L
LSmartling vs Unbabel
Pricing, features, platforms and who each one suits — side by side.
S
Choose Smartling if…
- you want a free plan to start with
- you need an API to build on
- you're in its core audience: enterprise localization teams, software developers
U
Choose Unbabel if…
- you're in its core audience: customer service teams, localization managers
Side by side
Feature Smartling Unbabel
Pricing modelFreemiumContact for pricing
Starting price——
Free plan
Free trial
API
Open source
Trains AI on your contentYes, unless you opt out—
Data retentionKept as long as necessary for the purpose collected; may retain for business or legal reasons—
Security and complianceSOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR, ISO 42001, PCI DSS—
Glossaries—
Translation memory—
AI quality scoring—
Human translation—
Repo & design integrations—
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb
CategoryTranslationTranslation
CompanySmartling, Inc.Unbabel Inc.
Based inUnited States—
Founded2009—
Part of——
Key features
S Smartling
- Translation management system with customizable workflows
- 50+ connectors for CMS, CRM, code repos and design tools
- LQA Agent scoring AI translations with MQM
- Auto Select LLM chooses a model per language pair
- Website translation proxy (Global Delivery Network)
- CAT tool with visual context and translation memory
- Open APIs, SDKs and CI/CD integration
- Professional translation from 4,000+ linguists
U Unbabel
- AI translation adapted to company terminology and tone
- Optional human review of translations
- Custom workflows by market or content type
- Real-time AI quality estimation and reporting
- Quality Intelligence for checking any translation
- MT Score for comparing machine translation models
- Integrations with Zendesk, Salesforce, Intercom and Freshdesk
- ISO 27001 certified security with encryption and anonymization
Plans and prices
From each vendor's site. Prices change — confirm before buying.
Smartling
CoreFree to start
EnterpriseCustom
Machine TranslationFrom $0.0075/word
AI TranslationFrom $0.06/word
AI Human TranslationFrom $0.12/word
Human TranslationFrom $0.20/word
Unbabel
Contact for pricing. Plan details aren't published.
Strengths and limitations
Smartling
- Core plan is free to start
- Per-word rates published, from $0.0075/word for machine translation
- Customers can export translation memory (TMX) and content (XLIFF)
- Lists SOC 2, ISO/IEC 42001, HIPAA and GDPR compliance
- Enterprise plan pricing is not published
- Core plan keeps translation memory for only 180 days
- Some connectors require a higher tier or an add-on
Unbabel
- Combines AI translation with optional human review
- Ready integrations with major helpdesk and CRM tools
- Real-time quality estimation shows how good translations are
- ISO 27001 certified security program
- No public pricing; you have to request a demo
- No self-serve free plan or trial listed
- No public API documented on the home page
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Built from each vendor's public website; we haven't tested them hands-on. Editorial policy