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Translation · head to head

Amazon Translate vs Weglot

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
Weglot logo

Weglot

Translation

Make your website multilingual in minutes

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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.; Weglot free plan is capped at 2,000 words and a single language
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amazon Translate and Weglot actually diverge.

Attributes where Amazon Translate and Weglot differ
AttributeAmazon TranslateWeglot
Pricing modelPer million characterssubscription

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web), 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 Weglot

Nothing recorded that Amazon Translate does not also cover.

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 Weglot
  • A new AWS customer running a translation-heavy pilot project inside the generous first-year 2 million character monthly free tiernot Weglot
  • A team building a translation pipeline directly integrated with S3 and Lambda for document processingnot Weglot
  • A business wanting formality-adjusted output for specific language pairs in customer-facing contentnot Weglot

Weglot

  • E-commerce store translation into multiple languages instantlynot Amazon Translate
  • Government website content accessibility in native languagesnot Amazon Translate
  • Educational institution information in student/parent native languagesnot Amazon Translate
  • International website reach for marketing teamsnot Amazon Translate
  • Custom web application translation with media file supportnot 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.

Weglot

  • Free plan is capped at 2,000 words and a single language
  • Starter plan at $17 per month is limited to 1 language; reaching 3 languages requires the $32 per month Business plan
  • Word caps scale by tier from 10,000 on Starter up to 5,000,000 on the $769 per month Extended plan, with Enterprise priced on request beyond that

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

Weglot

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 2000 words
    • 1 language
  • Starter$17/month
    • 10000 words
    • 1 language
  • Business$32/month
    • 50000 words
    • 3 languages
  • Pro$87/month
    • 200000 words
    • 5 languages
    • Professional translator access

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 Weglot if

  • You want to start without paying.
Weglot review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon Translate or Weglot better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon Translate starts at Free and Weglot at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Translate or Weglot?
Amazon Translate starts at Free and Weglot at Free.
Does Amazon Translate or Weglot run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Amazon Translate for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 Weglot is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon Translate do that Weglot cannot?
Amazon Translate covers Text translation API, Document translation, Active Custom Translation, Real-time document translation.

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.

Weglot: What is Weglot's pricing model?

Weglot offers seven tiers from free ($0/month with 2000 words, 1 language) to Enterprise (custom pricing). The Pro plan at $87/month includes 200,000 words and 5 languages with professional translator access.

Source
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.

Weglot: Does Weglot offer a free trial?

Yes, all plans include a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. Users can test the platform before committing to a paid plan.

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

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

Weglot: What discount does Weglot offer for annual subscriptions?

Subscribe annually to receive 2 months free, effectively discounting your annual cost by one-sixth. You only pay the difference when upgrading plans mid-billing cycle.

Source
Weglot: How does Weglot handle over-limit usage?

When accounts exceed their plan's word limit, Weglot sends email notifications. An auto-upgrade feature is available to automatically move to the next tier without service interruption.

Source
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