Lost in translation? Explore the 5 best Google Translate alternatives

Google Translate is a household name in the world of machine translation. This free translation service now supports nearly 250 languages, and countless users turn to it for quick translations and general language assistance.

But is there a better translator than Google? That depends on your use case. There are alternatives to Google Translate that might be a better choice for certain language pairs or content types. Having access to a variety of machine translation engines, through tools like Smartling’s AI Hub, is ideal so you can always use the best one for your use case.

This guide explores what Google Translate alternatives are out there and highlights where each performs best. Use these machine translation engines and platforms to give your organization better accuracy and adaptability when localizing content.

What’s better than Google Translate? 5 scenarios to consider an alternative

Google Translate performs well in many scenarios. Still, no machine translation engine is one-size-fits-all, and Google Translate isn’t the ideal choice for every business use case. Here are five scenarios where alternative translation solutions might be a better fit than Google Translate:

Marketing and brand copy

Marketing content is about persuasion and emotional resonance. A literal translation—even if grammatically correct—can sound stilted and alienate your target audience. Businesses should prioritize engines with deep neural networks that can interpret not just words and phrases but the context around them to deliver a native-sounding translation.

Many brands also use terms and expressions in precise ways that mass-trained statistical models won’t always recognize. Google Translate charges significantly more for custom model training and translation glossaries that ensure consistency in brand content.

Contracts, patents, and other legal documents

Legal translations must be exceptionally precise. Even a minor difference in meaning or specificity could change the terms of a contract or leave your IP insufficiently protected, leading to enormous financial and reputational repercussions. 

Google Translate’s general language model is well-suited for returning casual, conversational text, but it’s more important for legal documents to match the exact intent of the original content. That nuance matters when translating patents and other business-critical documents. Competitors like DeepL and Systran have proven tough to beat for precision in use cases like these, although they don’t currently support as many languages as Google Translate.

E-commerce product catalogs

Product listings often involve large volumes of repetitive, structured data. With thousands of SKUs and product variants, e-commerce platforms need high-throughput translation engines that preserve brand-specific terminology and metadata structures.

E-commerce brands may prefer a translation engine that’s designed specifically for scalable, high-volume workflows. Amazon Translate is a strong choice for this use case. It also supports company-specific lexicons through its Active Custom Translation (ACT) features, ensuring a consistent brand experience across global markets.

Internal enterprise communications

Global organizations operate in dozens of countries and languages. From onboarding materials and HR policies to internal knowledge bases and meeting transcripts, they need smooth communication across language barriers.

For businesses that rely heavily on Microsoft solutions, Microsoft Translator fits that bill. Native integration with popular enterprise tools like Teams, Word, and Outlook make this Google translate alternative a solid choice for internal communications.

Technische Dokumentation

Technical translation requires more than direct one-to-one mapping. It demands accuracy, consistency, and an understanding of how the brand uses specialized terminology. Mistakes or oversimplifications in engineering manuals and software documentation can lead to confusion and product misuse, sometimes to dangerous ends.

Brands with high-volume documentation needs might look to options like Systran, which includes specialized engines tuned for technical fields like IT and life sciences.

If you want to ensure you’re always using the best machine translation engine for your use case, Smartling can help. Smartling’s AI Hub optimizes translation quality across hundreds of languages by dynamically selecting the most effective engine for each project. It integrates Google Translate alongside over 20 other large language models and MT engines, including Amazon Translate, DeepL, and Microsoft Translator, ensuring accurate results at reduced costs.

5 business-friendly alternatives to Google Translate

The quality of machine translation engines vary by language and use case, so it’s important to look for a solution that covers yours. If you’re looking for something that translates better than Google, there are some specialized translation services that are better suited to business contexts.

Let’s take a look at some alternative translation services that may fulfill your business’ localization needs better than Google Translate:

1. Intelligentes Schlüpfen

• Platforms: Web-based, API integration
• Auszeichnung: Contact Smartling for pricing details
• Features: Smartling uses advanced AI to generate up to 350% higher-quality, more on-brand translations than single-engine MT solutions.
• Best for: Businesses seeking accurate, brand-consistent translations with the flexibility of AI-powered workflows.

Unlike single-engine solutions, Smartling’s AI Hub offers access to numerous machine translation engines—including Google Translate, DeepL, Amazon Translate, and others—through a single interface. Smartling considers factors like language pair accuracy, cost-efficiency, and domain expertise as it dynamically routes translation tasks to the engine best suited for each specific context.

In addition, Smartling offers LLM capability for custom-trained engines and pre- and post-processing to improve quality. Paired with tailored linguistic assets, this advanced translation workflow ensures high quality and seamless integration with your existing tech stack.

2. DeepL

• Platforms: Web, desktop, API integration
• Pricing: Free for small-scale translations; Pro plans available
• Features: DeepL is known for superior accuracy, particularly in European languages. DeepL uses AI-driven translation models to provide natural-sounding translations.
• Best for: Businesses that require high-quality and natural translations

DeepL is widely regarded for its translation accuracy, particularly with select European language pairings. Its document translation tool is a standout feature, capable of translating popular file types (including .doc, .pdf, and .ppt) while maintaining formatting.

Based in Germany, DeepL is subject to the EU’s robust data protection laws, and the company guarantees Pro subscribers will enjoy unparalleled privacy and confidentiality.

DeepL is limited in the number of languages it currently supports—although the company plans to add more—and most available options are European.

3. Microsoft Translator

• Platforms: Web, mobile app, API integration
• Pricing: Free and paid enterprise plans
• Features: Microsoft Translator supports over 100 languages, offers API access for developers, and integrates well with Microsoft products.
• Best for: Businesses using Microsoft-heavy ecosystems

Microsoft Translator is a strong choice for businesses that are already using Microsoft products. It can analyze your data, including previously translated documents, to build a translation system that reflects domain-specific terminology and style.

Microsoft Translator’s seamless integration with the Office suite and Azure makes it a powerful tool for enterprises that rely on these platforms for their existing workflows. Microsoft offers numerous training modules and other free online materials to help you hit the ground running.

4. Amazon Translate

• Platforms: Cloud-based API
• Pricing: Pay-per-use pricing model
• Features: Amazon Translate provides AI-powered neural machine translation optimized for business applications.
• Best for: Companies with cloud-based workflows and AWS integration needs

Amazon Translate is optimized for large-scale business use and can be integrated into Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud environments. It’s particularly useful for businesses handling multilingual customer support, e-commerce, and content localization at scale. However, it doesn’t support as many languages as Google Translate.

Amazon Translate’s free tier has a higher monthly text limit than Google Translate (2,000,000 characters vs. 500,000), giving you considerable room to test it out and evaluate whether this translation service fits your needs. The paid tier is also slightly cheaper than what Google Translate charges for enterprise packages.

5. Reverso

• Platforms: Web, mobile app, browser extension
• Pricing: Free, with premium plans available
• Features: Reverso offers contextual translations, conjugation tools, and AI-powered correction features.
• Best for: Individuals and businesses looking for quick and context-aware translations

Compared to Google Translate and other translation platforms, Reverso focuses more on supporting the inner workings of a multilingual company. Simply run internal communications and documents through its web translator or desktop app, and Reverso places a proposed translation alongside your original text. The translation service also supplies tools to help users understand and refine its suggestions.

In addition, Reverso offers more tools to help facilitate communication across language barriers, including a mobile app with basic language training, offline dictionaries, and speech-to-text translation. Companies with global offices or international clients may find these useful.

Smartling: The smart alternative to Google Translate

Although Google Translate is an essential engine in any machine translation workflow, it shouldn’t be the only tool organizations use to scale and improve their global communication strategies. If you want accurate, brand-compliant, and contextually relevant translations, there may be better translators than Google for certain use cases.

Smartling’s translation management system (TMS) and suite of translation solutions ensure:

• AI-driven translation optimization across multiple MT engines
• Brand consistency through translation memory and glossary application
• Seamless integration with existing business workflows
• Tools to support human review of generated translations

Want to learn more about selecting the best translation solution for your business? Download “What To Look for in a Translation Solution: A Buyer’s Guide.” This free and comprehensive eBook helps globally-minded organizations identify the right translation tool to meet their current and future localization needs.