LILT vs Lokalise

LILT is an enterprise translation and localization platform from San Francisco, founded in 2015 by Spence Green and John DeNero, NLP researchers from Stanford and Berkeley. It began with adaptive machine translation that learns from each linguist edit and has since become an agentic AI platform that routes content through AI models and, where needed, human subject-matter experts. Customers include Canva, Intel, Lenovo and US defence agencies.

The platform is split into modules: Translate for projects, Assist for AI agents that automate review and workflows, Verify for accuracy checks, Connect for integrations and an MCP server that brings LILT translation into ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. It connects to more than 100 systems such as Contentful, AEM, Salesforce and Zendesk, and can run LILT's own models or a customer's LLM. Certifications cover SOC 2 Type II, ISO 9001 and ISO 17100, with private, on-prem and air-gapped deployment. Business, Enterprise and Government plans are all quote-based.

LILT fits large companies and public bodies that translate high volumes of product, support and marketing content and need quality guarantees or strict data control. It has no self-serve plan or public pricing, so it is overkill for small sites. Smartling is a broader translation management system with a vendor marketplace, Phrase offers self-serve TMS tiers, and DeepL is the cheap option for raw machine translation without human review.

LILT raised a Series D in mid-2025. Buying tip: ask how human review is priced versus platform fees, since MCP usage is quoted separately.

Lokalise is a localization platform for software teams, founded in 2017 in Riga, Latvia. It manages the translation keys behind web and mobile apps, games and websites, and connects developers, designers, translators and product managers so that new strings are translated as features ship rather than in a rush before release.

Developers sync keys through GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket integrations, a CLI and a REST API, with SDKs for over-the-air updates on mobile. Translators work with context from screenshots and the Figma plugin, which also lets designers preview text in other languages before handoff. Translation memory, glossaries, QA checks, AI and machine translation, custom workflows and task assignments keep quality consistent, and an integrated marketplace provides professional translators. There is no free plan, only a 14-day trial; Explorer, Growth, Advanced and Enterprise tiers are priced largely by hosted words and seats, with advanced workflows and SSO on higher plans.

Lokalise suits product companies with an active release cycle that localize into several languages, such as a SaaS adding Turkish and German. Costs rise with content volume, and some useful features sit behind higher tiers. Crowdin is the closest rival, with more integrations and free plans for open-source projects, Phrase is strong for enterprise and document translation, and Tolgee is an open-source option. For simply translating a marketing website, Weglot is easier.