Clearly, CAT tools can be valuable additions to a translation workflow. But finding the best tool for your needs can seem like a daunting task. What factors should influence your decision? First, let’s familiarize ourselves with the top free and paid CAT tools.
5 of the Most Popular Paid CAT Tools
Smartling
The first is our own industry-leading CAT tool . Smartling’s cloud-based language translation interface is invaluable for a number of reasons. Some key features include alerts when content needs to be translated or revised, and pre-programmed quality checks, including custom checks specific to your needs, with errors and inconsistencies flagged in real-time.
Additionally, Smartling’s CAT tool has many other features designed to help customers get to market faster while maintaining quality. With the touch of a key, you can consolidate multiple strings. With version control, Smartling pre-populates translation matches, only surfacing new content for translation. And this tool is only getting better and more robust with new features being added routinely.
CAT Tool – Platform Screenshot
Key Features
Visual Context lets you see exactly how your translated text appears, regardless of where the content will live—on a web page, in a mobile app, or elsewhere.
Translation memory that synchronizes in real time. So all vendors have access and can work efficiently
Built-in. Automated quality checks that detect all types of errors in real time, including spelling, spacing, and translation consistency errors
The Quality Confidence Score (QSC), which is an assessment of the overall quality of a translation with recommendations for improvement
product-illustration smartling-UI-qualityscore-white
Pros
Speed up your translation workflows by 50% with the help of keyboard shortcuts for any action in Smartling’s CAT tool
Smartling eliminates a lot of manual work by automatically routing content to the next step in the workflow, automatically positioning labels, and so on.
>Our CAT tool goes beyond basic bulgaria whatsapp number data 5 million translation by making brand assets easily accessible throughout the translation process to ensure translated content is on-brand.
>Smartling supports over 30 file types including Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, CSV, HTML, JSON and more
As for security , Smartling maintains several compliance certifications (in addition to being transparent and taking responsibility for the processing of personal data)
Smartling supports over 500 languages, making it incredibly flexible for businesses with global audiences.
Cons
One user noted that the results from the content search function are sometimes not as accurate as they could be, especially with large translation memories
Another user mentioned that it a young programmer with little experience would be helpful to see the visual context and translation memory side by side
Pricing: Schedule a meeting with our team at your convenience. We will be happy to guide you through the plans and how the CAT tool works.
Pricing: Schedule a meeting with our team at your convenience. We will be happy to guide you through the plans and how the CAT tool works.
Pair a sentence
<p>Next up is Pairaphrase, a cloud-based translation management system and CAT tool. It supports over 100 languages and, depending on the plan job data you choose, anywhere from 3,600 to 10,000 language pairs.
Key Features:
Automatic file formatting to maintain layout, font, line breaks and other elements of translated files
Segment analysis, which identifies exact matches, context matches, fuzzy matches, and new words to help you assess how much work a translation will require
Voice translation and voice-over that wo
rks in 18 languages and turns script files into MP3 or WAVE audio files
Pros:
Pairaphrase uses Dynamic Machine Learning to improve translation quality by learning from the edits you make.
>Pairaphrase offers enterprise-grade security with features like multi-factor authentication, transport layer security, and single sign-on
Live human technical support is available 24/7/365
Cons:</p>
Pairaphrase supports less than 25 file formats, which is less than several of the tools on this list.
>All packages are exclusive to a si
ngle user and user limits on the subscription plan are low, which may force you to pay for a higher tier plan than you would otherwise need.
Pricing: Pairaphrase offers packages starting at $99, as well as subscriptions.
MemoQ
According to its website, memoQ Translator Pro “increases productivity and quality for all those who perform, edit, and review translations.” Although it is only available on Windows OS and is a bit pricey according to users, it is known for high-quality translations.
Key Features:
Term base alerts you to new words, inserts target terms with a keystroke, and lets you find and replace text in multiple documents simultaneously
LiveDocs — monolingual or bilingual files that you can use as reference material for other translations
Muse, which is trained on translation memories and Live Docs and predicts next words as you type
Pros:
memoQ preserves contextual information in both languages, making translation memory searches more productive and results more accurate
You can import, translate and export even proprietary file types, as memoQ is compatible with most translation tools
memoQ supports over 100 languages and 30 file formats
Cons:
The large number of features and consequently the user interface can be difficult to get used to, especially without a tutorial.
memoQ sometimes has bugs and stability issues according to some users
Pricing: After your 30-day free trial, you can purchase a memoQ Translator Pro license.
Phrase
Memsource is another popular option for computer-assisted translation. With it, you can translate websites and web applications, software products, and even video games. Plus, because Phrase has a significant focus on automation , you can do this in less time than it would take to manage the translation process manually.
Key Features:
Contextual preview shows in real time what translated content will look like once published
LQA Assessments provide a comprehensive analysis of various aspects of content quality and an overall score per piece of content.
Non-Translatables is an AI-based solution that identifies parts of text that cannot be translated, such as code and formulas.
Pros:
Phrase provides 24/7 support for its translators, as well as learning resources and certifications to help them help you.
You can access Phrase on any device — computer, tablet or phone — whether you’re online or not.
There are over 50 integrations available for Phrase and over 500 languages are supported
Cons:
There is no progress bar to understand how advanced the translations are at first glance
Some users find that the terminology management and project management features, for example, are quite basic and that the user experience could be more intuitive.
Pricing: Phrase has several products, each with different pricing plans.
Transifex
Last on our list of paid CAT tools is Transifex, which claims to cater to the needs of both startups and Fortune 500 companies. Equipped with machine translation capabilities, it can help translate everything from simple files to complex website content and digital products.
Key Features:
Transifex Live, which allows you to translate website content in context and publish it quickly, with almost no developer involvement
Tags to group sets of strings as needed, specify source texts, and mark high-priority strings as urgent
Placeholders for HTML and variables, which are automatically added to prevent accidental changes to text that does not need to be translated
Pros:
Transifex is affordable, especially since it’s not priced per member.
class=”yoast-text-mark” />>All Transifex plans allow unlimited projects and files, although there is a limit on the number of words you can translate per month.<br class=”yoast-text-mark” />>Transifex encourages collaboration by allowing 20-50 users per account and allowing developers to leave notes and instructions related to specific strings
Cons:
There is limited information about Transifex’s security measures and features and no documentation about the security implications of using Transifex Live
The Basic plan has several limitations related to translation memory and does not include reporting on activity, progress, translation memory usage, etc.
Pricing: Transifex offers a 15-day trial. Additionally, it has three plans and an Enterprise plan with custom pricing.
3 of the Most Popular Free CAT Tools
Smartcat
One of the most popular free CAT tools is Smartcat. In addition to being easy to use, secure, and web-based, it can also translate dozens of file types. Plus, thanks to its API, you can extend Smartcat’s functionality and integrate it with other tools in your workflow.
Key Features:
Pre-translation to pre-populate translated segments and confirm matches before translation work begins
Threaded comments, allowing project managers, translators, and editors to ask questions about specific threads in context
Synchronized assets, including your updated glossaries, translation memories, and quality assurance checks<br />Pros:
Although multiple translators can work in the CAT editor at the same time, the thread locking functionality prevents them from modifying each other’s work while it is in progress.
lass=”yoast-text-mark” />>In addition to a chat function, you can leave contextualized comments and even add explanatory images to specific text segments.
>Smartcat has no limit on the number of positions you can fill, so you can invite your entire translation team at no extra cost.
Cons:
This tool is leaner than alternatives like Smartling, with fewer features, integrations, and customization options.<br class=”yoast-text-mark” />>Smartcat does not work offline
Some users have mentioned that Smartcat’s support representatives are slow to respond, which can be frustrating on urgent translation projects.
Pricing: Smartcat is free to use. However, if you’re interested in machine translation or optical character recognition (OCR), for example, you’ll need to pay for those features.
Matecat
Matecat is a simple, free, enterprise-grade computer-assisted translation tool. It supports over 200 languages and you can also select from over 30 topics or industries. Additionally, you can upload your own translation memory.