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Professional translation services

Learn how to place translation orders and choose from the available providers.

Ilya Krukowski avatar
Written by Ilya Krukowski
Updated over 3 months ago

Translation orders allow you to hire a professional linguist, native speaker, or even a neural network to translate your chosen texts into one or more target languages.

Lokalise offers several translation providers that can help translate your app or website into the most popular languages. Simply upload your source files to your project, use the Orders menu to get an instant quote, and pay for translations starting at $0.07 per word.

Getting started

To get an instant translation quote for any of your projects, click the Orders button in the left menu.

Next, click New order:

Choose one of the translation providers: Lokalise, Gengo, Google, or DeepL.

Special notes

  • All payments are made in US dollars.

  • If you plan to create a very large order (over $5,000), it’s highly recommended to have a populated translation memory to ensure consistency and quality. However, note that translation memory is not available by default on Free and Start plans.


Translation providers

Lokalise translation provider

The Lokalise translation team specializes in mobile app, software, e-learning, website, multimedia, and game localization, offering translations in over 90 languages. We combine advanced technology with a network of verified, in-country expert translators and localization engineers.

When to choose?

This is the recommended choice if you want translators to engage deeply with your content, such as downloading your app or visiting your website. Translators use the Lokalise UI for their work and can collaborate via comments (@Lokalise Translation Team).

We also offer a lifetime translation guarantee (not applicable for the "Translation only" option, see special notes below). This means you can request corrections for poorly done work at any time, and our team will make the necessary adjustments free of charge if issues are found.

Available translation quality

  • Translation only by a native professional linguist — the chosen keys are translated by a professional without a second review. This option does not include the lifetime guarantee and is suitable for low-visibility, low-importance, and internal content. Internal review or separate Bilingual editing is recommended for this option.

  • Translation + Bilingual revision by a second native professional linguist — the translation is completed by a professional and then reviewed by another linguist using the source text. This two-step process is ideal for high-quality, final translations.

  • Bilingual editing — existing translations are reviewed and corrected using the source text. This is only available for content without changes since the initial translation (see special notes below for more info).

  • Monolingual proofreading — existing translations are reviewed without using the source text, focusing only on the target language.

Special notes and limitations

  • No support for MT and AI-generated content — monolingual proofreading and bilingual editing do not apply to machine translations (MT) or AI-generated translations. Orders for such content will be canceled, as this is considered post-editing, which is not offered through the Orders menu.

  • No transcreation servicestranscreation is not supported.

  • "Translation only" option: This option does not include the lifetime guarantee and is recommended only for low-visibility and internal content.

  • Bilingual editing and changes to the original translation — bilingual editing is an additional quality assurance step for translations during localization. It can be ordered when the original translation was done by a human and no significant changes have been made to the source or target content. If only very minor changes have occurred, bilingual editing is still applicable. However, if there have been any substantial changes to the original translation—whether in the source or target text—you’ll need to place a full translation order instead.
    For instance, if you have human-made translations and the source text changes, and you want to revise the target translations to reflect those changes, a new translation order is required, not a bilingual editing order.

  • Minimum order price — the minimum order price is $10 per language, regardless of word count.

  • Order completion times — completion times are provided in business days.

  • Team seat limits — the Lokalise Translation Team and any translators or editors added to your project will not count towards your team seat quota.

  • Order cancellations — we do not accept orders related to gambling, adult content, e-cigarettes, tobacco, or dating apps.

Gengo translation provider

At Gengo, the mission is to provide accessible language services to everyone and connect a global community. With a network of over 18,000 translators worldwide, Gengo supports more than 35 languages and operates in every time zone, ensuring round-the-clock coverage. All translators are tested and qualified to meet stringent project standards.

When to choose?

Gengo is an affordable option for generic translations that don’t require domain-specific terminology or a creative style. You can also upload custom text documents in formats like Word or PDF. However, be aware that Gengo has a strict 120-hour "reject or approve" period. This means that after the order is delivered, all correction requests must be made within 120 hours.

Please note that Gengo translators work outside of Lokalise. This means they don’t have access to tools like translation memory, glossaries, or project chat. They only see the following information:

  • Project briefing

  • Translation key description

  • Link to a screenshot (if attached to the key)

To ensure high-quality translations, provide as many relevant details in your briefing as possible.

Available translation quality

  • Native speaker — the translation is done by a native speaker. While native speakers are not considered professionals, they have passed a translator certification. This level is suitable only for low-visibility, low-importance, or internal content. Internal review is highly recommended if you choose this option.

  • Professional translator — the translation is completed by a professional, who might not be a native speaker.

Available voice tones

  • Formal — thorough, direct, and respectful, with an emphasis on grammatical correctness. This tone avoids contractions and focuses on facts.

  • Business — a mix of formal writing with a slightly relaxed tone. It uses a more casual language without being sloppy.

  • Informal — conversational and expressive, similar to speaking with a friend. This tone includes contractions, colloquial phrases, and a bit more emotion.

  • Friendly — non-threatening and trust-building, this tone can blend formal and informal elements depending on the context. It’s generally lighthearted and kind, using exclamation points to convey warmth and enthusiasm.

Special notes and limitations

  • Native speaker translations — these may be of lower quality and are best suited for low-importance, internal content.

  • 120-hour correction window — you have 120 hours after delivery to request any corrections.

  • Gengo translators outside Lokalise — gengo translators do not have access to Lokalise tools like translation memory, glossary, or chat. Each translation key is treated as a separate job, meaning translators see them as individual strings rather than as part of a whole document.

  • No transcreation or file recreation services — if your order includes a text or PDF file, the output may not perfectly match the original formatting or layout.

Note for PDF users

Gengo translators will do their best to retain the original design and layout of your file, but this isn’t always possible. Files may come back unformatted or in a different format, such as DOCX, PPTX, or DOC, depending on what the translator finds suitable. We do not offer file recreation services. For more details, please refer to Gengo documentation.

Note for users ordering translations for "Ad hoc documents" project type

When ordering for the Ad hoc documents project type with Gengo as your provider, Lokalise sends each translation key as a separate segment rather than a single file. This can lead to issues where individual keys may seem fine, but the overall document lacks coherence. Additionally, in large orders, different segments might be translated by different translators who don’t have access to the entire document.

Google translation provider

Google Translate with neural machine translation (NMT) support offers quick and affordable translation services. Note that NMT is not yet available for all language pairs. The cost is $0.001 per word.

Available translation quality

  • Machine translation — this is the only option available for neural network translation.

Special notes and limitations

  • Character limit — Google MT cannot translate keys longer than 5,000 characters. If your order includes such keys, a warning message will appear, and those keys will be excluded. For longer strings, consider using another provider.

  • Placeholders, tags, and plurals — be cautious if your source text contains placeholders, tags, or numerous plurals. The neural network might incorrectly process these elements, potentially adding extra spaces, removing markup, or even translating non-translatable elements. For texts with many such elements, we recommend choosing a human-powered translation provider or internally proofreading the final text.

  • Word count — the word count for Google MT includes placeholders and other non-translatable fragments because the machine translation processes all content.

  • No minimum order value — the Google translation provider does not have a minimum order value.

DeepL translation provider

DeepL Pro offers neural machine translation at a rate of $0.001 per word.

Available translation quality

  • Machine translation — this is the only option available for neural network translation.

Special notes and limitations

  • Placeholders, tags, and plurals — be cautious if your source text contains placeholders, tags, or numerous plurals. The neural network might incorrectly process these elements, potentially adding extra spaces, removing markup, or even translating non-translatable elements. For texts with many such elements, we recommend choosing a human-powered translation provider or internally proofreading the final text.

  • Word count — the word count for DeepL MT includes placeholders and other non-translatable fragments because the machine translation processes all content.

  • No minimum order value — the DeepL translation provider does not have a minimum order value.


Customizing your order

Project

You can choose a project for translation from the drop-down menu. Gengo also allows you to upload various file types, including PDF (.pdf), Excel (.xls, .xlsx), Open Office (.odt), PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx), plain text (.txt), Word (.doc, .docx), and Rich Text Format (.rtf) documents.

Source language

Choose the source language.

Target languages

Add the target languages that the project needs to be translated into. Click Add all languages to include all existing project languages, or add a new language by clicking on the language field.

Include in order

Choose what to include in the order from the drop-down menu. Filtering options include Untranslated strings, Hidden from contributors, Only reviewed strings, or Unverified strings.

Filter by tags

Only the keys with the specified tags will be included in the order.


Order summary

The order summary shows the number of keys and words included, the price per word for each language, the total price, and the estimated delivery time.

Mid-size project translations are typically delivered within 24 hours. Once the translation is complete, you will receive a notification email. If a translator has a question or comment, you’ll also receive an email.


Checkout, invoices, receipts

After finalizing your order and pressing Go to checkout, you’ll see a dialog box where you can enter your billing information and choose a card for payment. Once you’re ready, click Pay to create your order.

Please note that invoices and receipts are sent only to the billing email set in the checkout dialog box, which may differ from the one set in your team settings. Ensure you’ve entered the correct email before clicking Pay.

Invoices are sent only to the billing email set in the team settings, the team owner’s email, and the team biller’s email.

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