When translators work on a bunch of strings listed in spreadsheets and CSVs, they're essentially flying blind.
Without seeing where these phrases appear, even experienced linguists struggle to make the right call on tone, length, and word choice.
In-context editors (ICE) tools like Lokalise solve this issue by giving translators a real-time preview of the pages or apps they’re translating. So, they can see each string in the actual interface and edit it accordingly.
The payoff: faster turnaround, fewer revision cycles, and translations that fit your design intuitively.
This guide compares the five best ICE tools for localization, breaking down how contextual translation works on each platform and what sets them apart.
| Feature | Lokalise | Smartling | Crowdin | Phrase | Transifex |
| Best for | All kinds of teams looking for real-time design feedback | Automatic visual context capture for websites and apps with complex layouts | Agile developer and product teams that need fast, visual context | Companies with heavy CMS usage, design-driven workflows, and need for workflow automation | Product teams in SMBs with simple web/mobile apps, limited dynamic content |
| Setup method | JavaScript (LiveJS) | JS library, Chrome extension, or proxy | JavaScript (one-line snippet) | JavaScript (one-line snippet) | JavaScript |
| Real-time editing speed | Instant: Changes appear immediately in browser; no reload needed | Near-instant: Dynamic HTML updates as you type in CAT tool | Instant: Direct DOM manipulation; changes visible immediately | Fast: Translations update on page as you select target language | Moderate: Edits and previews update with some delay; customer reviews and forum threads mention moderate latency |
| Framework compatibility | React, Vue, Angular, Next.js, i18next; iOS/Android SDKs with OTA | Web-focused; JavaScript library, Chrome extension; no mobile SDKs available | React, Vue, Angular, iOS/Android SDKs with OTA updates | Ruby on Rails, Angular, Symfony, Django, React, i18next; web-only | JavaScript-based; works with any web framework; iOS and Android SDKs |
| Visual context quality | Very High: LiveJS renders actual production site with real CSS/layout, and design tool sync (Figma/Sketch) | High: Dynamic HTML preview updates in real-time, automated screenshot capture with OCR | High: Direct site overlay with actual styling; handles dynamic content well | Medium-High: Real-time preview on website; Figma preview in CAT editor | Medium-High: Live site rendering via JavaScript; works on actual domain with authentication |
| Screenshot OCR | Yes, automatic | Partial | Yes | Partial | No |
| Design tool integration | Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD | Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD (via import/export) | Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD | Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD | Figma, Sketch |
| Starting price | $144/month (Explorer) | Custom quote | $50/month (Open) | $27/month (Freelancer) | $135/month (Starter) |
👀 Why it’s important to choose the right in-context editor tools
Without an in-context editing tool, your localization team struggles with context deficit.
Context deficit creates information gaps where translators can’t see the placement of keys in the actual UI. As a result, they’re forced to guess the tone, length, and characteristics for every key.
This context deficit can lead to expensive translation errors. A mistranslated CTA can tank your conversion rates, and overflowing text can create friction in your user experience. And your localization team might end up spending a lot of time and effort fixing these errors.
A good ICE tool can prevent this time drain and give translators the full picture before they start editing content, not after deployment.
Lokalise is the best in-context editor for teams of all sizes that need real-time visual feedback when translating content.
The platform's LiveJS editor allows translators to edit strings while browsing the actual website. Any changes made are instantly visible in the browser. This makes it particularly strong for iterative localization where translators, designers, and product managers need to collaborate on final copy in one place.
Lokalise also syncs with Figma, Sketch, and Adobe XD, pulling in design screenshots and linking them to your translation keys. This means translators can start working before a single line of code is written, and see exactly how the translated copy will look in context across different screens.
⚡Three pillars of context for localization
The more context you share with translators, the better output you can receive. With Lokalise, give your translators three types of context:
This eliminates back-and-forth questions, reduces revision cycles, and helps translators choose the right words the first time.
Lokalise's in-context editing tools work best for:
While emphasizing the importance of context in the localization process, Julio Leal, Localization Manager at Spendesk, explains how Lokalise makes things easy for his team.
One of the things we love about Lokalise is its screenshot integration, which gives translators immediate contextual information about where their translation will appear. The Figma integration is especially valuable because all that visual context gets imported directly into the strings. Translators no longer have to hesitate or guess the meaning or intent behind an English string—they have everything they need upfront.
There are three main reasons why Lokalise's in-context editing stands out:
👏 xarvio’s case study
xarvio launched its mobile app in 100+ countries and 30 languages, powered by Lokalise. The team uses the in-context editor to instantly preview changes, leave comments for team members, and publish changes to the live app.
Read more about how Lokalise is driving xarvio’s global growth.
Lokalise has a free plan and a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. Paid plans start from $144/month (billed annually):
LiveJS functionality is available on Growth plans and above.
Smartling automates visual context capture to show translators what each string looks like in its actual visual environment (website, app, or document).
The platform supports both static and dynamic visual context. It automatically scans your website/app/file and captures screenshots of every page. Then, it uses optical character recognition (OCR) to identify translatable text, and binds those text segments to strings in your project to create an interactive HTML preview.
Smartling’s Chrome Extension comes in handy when you want to capture visuals and feed them into its in-context editor tool.
Smartling's in-context capabilities work best for:
Smartling's visual context system is built around three core capabilities:
Smartling also renders HTML context in the RTL direction for languages like Arabic and Hebrew. Plus, its integrations with popular creative tools such as Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign) and Figma allow you to share visual context easily.
Smartling’s pricing isn’t available publicly. It offers tiered plans (Core and Enterprise) with custom quotes based on volume of content, number of languages, and scope of automation. Visual Context is included in both tiers.
Crowdin creates an overlay for your website or app, allowing translators to make changes in any target language directly on the interface. Once you add a one-live JavaScript transcript to your website or app, its in-context editor makes all the text editable. It uses a pseudo-language to give each string a special identifier. So, when translators make changes, the tool knows which strings to replace based on the identifiers.
Put simply, its ICE tool creates a high-fidelity translation environment. Click on any text to open the editor panel with that string's context, translation history, and suggestions.
Crowdin’s in-context editing function also doubles as a QA tool because it offers real-time visibility into your localized sites/apps. Project managers can use this to review translations in situ and approve or reject them on the spot.
Crowdin's in-context localization works best for:
Crowdin's in-context approach stands out for three reasons:
What stands out about Crowdin’s in-context editing tool is its technology-agnostic nature. It works with any tech stack as long as you configure it correctly with its JavaScript snippet.
Crowdin has a free Open Source license. Paid plans start from $50/month (billed annually). In-context localization is available on Team and Team+ plans.
Phrase Strings’ in-context editor is specifically designed for software localization. It works with key-value localization file structures common in web apps, mobile sites, and SaaS platforms. That said, it also supports other content types like websites, mobile sites, and more.
Instead of creating a visual overlay, the tool lets you work with the Strings editor with multilingual view, batch actions, translation memory, and collaboration features.
One of its standout features is Context View. It tracks where each translation key appears on your website. When you’re in the Strings editor, click on any key to jump directly to its location on the live site.
Phrase Strings' ICE works best for:
Phrase Strings' ICE stands out for three reasons specific to software localization:
Phrase Strings’ ICE tool also bridges the gap between design and development workflows with its Figma plugin. Translators can get a live Figma preview to see translation changes in the design layout.
Phrase offers plans for different types of users.
ICE is available on Professional plan and above for freelancers and all other plans for developers and teams.
Transifex Live is an in-context editor for localizing your website and landing pages. Like Smartling, the tool uses a JavaScript snippet to create an editable translation layer for your site’s interface. Click any highlighted string, translate it in the panel, and get an instant preview. So translators can see how their work affects the design output in real time.
A key differentiator for Transifex Live is that it works with both static and dynamic content, including gated pages. That means you can localize customer portals, web apps, and private pages without any coding or deployment needs.
Besides, the Transifex editor is available within the Transifex Live window. So, you can easily access tools like machine translation, glossary, translation memory, and more.
Transifex Live works best for:
Transifex Live's in-context editor offers three core strengths:
Transifex offers a volume-based pricing plan, starting with $135/month. Transifex Live is included in Growth and Enterprise+ plans, while the free tier has limited Live functionality.
An in-context editor (ICE) allows translators, designers, QA reviewers, and all contributors to directly view every string in a translatable interface and preview the changes in real time.
This real-time visual feedback eliminates the guesswork that goes into translating abstract strings in a CSV file or translation management system.
Instead of seeing “homepage.cta.button”: “Get Started” in a spreadsheet, you can click on the actual interface and see how this button looks. Edit it to see how the translated version looks and make changes to adapt according to the layout constraints and design requirements.
In-context editing tools solve three fundamental problems that slow localization projects and inflate costs:
When a German translation pushes a button label outside its container, translators see it immediately in the actual interface. They adjust the copy before the string enters your codebase.
This removes the inevitable delays when designers discover this overflow issue and wait for translators’ availability to fix it.
The word “home” translates differently depending on whether it appears in navigation ("Home"), real estate listings ("Haus"), or welcome messages ("Zuhause" or "Willkommen").
ICE tools show translators the exact UI placement for every string. As a result, they can choose the right words for the intended tone.
ICE tools compress the traditional “translate-review-revise-deploy” cycle into a single step. In this cycle, each iteration adds wait time and context-switching overhead.
With in-context editing, translators see issues, fix them, and confirm visual fit in one go. This can reduce iteration cycles and cut project timelines from weeks to days.
Now, let’s jump to our recommendations for the top ICE tools in the market.
With all these in-context editors, you’re likely wondering which one is the best one for your needs. The choice ultimately comes down to your content type, team structure, and workflow priorities.
So, pilot 2-3 tools on a free trial and work with your translators to evaluate the translation experience. While testing different options, you can also track turnaround time and revision cycles to compare different options.
More importantly, see which ICE tool integrates seamlessly with your CMS, design tools, and deployment pipeline. If you’re still doing manual busywork in this workflow, you need a better solution.
That’s why Lokalise is the best in-context editing tool for all kinds of use cases. The platform’s in-context editing capabilities are designed for real-time visual feedback combined with design tool integration.
So, translators, designers, QA reviewers, and developers are all in the loop of what’s working.
Ready to see how Lokalise fits your workflow? Start a 14-day free trial to test it out.
Author
Shreelekha has spent the last 7 years helping B2B brands tell their stories through product-led content. Her ability to perform deep, journalistic research and build engaging narratives around complex topics is one of her strongest suits.
Thanks to her collaboration with eCommerce-focused brands, she's written extensively about international growth and gained firsthand experience in localized marketing. As she researched markets across Europe, the Americas, and Asia, she developed an instinct for cultural nuances that shape how different audiences engage with content. This sparked a deeper curiosity about how people navigate the virtual world. Through her contributions to the Lokalise blog, she's pursuing this curiosity.
Shreelekha is also skilled at creating product-led content. Her work with brands like WordPress, Backlinko, Softr, and Riverside continues to hone her skills as a writer, researcher, and marketer.
A big football and F1 fan, Shreelekha is currently learning Spanish and Japanese to feel more connected to her favorite sports and athletes.
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