Translate.com
Discontinued Last verified: September 2026Affordable hybrid translation service combining machine translation with on-demand human translators, a low-cost alternative to enterprise TMS platforms
What is Translate.com?
Translate.com is an affordable hybrid translation service that combines machine translation with an on-demand network of human translators, targeting small businesses, solo professionals, and cost-conscious marketing teams. Unlike enterprise platforms like Smartling or LanguageWire, Translate.com kept pricing transparent and accessible, with a small free machine translation tier of 500 characters per month, paid web plans at $4, $6, and $20 per month for 30,000, 100,000, and 400,000 characters respectively, and per-word human translation from $0.07 per source word on the pay as you go tier. Those plans can no longer be bought: the pricing page shows no plan names or prices at all, only a notice that starting 1/08/26 Translate.com will no longer accept or process new orders. The company operates as both a direct-to-customer web service (translate.com) and a back-end translation provider for Zendesk, Freshdesk, Help Scout, Salesforce Service Cloud, Shopify, and WordPress with native integrations that let small teams localize support tickets, e-commerce product listings, and WordPress content without a full TMS deployment. The platform advertises 5,900+ machine translation language pairs and 110+ language pairs for professional human translation, uses neural MT as its default engine, and routes human translation to a vetted pool of freelance linguists. It is not as polished as DeepL or as feature-rich as Lokalise, but for a small business that needs to translate support tickets or product descriptions into 5-10 languages without a dedicated localization manager, Translate.com is genuinely useful and affordable. Notable 2024-2026 additions include AI-powered quality estimation, automatic glossary extraction from past translations, and a Chrome extension for translating web pages. Translate.com is the best pick for small teams who need some human translation on top of MT but cannot afford enterprise TMS contracts.
Translate.com demo video
Watch Translate's official demo to see Translate.com in action before reading our full review.
Official video by Translate via YouTube, embedded for reference. ToolChase does not host or claim this video.
⚡ Quick Verdict
Small businesses, solo professionals, and support teams needing affordable hybrid AI + human translation without enterprise TMS costs
Enterprise marketing teams or software product teams, better served by Smartling, Phrase, or Lokalise
No new orders accepted from 1/08/26 · Last published: web plans $4 to $20/mo, human translation from $0.07/word
A free online machine translation tool is still referenced, with no stated limit; the 500 characters per month figure is no longer displayed
Most affordable hybrid AI + human workflow with transparent per-word human translation pricing
Smaller feature set and less polished UI than enterprise TMS platforms
Bottom line: Translate.com scores 4.1/5 as the best cheap option for small businesses that occasionally need human translators layered on top of machine translation, but the pricing page now carries a notice that starting 1/08/26 the company will no longer accept or process new orders, and no current prices are published to replace the ones below. Not a serious alternative to Lokalise or Smartling for larger teams.
Pricing
New orders are not being accepted. Translate.com's pricing page no longer shows any plan or price. Its only substantive content is the notice: starting 1/08/26, we will no longer accept or process new orders. The figures below are what Translate.com last published and are kept for reference; they can no longer be purchased. The homepage is still live and carries no shutdown banner, but it describes only unpriced subscription plans that can be adjusted according to your needs, with a pointer to contact Sales.
Free, as last published: 500 characters per month of machine translation on the web, with ads. That figure is no longer displayed: the homepage references a free online machine translation tool without stating a character limit, and API signup mentions 1,000 characters for testing.
Starter Lite, $4/month ($3/mo billed annually): 30,000 characters per month, ads removed.
Starter, $6/month ($5/mo billed annually): 100,000 characters per month; the annual plan adds file translation.
Standard, $20/month ($17/mo billed annually): 400,000 characters per month, positioned for small companies.
Machine translation API: Essential $60/month for 1,000,000 characters, Professional $110/month for 2,000,000 characters, Advanced $200/month for 4,000,000 characters. Annual billing brings these to $51, $94, and $170 per month.
Human translation, from $0.07 per source word: the START tier is pay as you go at $0.07/word with no monthly commitment and no word cap. Subscription tiers are Essential at $315/month for 3,500 words ($0.09/word) and Pro at $1,125/month for 12,500 words ($0.09/word), with roughly 15 percent off on annual billing.
Custom: personalized pricing for large businesses, combining human and machine translation.
Key Features
- 5,900+ machine translation language pairs, 110+ for human translation
- Hybrid AI + on-demand human translator workflow
- Native integrations with Zendesk, Freshdesk, Help Scout, Shopify, WordPress
- Vetted freelance network of certified linguists
- Per-word human translation with transparent pricing
- Free consumer web translator
- Chrome extension for webpage translation
- Basic translation memory and glossaries
- REST API on paid plans
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Pricing was transparent and affordable, with no sales calls required
- Only low-cost platform with real on-demand human translators
- Native support integrations (Zendesk, Freshdesk, Help Scout) save setup time
- Good coverage, 110+ human translation language pairs
Cons
- UI is basic and dated compared to modern TMS platforms
- Not suitable for complex software localization workflows
- Quality of human translator pool varies by language pair
FAQ
Is Translate.com free?
Translate.com still references a free online machine translation tool on its site, but it no longer states a character limit, and the 500 characters per month figure we previously published is not displayed anywhere; API signup mentions 1,000 characters for testing. The paid plans we published can no longer be bought: the pricing page shows no plan names or prices at all, only a notice that starting 1/08/26 the company will no longer accept or process new orders. For the record, those plans were $4/month for 30,000 characters (Starter Lite), $6/month for 100,000 characters (Starter), $20/month for 400,000 characters (Standard), machine translation API from $60/month for 1,000,000 characters, and human translation billed per source word from $0.07 on the pay as you go tier. Figures checked against Translate.com's own pricing pages in August 2026.
How good is Translate.com's human translation?
Quality varies by language pair and specialization. For common business languages (English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese), the Translate.com translator pool is solid and delivers on standard LSP timelines. For rare pairs or specialized subject matter (medical, legal, technical), quality can be less consistent, enterprise LSPs like LanguageWire offer more vetting and domain expertise. For a small business translating support tickets or product descriptions, Translate.com's quality is usually sufficient and the price is hard to beat.
What integrations does Translate.com offer?
Integrations published by Translate.com include Zendesk (support ticket translation), Freshdesk, Help Scout, Salesforce Service Cloud, UserVoice, Shopify (product listing translation), WooCommerce, Magento, BigCommerce, WordPress (plugin for multilingual content), HubSpot, Zapier, and a general REST API for custom use cases. The Zendesk and Freshdesk integrations are particularly popular, they let small support teams auto-translate incoming tickets and responses without a dedicated multilingual agent. Intercom no longer appears on the vendor's published integrations list as of August 2026.
Translate.com vs Google Translate, which should I use?
For free, casual translation, Google Translate is usually better, broader language coverage (133+ vs Translate.com's 110+), better mobile experience, and the Gemini-powered engine has a quality edge on most pairs. Translate.com's advantage is the integrated human translation layer and the business-focused features like support ticket translation. If you just need free MT, use Google. If you need affordable human translation on top of MT, use Translate.com.
Is Translate.com safe for business documents?
For non-confidential content, yes. Paid plans include confidentiality clauses and vetted translators sign NDAs when handling human translation projects. For highly regulated content (legal, medical, financial), you should compare to LanguageWire or Smartling, both of which offer ISO 17100 certification and stronger compliance guarantees. Translate.com is good for everyday business translation, not for classified or HIPAA-regulated workflows.
Can I integrate Translate.com with Zendesk?
Yes. The Zendesk integration is one of Translate.com's flagship features, installed via the Zendesk marketplace, it auto-translates incoming tickets into the agent's language and outbound replies back into the customer's language. You can configure which languages to auto-translate, enforce glossaries, and mix machine translation for routine tickets with human translation for high-priority or complex ones. Pricing is tiered by ticket volume.
Is there an API for Translate.com?
Translate.com published separate REST API plans, machine translation from $60/month for 1,000,000 characters, plus programmatic ordering of human translation. Those plans can no longer be ordered: the pricing page now carries only a notice that starting 1/08/26 the company will no longer accept or process new orders, and API signup mentions 1,000 characters for testing. The API is simpler than Google Cloud Translation or DeepL API but covers the common use cases: translate text, upload a file, request a human translation quote, check status, download results. Enterprise customers can negotiate volume pricing and SLA commitments on API usage.
📋 Good to know
The free web translator is instant; the site no longer states a character limit for it. Paid plans can no longer be ordered, since Translate.com says it will not accept or process new orders from 1/08/26. Zendesk and Shopify integrations take 15-30 minutes to configure.
Pro and Enterprise plans include NDA and confidentiality clauses. GDPR compliant. Less enterprise-compliance depth than Smartling or LanguageWire.
Not applicable today: Translate.com states it will no longer accept or process new orders from 1/08/26, and its pricing page shows no plans or prices. The upgrade path we previously described ran from the free tier to Starter Lite ($4/mo) or Standard ($20/mo) for volume and no ads, then onto the API plans (from $60/mo) for programmatic access, with human translation added per project.
Low. Web interface is simple and the integrations are self-serve through native app marketplaces.
