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Translation · head to head

Amazon Translate vs MateCat

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
MateCat logo

MateCat

Translation

Free, browser-based CAT tool under the LGPL, developed and hosted by the translation company Translated

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.; MateCat the hosted version most users rely on depends on Translated srl’s continued operation and infrastructure decisions, unlike a self-run desktop tool.
  • They diverge on capability: Amazon Translate covers Text translation API, MateCat covers Browser-based CAT interface.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Amazon Translate and MateCat differ
AttributeAmazon TranslateMateCat
Pricing modelPer million charactersOpen source, no licence fee

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 MateCat

  • Browser-based CAT interface
  • Machine translation suggestions
  • Translation memory
  • Quality assurance checks
  • Project management
  • File translation

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

MateCat

  • A freelance translator wanting a no-install, browser-based CAT tool with built-in machine translation suggestionsnot Amazon Translate
  • A small agency wanting basic hosted project management without paying for a commercial TMSnot Amazon Translate
  • A translator who wants MT suggestions from multiple engines surfaced alongside translation memory matches in one interfacenot Amazon Translate
  • A team occasionally needing quick file translation through a browser without setting up desktop softwarenot 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.

MateCat

  • The hosted version most users rely on depends on Translated srl’s continued operation and infrastructure decisions, unlike a self-run desktop tool.
  • It is developed by a commercial translation company whose own paid services sit alongside the free tool, which is worth being aware of when evaluating vendor neutrality.
  • Being browser-based, it requires a stable internet connection, unlike OmegaT’s fully offline desktop application.
  • Advanced terminology management and enterprise-scale project features are more limited than a paid commercial TMS such as memoQ or Smartling.
  • Self-hosting the open source LGPL code independently of Translated’s hosted service requires technical setup effort that most individual translators are unlikely to undertake.

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

MateCat

Free
  • MateCatFree
    • Free browser-based CAT tool, LGPL licensed
    • Hosted and operated by Translated srl

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 MateCat if

  • You need browser-based cat interface.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want machine translation suggestions.
MateCat review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon Translate or MateCat better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon Translate starts at Free and MateCat at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Translate or MateCat?
Amazon Translate starts at Free and MateCat at Free.
Does Amazon Translate or MateCat 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 MateCat is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon Translate do that MateCat cannot?
Amazon Translate covers Text translation API, Document translation, Active Custom Translation, Real-time document translation. MateCat covers Browser-based CAT interface, Machine translation suggestions, Translation memory, Quality assurance checks.

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.

MateCat: Is MateCat really free?

Yes, it is free to use as a hosted browser-based tool and released as open source under the LGPL.

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.

MateCat: Who maintains MateCat?

Translated srl, an Italian translation company, develops and hosts it; this differs from OmegaT, which is maintained by a volunteer open source community.

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

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

MateCat: Can I self-host MateCat instead of using Translated’s hosted version?

The code is open source under the LGPL and technically self-hostable, but doing so requires meaningful technical setup most individual users skip in favour of the hosted service.

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