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Translation · head to head

Amazon Translate vs SDL Trados Studio

Amazon Translate logo

Amazon Translate

Translation

AWS machine translation API priced at $15 per million characters, with a 2 million character monthly free tier for the first 12 months

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SDL Trados Studio logo

SDL Trados Studio

Translation

Windows desktop CAT tool that agencies treat as the default exchange format

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Amazon Translate has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Amazon Translate the generous 2 million character monthly free tier applies only for a customer’s first 12 months on AWS, so translation costs step up materially in year two with no change in usage.; SDL Trados Studio it runs on Windows only, so macOS translators pay for a virtual machine or a second computer before they can accept work.
  • They diverge on capability: Amazon Translate covers Text translation API, SDL Trados Studio covers Translation memory.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amazon Translate and SDL Trados Studio actually diverge.

Attributes where Amazon Translate and SDL Trados Studio differ
AttributeAmazon TranslateSDL Trados Studio
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer million charactersquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWindows, Web

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Translation).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Amazon Translate

  • Text translation API
  • Document translation
  • Active Custom Translation
  • Real-time document translation
  • Formality control
  • AWS-native integration

Only in SDL Trados Studio

  • Translation memory
  • Term base integration
  • File filters
  • Alignment
  • Quality assurance checks
  • App store extensions

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Amazon Translate

  • An AWS-native development team wanting translation billed through the same console as the rest of their infrastructurenot SDL Trados Studio
  • A new AWS customer running a translation-heavy pilot project inside the generous first-year 2 million character monthly free tiernot SDL Trados Studio
  • A team building a translation pipeline directly integrated with S3 and Lambda for document processingnot SDL Trados Studio
  • A business wanting formality-adjusted output for specific language pairs in customer-facing contentnot SDL Trados Studio

SDL Trados Studio

  • Freelance translators who must open and return agency supplied Studio packagesnot Amazon Translate
  • Language service providers running multi-vendor projects with shared memories and term basesnot Amazon Translate
  • Regulated translation work where segment level memory matches must be auditablenot Amazon Translate
  • Translating formats such as InDesign or structured XML where tag handling is the hard partnot Amazon Translate

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Amazon Translate

  • The generous 2 million character monthly free tier applies only for a customer’s first 12 months on AWS, so translation costs step up materially in year two with no change in usage.
  • There is no consumer-facing app or website, so it is unusable for casual personal translation the way Google Translate or Microsoft Translator are.
  • Document translation of Office files costs double the standard per-character rate, which is easy to underestimate when budgeting a document-heavy project.
  • Active Custom Translation, the tool for improving output with domain-specific data, costs four times the standard rate at $60 per million characters.
  • As with all major MT APIs, output for low-resource languages and specialised terminology often still needs human review, so it does not substitute for a human translation service on customer-facing or legally sensitive content.

SDL Trados Studio

  • It runs on Windows only, so macOS translators pay for a virtual machine or a second computer before they can accept work.
  • A perpetual licence covers the version you bought, and each major release is a further purchase, so the total cost over five years resembles a subscription without being described as one.
  • The learning curve is long: project settings, filters and memory configuration have to be understood before quality output is possible, which makes casual use impractical.
  • Memories and projects are local by default, and real collaboration needs GroupShare or the cloud tiers at extra cost, so two translators sharing one memory is a paid upgrade.
  • Third party plugins from the app store are maintained by their authors and frequently stop working after a major Studio release, which strands workflows that depend on them.

Pricing, plan by plan

Amazon Translate

Free
  • Standard text translation$15/month
    • $15 per million characters
    • 2 million characters per month free for the first 12 months on AWS
  • Document translation (Office files)$30/month
    • $30 per million characters, double the standard rate
  • Real-time document translation$15/month
    • Text and HTML documents, no free tier
  • Active Custom Translation$60/month
    • $60 per million characters
    • 500,000 characters per month free for the first 2 months

SDL Trados Studio

On request
  • SDL Trados Studio$undefined/year
    • Freelance, Professional and cloud tiers sold separately
    • Perpetual desktop licences and subscriptions both offered
    • Prices vary by region, reseller and frequent discount campaigns

Which should you pick?

Choose Amazon Translate if

  • You need text translation api.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want document translation.
Amazon Translate review

Choose SDL Trados Studio if

  • You need translation memory.
  • You work on Windows, Web.
  • You also want term base integration.
SDL Trados Studio review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon Translate or SDL Trados Studio better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon Translate starts at Free and SDL Trados Studio at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Translate or SDL Trados Studio?
Amazon Translate has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Amazon Translate and On request for SDL Trados Studio.
Does Amazon Translate or SDL Trados Studio run on more platforms?
Amazon Translate runs on Web. SDL Trados Studio runs on Windows, Web.
Can I use Amazon Translate for free?
Yes. Amazon Translate has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. SDL Trados Studio starts at On request.
What is Amazon Translate best used for?
Amazon Translate is most often used for an aws-native development team wanting translation billed through the same console as the rest of their infrastructure, a new aws customer running a translation-heavy pilot project inside the generous first-year 2 million character monthly free tier, a team building a translation pipeline directly integrated with s3 and lambda for document processing, a business wanting formality-adjusted output for specific language pairs in customer-facing content. Of those, an aws-native development team wanting translation billed through the same console as the rest of their infrastructure and a new aws customer running a translation-heavy pilot project inside the generous first-year 2 million character monthly free tier are not what SDL Trados Studio is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon Translate do that SDL Trados Studio cannot?
Amazon Translate covers Text translation API, Document translation, Active Custom Translation, Real-time document translation. SDL Trados Studio covers Translation memory, Term base integration, File filters, Alignment.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Amazon Translate: How generous is the free tier really?

2 million characters per month, the largest of the three major cloud APIs, but only for the first 12 months after which standard per-character pricing applies to everything.

SDL Trados Studio: Is it still called SDL Trados?

The product is now sold as Trados Studio by RWS, which acquired SDL in 2020. Older documentation and job adverts still say SDL Trados.

Amazon Translate: Is there a consumer app like Google Translate?

No, Amazon Translate is a developer API only, accessed through the AWS console and SDKs, with no separate public-facing app.

SDL Trados Studio: Do I need it if my clients use a cloud TMS?

Often yes. Agencies still send Studio packages, and accepting them without the tool means manual conversion and lost memory matches.

Amazon Translate: How much does document translation cost compared to text?

Double the standard rate, at $30 per million characters for Office file formats.

SDL Trados Studio: Can I run it on a Mac?

Not natively. Translators use Parallels, Boot Camp on older hardware, or a Windows virtual desktop.

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