A number of tools and sites offer accessible, free solutions for a variety of translation needs. Whether you want to translate simple texts, complex documents, web pages or real-time conversations, discover our overview of the best free online translators for your needs.
How can you translate content for free?
Whether it’s for personal or academic use, or for translating professional documents, you can use a free website or mobile app that offers fast and accessible translation solutions.
Mobile machine translation applications
Mobile machine translation apps, such as Google Translate, Microsoft Translate, and SayHi Translate, are free options that allow you to translate text directly from your smartphone. These apps are convenient, as they allow you to translate words, phrases, and even conversations in real time, anywhere and at any time. What’s more, they often support a wide range of languages and sometimes include advanced features, such as translating text from photos or voice recognition.
Online translation sites and platforms
There are a number of free websites that allow you to translate text at the click of a button, whether it’s a pdf file, a navigation page, or a simple business email. Accessible via a simple web search, these tools also offer a practical solution for rapid text translation. Whether you need a translation for single words, short sentences, or entire documents, they automatically detect the source language and provide instant translations, all without the need for additional software or applications.
Translation web extensions
Browser extensions can be added to Chrome, Firefox, and other browsers to translate entire web pages or segments of text directly in your browser. These plugins are useful if you want rapid translation without having to leave the page you are viewing. They often have options to automatically detect the source language of the site and provide even faster translations. Depending on the extension you choose, you can translate a text into many different languages including German, Italian, Russian, Arabic, or other less common languages.
The advantages and disadvantages of free translation tools
A free, instant translation site is accessible to everyone and easy to use. In just a few clicks you will receive an immediate translation of your content. However, the quality of the translation into your target language will be much lower than if you had used a professional translator.
Errors in adapting content to the cultural context of the target country are common, and translations can lack fluidity. What’s more, these translation sites are not great at translating specialised content, which requires in-depth knowledge of the sector concerned (legal, financial, medical, etc.) and its specific terminology. What’s more, only a professional translator can offer a sworn (certified) translation, which is necessary when you need to present official documents abroad.
What are the main free online translators?
Here’s an overview of the main free online translators and their specific features:
Reverso
Reverso is a versatile translation app that stands out for its educational features, making learning new languages easier.
- 14 languages
- Learning vocabulary
- Educational games
- Offline mode with downloadable language packs
- Accessible online via any browser
- Available as a mobile application for Android and iOS
Google Translate
Google Translate is a very popular free online translator. This translation tool can handle many languages and translate large volumes of text.
- 109 languages
- Photo translation
- Translation of handwritten texts
- Translation memory
- Offline translation available for 59 languages
- Accessible online via any browser
- Available as a free mobile application for Android and iOS
DeepL
DeepL is a free online translation software renowned for the quality of its translations, which are made possible by artificial intelligence (AI). Although it only supports a limited number of languages, its translations are often accurate and organic.
- Supports 26 languages
- High-quality translations thanks to AI
- A limit of 5,000 characters per text in the free version
- Accessible online via any browser
- Offers a desktop application for translating files on the PC, particularly in Word (.docx), PowerPoint (.pptx) and PDF (.pdf) formats.
Yandex Translate
Yandex Translate is an efficient free translation site offering a wide range of advanced features. Its predictive typing system makes it easy to enter texts quickly. Yandex Translate also includes a detailed dictionary with examples of transcription, pronunciation, and context of use, for a better understanding of the translated terms.
- Supports 102 languages
- Text translation
- Website translation
- Document translation
- Photo translation
- Accessible online via any browser
- Available as a mobile application for Android and iOS
- Automatic language detection option
- Off-line translation options for certain languages
Systran
Instant translator, Systran is a well-established translation platform that uses AI to deliver high-quality multilingual translations for business and everyday use.
- Translations into over 55 languages
- Technical translations thanks to its advanced algorithms
- Limited number of translated words in the free version
- Accessible online via any browser
- Offers desktop applications with advanced features
Microsoft Translator
Microsoft Translator is a powerful translation app that aims to compete with other market leaders by offering robust functionality and great flexibility. It is appreciated for its versatility.
- Translations into over 70 languages
- Text translation
- Image translation
- Audio translation
- Real-time translation of conversations
- Accessible online via any browser
- Available as a mobile application for Android and iOS
- Off-line translation options
- Includes functions for smartwatches (Apple Watch and Android Wear devices)
Use a specialist translator to translate your content
Although automatic tools can offer fast and economical translations, they are not completely reliable. They can, for example, misinterpret certain phrases that refer to a unique cultural context, or translate idiomatic expressions literally… Their use can therefore lead to errors, potentially problematical for the proper understanding of texts and the validity of certain documents, particularly technical or legal documents.
A professional translator, on the other hand, has an in-depth understanding of the linguistic and cultural nuances of a text, and guarantees a reliable and accurate result. What’s more, a human translator can adapt the tone and style of the text to suit the target audience.
Finally, the translation of specialist content, such as technical, medical, or legal documents, requires the expertise of a specialist translator, who alone can guarantee the accuracy of the text in the target language, and thus the validity of the translated documents.
Put your trust in Alphatrad and its network of specialist translators
With a network of over 3,500 specialised and native translators around the world, Alphatrad offers multilingual translation services in over 100 languages. We cover the most common languages (English, French, Spanish, etc.) as well as less common ones (Lithuanian, Icelandic, Danish, etc.).
Alphatrad offers a wide range of services, including the translation of scientific articles, administrative documents, and certified translations. Thanks to this expertise, Alphatrad can guarantee high-quality translations tailored to the specific nature of your content.
