is permissive, RF-DETR can ship inside paid products and internal systems with no commercial license and no revenue threshold.
Modification
Permitted. Fine-tuning, quantizing, and distilling are all allowed, and your code changes can stay closed. Files you change must be marked as changed.
Redistribution
Permitted with attribution. Ship the Apache-2.0 license text and any NOTICE file alongside the weights or derived code.

Apache-2.0 grants an express patent license that terminates if you bring a patent claim over the work, and it disclaims warranties. Validate RF-DETR on your own data before you depend on it in production.

Read the full Apache 2.0 license ↗

Do I need a commercial license for RF-DETR?

This is the straightforward case: a permissive license is the best technical solution and you are free to deploy RF-DETR commercially without open-sourcing your own code.

Do not hesitate to reach out with questions for your commercial project. Our team will help you start solving business problems on the first call. See Roboflow commercial licensing for the models included in each plan.

Talk to sales

RF-DETR Nano, Small, Medium, and Large are released under the Apache 2.0 license, so they're commercially usable out of the box: you can ship them in closed-source, commercial products, including self-hosted deployments, without paying a license fee or open-sourcing your code. RF-DETR XL and 2XL use the Roboflow Platform Model License (PML 1.0): commercial use is included when you deploy on Roboflow, and commercial self-hosting requires the Enterprise add-on.

Yes, with one size caveat. RF-DETR Nano, Small, Medium, and Large are released under Apache 2.0, so you can use them commercially, including in closed-source products and self-hosted deployments, with no license fee. RF-DETR XL and 2XL use the Roboflow Platform Model License (PML 1.0): commercial use is included when you deploy on Roboflow, and commercial self-hosting requires the Enterprise add-on.

License information is provided as a guide and is not legal advice.

RF-DETR Details

Details

Categoryopen
ModalityVision
Parameters30.5M-126.9M
LicenseApache-2.0
Release DateMar 2025

Vision Tasks

Object Detection

Usage

Past 30 Days

Frequently Asked Questions About RF-DETR

On the COCO val2017 detection benchmark, RF-DETR scores 48.4 to 59.9 mAP 50:95 across 6 sizes. RF-DETR 2XL (126.9M parameters) scores highest. Results are from leaderboard.roboflow.com.

RF-DETR comes in 6 sizes: Nano (384×384), Small (512×512), Medium (576×576), Large (704×704), XL (700×700), 2XL (880×880). Smaller variants run faster on constrained hardware; larger ones trade speed for accuracy. You can switch sizes in the demo to compare them on the same image.

Yes. The demo on this page runs RF-DETR in the free Roboflow Playground: upload an image and see results in seconds. A free account unlocks unlimited runs.