Face Analyzer
Count the faces in a photo and box each one. Works with group shots, selfies, and crowd images. No age, gender or mood profiling — and no identity matching.
3,500+ photos analyzed
Only upload a photo you have the right to use. If someone else is in it, you need their consent. This tool never identifies anyone and never estimates age, gender or emotion — Terms.
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AI Detection
Neural network trained on millions of faces for accurate detection, even in group shots and crowds.
Group Shots
Counts every face in crowds and group photos, and numbers each one on the annotated image.
No Profiling
Counts faces and nothing else. No age, gender or mood estimation, no identity matching, no data about the people in the photo.
100% Private
Runs entirely in your browser. Photos never leave your device. Only upload photos you have the right to use.
Detection method
The counter uses face-api.js with TinyFaceDetector running entirely in your browser. Upload any image to count face positions — the model identifies them, tells you how many faces are present, and marks each with a bounding box overlay. It processes group photos, crowd shots, and multi-face compositions without uploading images to any server. Detection works across different skin tones, lighting conditions, and face sizes, though very small faces in high-resolution crowd images may need the image to be cropped for best results.
Tips for best results
Front-facing, well-lit photos give the highest accuracy. Faces turned away, heavily occluded, or at extreme angles may be missed by the detector. Very small faces in large crowd photos need higher resolution to be recognized — try cropping the image to focus on specific groups. Good lighting and minimal motion blur improve detection rates. For assessing overall image quality before face counting, pair with the Quality Analyzer.
Common use cases
Event photographers use it to count people in photo group shots for invoicing or coverage verification. Security and compliance teams audit images for the number of individuals present. Social media managers select group photos that include everyone from an event. Teachers verify class photo headcounts. Researchers analyze crowd density in documentation or archival photos. Real estate photographers confirm no unintended faces appear in property listing images.
Privacy considerations
Photos with faces carry inherent privacy risks — they can identify individuals, reveal social connections, and expose locations when combined with metadata. Before sharing group photos publicly, check the Privacy Score to assess what metadata is embedded. Strip identifying data with the EXIF Remover. Our parent photo privacy guide covers specific concerns around sharing photos of children online.
Face counting is a practical tool that goes beyond simple curiosity. In professional photography, knowing the exact headcount in a group shot matters for billing, coverage guarantees, and print sizing. In content moderation, automated face counting helps flag images that may require privacy review before publication. The TinyFaceDetector model is lightweight enough to run in real-time in the browser, making it accessible from any device without installing software. Unlike cloud-based face detection APIs that transmit images to remote servers, Scanly's approach keeps all processing local — an important distinction when handling photos of people. For a broader look at how photos reveal personal information, visit the photo privacy hub. To count faces in images you've already scanned for other data, use the online face counting guide for format and resolution recommendations. No signup or installation is required — just upload and get results. Read our how face detection works for tips, examples, and best practices.