Best for
Best for larger companies that want translation software and the translators behind it from a single vendor.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Translation & Localization Comparison
Smartling vs. Weblate
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for open-source and software teams that keep translations in Git and want the option to run the platform themselves.
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Smartling | Weblate |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Not stated | Free (self-hosted); hosted from 47 Euro / month 10k hosted strings, billed monthly, excluding VAT; 470 Euro / year billed yearly, which Weblate shows as from 39 Euro a month. Hosted strings are source strings times target languages plus one. |
| Free trial | Core plan is described as free to start; trial length not stated | 14-day free trial on all cloud plans; free libre plan for public open-source projects; self-hosting is free |
| API | Yes, APIs and SDKs, plus an official MCP server | Yes, REST API and add-ons for automation |
| Languages | Not stated | Unlimited languages on every hosted plan |
| Hosting | Customer data housed in Amazon Web Services locations across the globe | Hosted Weblate in the EU, dedicated cloud instance, or self-hosted |
| Language coverage | Hundreds of languages and locales | Unlimited languages on every hosted plan |
| Files and formats | JSON, XML, YAML, HTML, Markdown and Gettext PO, iOS strings and Android XML, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF, InDesign IDML, SVG, and SRT and VTT subtitles | Over 50 formats, among them GNU gettext, XLIFF 1.2 and 2.0, Android strings, several JSON variants, YAML and Excel |
| Machine, human or both | Both. 20+ large language models and machine translation engines through the AI Hub, and human translation from a network of 4,000+ linguists; Enterprise customers can also bring their own translators | Both. Human translation in a web editor with suggestions from 25+ machine translation services, among them DeepL, Google Cloud Translation, Azure AI Translator, Amazon Translate, OpenAI and Anthropic; translators decide what to keep and automatic acceptance can be turned off |
| Glossary and terminology | Yes, translation memory (kept 180 days on Core, unlimited on Enterprise), customizable glossaries and style guides on Enterprise, and terminology connectors for Lexeri, Quickterm and TermWeb | Yes, shared glossaries with import in supported formats, plus translation memory with import |
| Review and collaboration | CAT and transcreation tools with visual context, in-platform communication, automated quality checks, linguistic quality assurance with a quality dashboard, and fully customizable workflows on Enterprise | Review before translations count as finished, an approved-only commit policy, customizable quality checks and discussions on unclear source strings |
| Integrations and connectors | 50+ integrations, among them Adobe Experience Manager, Contentful, Sitecore, WordPress, Shopify, GitHub, Figma, HubSpot, Salesforce, Zendesk and Jira | Git repositories, with pull request and webhook integration for GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure Repos, Gitea, Forgejo, Gitee and Pagure |
| Data handling and privacy | SOC 2 Type II, PCI DSS Level 1, HITRUST and HIPAA, GDPR with customizable DPAs, and ISO 27001, ISO 42001 and ISO 17100 among its certifications; customer data housed on AWS | Hosted Weblate stores and processes customer data and backups in the EU, though integrations a customer configures can send data elsewhere; the self-hosted edition is installed on the customer's own server, with encrypted cloud backups offered as an optional service |
| AI features | Yes | Yes |
| MCP-ready | stated Yes | No |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise |
| Onboarding | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Guided onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Not stated |
| Integrations | more entries Adobe Experience Manager, Contentful, Contentstack, Sitecore, Drupal, Storyblok, Sanity, Webflow, WordPress, WPML, Shopify, GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Figma, Sketch, Canva, Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe Marketo Engage, Braze, HubSpot, Oracle Eloqua, Salesforce, Zendesk, Intercom, ServiceNow, Jira, Slack, Google Drive, Zapier | GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure Repos, Gitea, Forgejo, Gitee, Pagure, DeepL, Google Cloud Translation, Azure AI Translator, Amazon Translate, OpenAI, Anthropic, ModernMT, Systran, LibreTranslate |
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Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Free trial Smartling Core plan is described as free to start; trial length not stated Weblate 14-day free trial on all cloud plans; free libre plan for public open-source projects; self-hosting is free
- Deployment Smartling Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based Weblate Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise
- Hosting Smartling Customer data housed in Amazon Web Services locations across the globe Weblate Hosted Weblate in the EU, dedicated cloud instance, or self-hosted
- MCP-ready Smartling Yes Weblate No
- API Smartling Yes, APIs and SDKs, plus an official MCP server Weblate Yes, REST API and add-ons for automation
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Smartling
Strengths
- Translation software and human translation services are bought together
- Per-word rates for machine, AI and human translation are published
- Long certification list, including HITRUST and PCI DSS Level 1
- Large connector catalogue for marketing, commerce and content systems
Limitations
- No plan price is published for either plan
- Translation memory is kept for only 180 days on Core
- Custom workflows, glossaries and style guides are reserved for Enterprise
Weblate
Strengths
- Free to self-host, with paid support available but not required
- Free libre plan for public open-source projects
- Projects, components, languages and translators are unlimited on every hosted plan
- Commits translations straight back to the project's Git repository
Limitations
- Hosted plans count strings once per language, so the price rises with every target language
- Centred on software strings in version control rather than documents or marketing content
- SSO, a custom domain and branding need a dedicated instance
Plans
Pricing
Smartling
- Core Not stated For individuals and small teams; described as free to start. Translation services are charged per word, from 0.0075 US Dollar for machine translation to 0.20 US Dollar for human translation.
- Enterprise Not stated For companies and large teams; no price published.
Weblate
- Libre Free For public open-source or libre projects, with the limits of the 160k plan.
- 10k 47 Euro / month 10,000 hosted strings; 470 Euro / year billed yearly. Excluding VAT. 14-day free trial.
- 40k 70 Euro / month 40,000 hosted strings; 700 Euro / year billed yearly.
- 160k 114 Euro / month 160,000 hosted strings; 1,140 Euro / year billed yearly, also available as a dedicated instance.
- 640k 193 Euro / month 640,000 hosted strings; 1,930 Euro / year billed yearly.
- 2.5M 342 Euro / month 2,560,000 hosted strings; 3,420 Euro / year billed yearly.
- 10M 616 Euro / month 10,240,000 hosted strings; 6,160 Euro / year billed yearly.
- Self-hosted Free Optional support: Basic 53 Euro / month, Extended 106 Euro / month.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
Smartling
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
Weblate
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
How we check reviews
Reviews are not published yet. The form on a tool's page works and reaches us, but nothing from it appears on this site, so no score here is based on a review. The rules below are the ones that will apply once reviews go live.
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What we cannot do is verify a purchase. There is no shop here and no account, so whether the author really used the tool rests on what they tell us, plus the plausibility of what they write. We say so rather than implying a check that does not exist.
A vendor cannot have a review removed, cannot buy one, and cannot have one changed. Paid placement and a paid listing have no effect on which reviews appear or on any score.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Smartling https://www.smartling.com · no check date recorded yet
Weblate https://weblate.org · checked against the official source on 2026-10-22
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.