Crowdin vs Smartling

Crowdin is a localization management platform founded in Ukraine in 2009 and now headquartered in Estonia. It is used by software companies, game studios and a long list of well-known open-source projects to translate apps, websites, documentation and help centers, and it offers both a standard cloud product and Crowdin Enterprise for larger organizations.

The platform supports more than a hundred file formats and syncs source strings automatically from GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and CI pipelines, from design tools like Figma, and from CMSs and help desks through a marketplace of over 600 apps. Translators work in an editor with translation memory, glossaries, screenshots, in-context preview, QA checks and machine translation from engines such as DeepL and Google, plus AI translation with your own prompts. Crowdsourcing features let volunteers suggest and vote on translations. Pricing combines hosted words and seats, and Crowdin is free for qualifying open-source projects.

Crowdin suits teams with many file types, many integrations or a community that wants to help translate. Its interface can feel dense, and hosted word limits need watching as content grows. Lokalise is the main commercial rival with a cleaner UI for product teams, Phrase is strong in enterprise and agency workflows, and open-source alternatives such as Weblate and Tolgee can be self-hosted. For website-only translation without code, Weglot is simpler.

Smartling is an enterprise translation management platform founded in 2009 and based in New York. It combines translation software, AI and machine translation, and managed language services from professional linguists, so large companies can localize websites, apps, documents, marketing and support content through one vendor.

Content flows in through connectors for CMSs, code repositories, marketing tools and support platforms, or through the Global Delivery Network, a proxy that translates websites without code changes. Translators work in a CAT tool with visual context that shows strings as they appear on the page, translation memory, glossaries and automated quality checks. AI translation with human review options, workflow automation and cost and quality reporting help teams decide which content needs full human translation and which can be machine-translated. A free Core plan covers the basics, Enterprise is custom priced, and translation is billed per word.

Smartling fits enterprises with high-volume, multi-language content and a need for one accountable partner. Enterprise contracts are expensive, and the platform is more complex than small teams need. Lokalise and Crowdin are better for product teams that localize app strings continuously, Phrase covers both software and document workflows, and Weglot is far simpler for translating a single website. Teams already working with a language services provider may prefer a tool-only option such as XTM or Trados.