DeepL vs Smartcat

DeepL is a machine translation service from DeepL, a company based in Cologne, Germany, that grew out of the Linguee online dictionary and launched its translator in 2017. It is known for output that reads more naturally and keeps nuance better than many competitors, especially for European languages, and it supports Turkish among its 30+ languages.

Users translate text in the browser, desktop and mobile apps, or whole documents such as Word, PowerPoint and PDF files while keeping their formatting. Glossaries enforce company terminology, formality settings switch between formal and informal tone in languages that distinguish them, and DeepL Write rephrases and corrects text to improve grammar and style. DeepL Voice brings real-time speech translation to conversations and meetings. Businesses integrate the DeepL API into websites, apps, CMSs and support tools, and many localization platforms such as Crowdin, Lokalise and Weglot use DeepL as a translation engine. A free tier has character and document limits, while the per-user Individual, Team and Business plans raise character and file limits and add CAT tool integration and data security guarantees.

DeepL fits professionals, translators and companies that need high-quality drafts quickly, particularly in Europe where its German base and data handling help with compliance. Its language coverage remains narrower than Google Translate, which is better for rare languages and free large-scale use. Large language models are now a serious alternative for context-aware translation.

Smartcat is an AI translation and localization platform founded in 2016 by Ivan Smolnikov, who earlier built the language services firm ABBYY LS; Smartcat was incubated at ABBYY before spinning out. The company is based in Boston and raised a $43M Series C led by Left Lane Capital in September 2024, bringing total funding to about $70M. Its core job is translating websites, documents, software, e-learning and video into 280+ languages with AI first and human review where it matters.

The platform combines machine translation, translation memory and glossaries with AI Coworkers that handle translation, content updates, review and QA. A marketplace of 500,000+ linguists and 5,000+ agencies lets you hire reviewers inside the same workspace and pay them all on one invoice. Connectors cover CMSs such as WordPress, Webflow and Contentful, Figma, GitHub, Zendesk and Google Drive. Plans are annual, include unlimited users and are metered in Smartwords; matches and repetitions from translation memory are not charged.

Smartcat fits marketing, product and L&D teams that need many languages fast and want to buy human post-editing without managing separate vendors. Developer-heavy teams localizing app strings usually prefer Lokalise or Crowdin, and large enterprises with complex workflows often compare it with Phrase and Smartling.

Buying tip: the entry Adapt plan costs $1,200 a year for 100K Smartwords, and the next tier jumps to $24,000, so estimate yearly volume carefully. Use the 15-day trial, which includes API access, to measure how many Smartwords your real content consumes.