description: Explore the thrilling features of YOLOv8, the latest version of our real-time object detector! Learn how advanced architectures, pre-trained models and optimal balance between accuracy & speed make YOLOv8 the perfect choice for your object detection tasks.
YOLOv8 is the latest iteration in the YOLO series of real-time object detectors, offering cutting-edge performance in terms of accuracy and speed. Building upon the advancements of previous YOLO versions, YOLOv8 introduces new features and optimizations that make it an ideal choice for various object detection tasks in a wide range of applications.
- **Advanced Backbone and Neck Architectures:** YOLOv8 employs state-of-the-art backbone and neck architectures, resulting in improved feature extraction and object detection performance.
- **Anchor-free Split Ultralytics Head:** YOLOv8 adopts an anchor-free split Ultralytics head, which contributes to better accuracy and a more efficient detection process compared to anchor-based approaches.
- **Optimized Accuracy-Speed Tradeoff:** With a focus on maintaining an optimal balance between accuracy and speed, YOLOv8 is suitable for real-time object detection tasks in diverse application areas.
- **Variety of Pre-trained Models:** YOLOv8 offers a range of pre-trained models to cater to various tasks and performance requirements, making it easier to find the right model for your specific use case.
The YOLOv8 series offers a diverse range of models, each specialized for specific tasks in computer vision. These models are designed to cater to various requirements, from object detection to more complex tasks like instance segmentation, pose/keypoints detection, and classification.
Each variant of the YOLOv8 series is optimized for its respective task, ensuring high performance and accuracy. Additionally, these models are compatible with various operational modes including [Inference](../modes/predict.md), [Validation](../modes/val.md), [Training](../modes/train.md), and [Export](../modes/export.md), facilitating their use in different stages of deployment and development.
This table provides an overview of the YOLOv8 model variants, highlighting their applicability in specific tasks and their compatibility with various operational modes such as Inference, Validation, Training, and Export. It showcases the versatility and robustness of the YOLOv8 series, making them suitable for a variety of applications in computer vision.
See [Detection Docs](https://docs.ultralytics.com/tasks/detect/) for usage examples with these models trained on [COCO](https://docs.ultralytics.com/datasets/detect/coco/), which include 80 pre-trained classes.
See [Detection Docs](https://docs.ultralytics.com/tasks/detect/) for usage examples with these models trained on [Open Image V7](https://docs.ultralytics.com/datasets/detect/open-images-v7/), which include 600 pre-trained classes.
See [Segmentation Docs](https://docs.ultralytics.com/tasks/segment/) for usage examples with these models trained on [COCO](https://docs.ultralytics.com/datasets/segment/coco/), which include 80 pre-trained classes.
See [Classification Docs](https://docs.ultralytics.com/tasks/classify/) for usage examples with these models trained on [ImageNet](https://docs.ultralytics.com/datasets/classify/imagenet/), which include 1000 pre-trained classes.
See [Pose Estimation Docs](https://docs.ultralytics.com/tasks/segment/) for usage examples with these models trained on [COCO](https://docs.ultralytics.com/datasets/pose/coco/), which include 1 pre-trained class, 'person'.
This example provides simple YOLOv8 training and inference examples. For full documentation on these and other [modes](../modes/index.md) see the [Predict](../modes/predict.md), [Train](../modes/train.md), [Val](../modes/val.md) and [Export](../modes/export.md) docs pages.
Note the below example is for YOLOv8 [Detect](../tasks/detect.md) models for object detection. For additional supported tasks see the [Segment](../tasks/segment.md), [Classify](../tasks/classify.md) and [Pose](../tasks/pose.md) docs.
Please note that the DOI is pending and will be added to the citation once it is available. YOLOv8 models are provided under [AGPL-3.0](https://github.com/ultralytics/ultralytics/blob/main/LICENSE) and [Enterprise](https://ultralytics.com/license) licenses.
