Need a quick translation fix that doesn’t suck or won’t take days to get back to you? Fortunately, there’s an AI revolution, giving you access to a huge pool of advanced AI translation tools.
This article helps you cut through the noise to find the right one. But before you dive headfirst into this more modest-sized pool of AI translation software, here’s a quick overview of what we mean by ‘AI tools’.
MT vs. (generative) AI translation
AI translation and machine translation are often used interchangeably. But AI translation is now also being used to describe generative AI translation.
In this article, we’ll refer to tools that translate with generative AI as generative AI tools (GenAI). Not AI translation or machine translation tools. We’ll use AI translation and machine translation interchangeably for traditional machine translation tools, depending on how each tool describes its translation features.
To help you understand which tool uses what when we review each tool, here’s a quick explanation of the different types of “electronic brain” translations, below.
Machine Translation (MT)
Uses rules based on linguistic theories or statistical models. Good for understanding the general gist of text, but struggles with idiomatic, nuanced, or creative language, and often lacks context sensitivity.
AI (Artificial Intelligence) translation
Uses contextual clues, semantic understanding, and a vast amount of data to train its models, to deliver translations that are more accurate and natural than traditional machine translation. Learns from feedback, improves over time, and even manages industry-specific terminology and slang in various languages.
Generative AI (GenAI) Translation
A subset of AI translation. Instead of simply translating an input into an output, generative AI can create new, unique translations. It learns from sequences of sentences, known as sequence-to-sequence learning. The most famous example of generative AI is ChatGPT. These tools are better at recognizing context and generating translations that accurately reflect the original content’s tone and meaning.
Let’s dive in and discover some of the best AI translation tools to accelerate and assist you in your translation process.
9 of the best AI translation tools
Here’s how Lokalisers tested each tool:
- Lokalisers and native speakers tested each tool based on accuracy, speed, cost, and ease, and highlighted important factors to consider when choosing a tool.
- They gave each tool an accuracy score (5 being the worst, 1 being the best):
- Critical (5) Has a significant impact and may cause severe implications.
- Major (4) Has a considerable impact and may confuse or mislead the reader.
- Minor (3) Has a slight impact; does not cause loss of meaning nor confuse the reader.
- Neutral (2) Used to flag problems or need for changes that are not considered errors, for example, preferred stylistic changes. No penalty is associated.
- Kudos (1) Praise for exceptional work. No penalty is associated.
- They tested four languages: Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Latvian. For Spanish and Portuguese, dialects varied from one tool to the other.
- They translated an email of 148 words into four languages
1. Lokalise AI: GenAI translation + TMS in one
- Type: GenAI translation
- Total cost of translations: Depends on the bundle you choose
- Cost/word: From $0.01 (depending on how many words you need to translate)
- Overall accuracy score: 2.4 (1 being the best)
- Time: Less than 3 minutes
Lokalise AI is a generative AI translation tool that helps teams translate quickly and accurately. Built into a TMS (translation management system), not only can you translate, but you can manage all your translation projects and collaborate seamlessly through integrations, APIs, automations, and much more.
Lokalise AI delivers incredibly accurate translations at speed and scale. Simply add your content, either by importing it via integrations or uploading a file, choose your base language and target languages (various dialects are supported), and translate content in bulk.
By adding context, like style, tone of voice, and glossary, you can set rules and feed the AI instructions, fine-tuning translations to your needs and industry. Over time, translations will become more accurate. If you need to optimize for SEO or shorten translations for design, you can do that too with just one click. For additional accuracy, use translation memory to store approved translations to reuse in the future — this will also save you some dollars!
Lokalise AI also evaluates translation quality and generates QA reports with pass/fail scores, so you can identify specific issues and get linguists to focus on critical errors.
What’s good about Lokalise AI?
- One of the most accurate
- Supports 30 languages and their variations
- Translates in bulk in as many languages as you need
- Option to add context: style guide, content placement, tone of voice
- One-click shorten, rephrase, and SEO optimization features
- Style guide, translation memory, and glossary available
- Built into a TMS (translation system) for seamless localization management
- Translation volume discounts to accommodate expanding requirements
- 55 integrations with popular CMS tools, Github, Figma, and more
What’s not so good?
- You need to sign up for the TMS to use Lokalise AI (great option if you also need a TMS)
- Only powered by one large language model, OpenAI (more coming soon for even more accurate translation between language pairs)
2. ChatGPT: GenAI for translation and more
- Type: Generative AI translation (model 4.32k)
- Total cost of translations: Less than $0,18
- Cost/word: $0.06 / 1K tokens (input), $0.12 / 1K tokens (output) 1k tokens = 750 words
- Overall accuracy score: 2.5
- Time: 1 minute
ChatGPT was a recent turning point in AI and natural language processing.
Developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT (Chatbot Generalized Pre-training Transformer), is an advanced AI that has captured global attention for generating human-like content by responding to commands, otherwise known as prompts.
It has reshaped expectations around machine-human interaction, content generation, and even language translation. A lot of generative AI tools, including Lokalise AI, use OpenAI beneath the hood and then add their own layer of expertise on top for even better results.
When it comes to translation, ask ChatGPT to role-play as a native speaker and feed it the text you need to translate simply by pasting it into the UI. There’s also a translation template, and an Emoji translation template, just for fun.
ChatGPT wasn’t built for translation alone. It does everything, so keep in mind that it might not be as accurate as translation-focused tools.
Here’s the prompt we used to translate an email into each language:
You are a native [Language] speaker and translator. Translate this into [Target language]: [add copy here]
Once you’ve got the hang of it, ChatGPT is easy to use and incredibly quick.
What’s good about ChatGPT?
- Covers 50+ languages
- Super quick translations
- API available
- Easy to use
What’s not so good?
- Average for accuracy
- No integrations
- No option to upload a glossary or style guide with one click
- Data used to train models if not using API
- Manual process of copying and pasting copy to be translated if not using API
3. Taia: AI-assisted, human-perfected translations
- Type: AI translation
- Total cost of translations: $3.89
- Cost/word: $0,006
- Overall accuracy score: 3.2
- Time: Two business days. You can pay additional fees to expedite this but the minimum delivery is two days.
Taia Translations is an AI-assisted translation platform that helps companies translate and localize their documents, websites, and other content using a combination of AI-assisted, and human-perfected translations.
It’s easy to start a new project. You can only upload files or copy and paste text but there’s no option to integrate your CMS or repository to automate content exchange. However, there is an API. Taia supports 68 different file formats and you can tell the AI what type of content you need to translate for better translation quality.
There are 5 types of translation you can choose from, depending on the quality you need. For this article comparing tools without human assistance, we used the AI-only option. The translations cost anywhere between $0.54 for more common languages and $2.70 for languages such as Japanese.
Overall, the platform is easy to use and you don’t need to install any programs. Another bonus is that you get an instant rate estimate for your translations, so you know upfront how much you’ll need to spend.
What’s good about Taia?
- Machine-assisted + professional editing option is also available
- Covers 97 languages
- Instant rate estimates
- Long-term project support
What’s not so good?
- No integrations
- No generative AI capabilities
- No option to add a glossary and style guide
- Slow turnaround times
- Manual process of copying and pasting text
- Scored one of the worst in terms of accuracy
4. TextUnited: simple and fast translations
- Type: AI translation
- Total cost of translations: €70/month for 5k new words, 10 pdf pages, and 5 users (Basic subscription)
- Cost/word: €0,014
- Overall accuracy score: 2.4
- Time: Less than a minute
Take TextUnited for a test run before you subscribe, with a free trial. Once you’re in the platform, you can simply start a new project and choose to upload files from Dropbox, or your desktop, or you can simply copy and paste text. There’s also a choice of integrations, with the likes of WordPress, Github, and Figma, so you can automate content uploads.
Once you’ve uploaded your content, add your source and target languages, and choose machine translation. Once translations are complete you’ll get a notification and message in the web app, and an email letting you know translations are ready.
What’s good about TextUnited?
- One of the most accurate
- Free trial for 14 days
- Integrations available
- Fast translation turnaround times
- Option to deploy as a headless translation system via an API
What’s not so good?
- The translation is often too formal
- No generative AI capabilities
- No option to add a glossary and style guide to fine-tune accuracy
5. Copy.ai: GenAI content creation with translation capabilities
- Type: GenAI translation
- Total cost of translations: $49/mo for unlimited words
- Cost/word: Depends how much you use it
- Overall accuracy score: 2.3
- Time: less than 1 minute
With its Chat-GPT style user interface, Copy.ai is easy to use. Simply plug in the prompt, asking it to translate content into your target languages. You’ll need to specify the countries for different dialects, for example, Brazilian Portuguese or Chilean Spanish.
You can add your brand voice guide to make sure translations are on brand, then hit ‘enter’ and you’ll instantly receive translations.
Copy.ai doesn’t specialize in translations. It focuses on content creation and optimization, which is why you’ll find many templates for sales and marketing collateral.
While it’s a great tool for content creation, it’s not translation-focused.
What’s good about Copy.ai?
- One of the most accurate
- Translates into 95+ languages
- Option to upload brand voice guide
- User-friendly, GPT-style interface
- Workflow builder to connect your tools
What’s not so good?
- No option to add a glossary
- No translation memory
- No human translation option built-in
- No direct integrations. Done through Zapier.
6. DeepL: easy-to-use AI translator
- Type: AI translation
- Total cost of translations: $0 (but limited text translations on the free plan)
- Cost/word: $0
- Overall accuracy score: 3
- Time: 2 minutes
DeepL is a powerful translation tool that has grown in popularity over the years for its more accurate translations. Compared to Google Translate, DeepL is often preferred because it goes beyond word-for-word translations. It captures the context and nuances of the original text, making translations feel more natural and fluent.
With a free plan, a familiar interface, seamless integrations with Windows and iOS, and a Chrome plugin, DeepL is accessible to everyone. There’s the option to add a glossary, allowing you to set rules for how words and phrases are translated. However, the number of glossaries and entries is limited on the free plan.
DeepL also has an easy-to-use, real-time online document translator. You can translate your PDFs, Word Docs, PPTs, and more with a single click while preserving their original format.
What’s good about DeepL?
- Lifetime free plan
- API and Chrome plugins are available
- Supports translation in 31 languages
- Maintains formatting of the original document
What’s not so good?
- Scored one of the lowest in terms of accuracy
- No integrations with tools
- No option to upload your style guide or brand voice
- No translation memory
- Manual process of copying and pasting text to be translated
7. Google Translate: The most renowned translation tool
- Type: “Neural machine translation”
- Total cost of translations: $0 (but limited text translations on the free plan)
- Cost/word: $0
- Overall accuracy score: 2.3
- Time: 3 minutes
Google Translate is the most renowned of all the AI translation tools on this list. This comes as no surprise — it’s been around since 2006, it’s free, and is available in more than 130 languages, making it the translation tool with the widest range of language support.
Offering a simple user experience, it’s the go-to traveling companion for anyone who needs to ask for ‘an ice-cold beer’ on vacation in a non-English speaking country.
What’s good about Google Translate?
- One of the best for accuracy
- Easy to use
- Fast translations
- Good for low-visibility and non-critical translations
- Free to use
- Verified translations
What’s not so good?
- Manual process of copying and pasting text to be translated
- No integrations
- No generative AI capabilities
8. Bard: Google’s GenAI for translation and more
- Type: GenAI translation
- Total cost of translations: $0 (but limited text translations on the free plan)
- Cost/word: $0
- Overall accuracy score: 2.1
- Time: 3 minutes
Another one from Google, with a ChatGPT-feel and completely free, for now.
Just add your prompt, asking Bard to translate content into your target languages, and your results will appear instantly.
Bard even maintained formatting and separated each email with a header that specified the language of each email. One cool thing you can do in Bard that you can’t do in ChatGPT: you can upload images and ask the AI to translate the image text.
What’s good about Bard?
- The most accurate translation tool
- Supports more than 40 languages
- Friendly user interface
- Super quick translations
- Text-on-image translation (OCR capabilities)
What’s not so good?
- No integrations
- API is in beta and limited to several users
- No option to upload a glossary or style guide with one click
9. Bing Microsoft Translator: for business and personal Use
- Type: AI translation
- Total cost of translations: Free
- Cost/word: Free
- Overall accuracy score: 3.2
- Time: 5 minutes
Last but not least, Bing Microsoft Translator.
Bing offers text and speech translation via a simple user interface that’s similar to Google Translate and supports just over 100 languages.
To translate text into more than one language, you’ll have to copy and paste your text and translate it one by one.
You can’t store translations to re-use in the future and there are limited dialects, for example, you only have the option of Spanish and can’t break it down by Spanish-speaking countries.
Microsoft Translator offers a few other cool features like automatic language detection, widely used phrases, and the option to listen to the translation and download the app.
What’s good about Bing Microsoft Translator?
- Easy to use
- Free plan
- API available
What’s not so good?
- Scored one of the worst for accuracy
- No integrations
Conclusion
When choosing translation software, you need to look beyond speed and accuracy.
Yes, they’re important. But you also need to consider other factors, like how efficient and user-friendly it is, the number of languages it supports, and the integrations it offers.
Look out for features like translation memory, glossary, style guides, and content placement prompts so you can fine-tune your translations for your company, industry, project, and more.
These make a difference in translation quality over time.
At a glance, it’s clear that Generative AI translation tools outsmart their predecessors. They deliver fast, accurate, and cost-effective translations for global communication.
AI tools that specialize in translation have a huge advantage. They are focused on delivering the best possible output for different languages, and so the additional features used to fine-tune these models are geared towards translations.
Look out for features like a style guide, a glossary, translation memory, and AI quality assurance checks, for more accurate translations that are also on-brand.
- A style guide lets you set rules and exceptions so you can fine-tune translations and stay on brand
- Translation memory lets you store already approved translations
- Glossary allows you to add a list of industry terminology
- AI quality assurance flags translations that it doesn’t consider to be 100% accurate so you can pass only these for human review
A lot of these tools also offer the chance to bring in your own linguists for human translation and post-editing, which is a great option if you consider content to be critical.
Lokalise AI comes with a translation management system attached so you can manage your translations easily without all the back and forth with translators. You can even hire translators through the platform if you need to. Integrations mean you can easily sync content for translation, so you don’t need to manually copy and paste content.
The result is a tool that offers more than translation. Lokalise is a localization management platform for businesses that truly want to break down language barriers.
As generative AI translation technology continues to evolve, we can expect even better translations in the future. So, whether you’re just starting to explore the world of AI translations or you’re looking to upgrade your current solution, now is an excellent time to test which one is right for you.
Since you’re here, why not start with Lokalise AI?
