A free Vector Magic alternative
Vector Magic is the long-standing name in automatic tracing, and it is genuinely good at what it does. It is also paid. If you are looking for an alternative, the differences worth knowing are the price, where the tracing happens, and what comes out the other end.
Price
Vector Magic is paid: a subscription for the online version, or a one-off licence for the desktop edition. Tracing here is free and unlimited in your browser; paid plans cover the machine formats, and free downloads of pictures carry a watermark.
Where the file goes
Vector Magic's online version uploads your image and traces it on their servers; its desktop edition traces on your own computer, after you install it. Ours traces in the browser tab: nothing is uploaded and nothing is installed, so a drawing under NDA never leaves the machine.
What you can export
Both write the formats print and CAD use: SVG, EPS, PDF and DXF. Ours also writes DWG, G-code, HPGL for vinyl cutters, STL and embroidery files, so a traced logo can go straight to a laser, a router, a cutter or a printer without a second tool in between.
Cutting-specific output
A print tracer has no reason to offer a single-outline mono trace, a centerline pass for engraving, kerf compensation or cut ordering. Those are the difference between a file that looks right and one that cuts right, and they are the reason this exists.
Trace quality
Both do a good job on flat-colour artwork, and Vector Magic has had years of refinement: on hard images it may well win. Try your own file in both. On a photograph any tracer is guessing, and the honest answer is to find the original vector if one exists.
Try it on your own file
The only comparison that settles it is your artwork through both tools. Ours is free and needs no account.