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Translation · head to head

Phrase vs Smartcat

Phrase logo

Phrase

Translation

A flexible platform with product capacities that scale with your team

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Smartcat logo

Smartcat

Translation

Translation platform and freelancer marketplace billed in Smartwords, where every added target language multiplies consumption

From
$1200/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Phrase business and Enterprise tiers require contacting sales for pricing; Smartcat smartwords are consumed as source words multiplied by target languages, so a product going from five to ten locales doubles consumption on identical source content and the plan you sized last year no longer fits.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Phrase and Smartcat actually diverge.

Attributes where Phrase and Smartcat differ
AttributePhraseSmartcat
Starting priceOn request$1200/year
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer year by Smartword volume
PlatformsWebWeb, API

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Phrase

Nothing recorded that Smartcat does not also cover.

Only in Smartcat

  • Smartword allowance
  • Freelancer marketplace
  • Payer of record
  • Unlimited users
  • Browser CAT editor
  • AI agents

What people use each for

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

Phrase

  • Software localizationnot Smartcat
  • Translation managementnot Smartcat
  • Multi-language content deliverynot Smartcat

Smartcat

  • A company that wants to hire and pay many freelance linguists without opening a supplier account and payment channel for each onenot Phrase
  • Translation programmes with high volume in a small number of target languages, where the multiplier does the least damagenot Phrase
  • Teams that need unlimited internal users on the platform without paying per seat for occasional reviewersnot Phrase
  • Consolidating an existing freelancer roster onto one contract, one invoice and one payment railnot Phrase

Where each one falls short

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

Phrase

  • Business and Enterprise tiers require contacting sales for pricing
  • Multimedia localization (Phrase Studio) is a paid add-on across all plans

Smartcat

  • Smartwords are consumed as source words multiplied by target languages, so a product going from five to ten locales doubles consumption on identical source content and the plan you sized last year no longer fits.
  • The gap between the entry tier at 1,200 USD a year and the next at 24,000 is twentyfold with nothing between them, so a team that outgrows Adapt faces a step change rather than an increase.
  • Subscription Smartwords expire at renewal and monthly plan credits expire each cycle, so unused allowance is lost rather than banked and overbuying is a straight write-off.
  • Marketplace access, the reason many buyers choose Smartcat at all, does not exist on the entry plan, and API access with single sign-on only appears two tiers up at 60,000 USD a year.
  • The published commission table in the help centre still names retired plan tiers, so the rates a buyer would use to model marketplace cost cannot be reliably mapped onto the plans actually on sale.

Pricing, plan by plan

Phrase

On request
  • Freelancer$27/month
    • 1 TMS Seat
    • 200K managed words
    • Annual billing
  • Software UI/UX$525/month
    • 15 Strings seats
    • 1M managed words
    • Developer Portal with APIs
  • Team$1245/month
    • Unlimited TMS Seats
    • 20 Strings Seats
    • 1.2M Strings Managed Words
  • Business$null/mo
    • Unlimited TMS Seats
    • 150 Strings Seats
    • 3M Strings Managed Words

Smartcat

$1200/year
  • Adapt$1200/year
    • Starting price, billed annually
    • 100,000 Smartwords
    • 1 workspace
  • Accelerate$24000/year
    • Starting price, billed annually
    • 1 million Smartwords
    • 1 workspace
  • Anticipate$60000/year
    • Starting price, billed annually
    • 2 million Smartwords
    • 2 workspaces
  • Autonomous$undefined/year
    • Price not published, tailored to requirements
    • 6 million Smartwords
    • 7 workspaces

Which should you pick?

Choose Phrase if

Nothing in the data separates Phrase from Smartcat on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Phrase review

Choose Smartcat if

  • You need smartword allowance.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want freelancer marketplace.
Smartcat review

Questions people ask

Is Phrase or Smartcat better?
Neither clearly leads. Phrase starts at On request and Smartcat at $1200/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Phrase or Smartcat?
Phrase starts at On request and Smartcat at $1200/year.
Does Phrase or Smartcat run on more platforms?
Phrase runs on Web. Smartcat runs on Web, API.
What is Phrase best used for?
Phrase is most often used for software localization, translation management, multi-language content delivery. Of those, software localization and translation management are not what Smartcat is typically brought in for.
What can Phrase do that Smartcat cannot?
Smartcat covers Smartword allowance, Freelancer marketplace, Payer of record, Unlimited users.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Phrase: What is the lowest-cost Phrase plan?

The Freelancer plan starts at $27/month when billed annually, including 1 TMS Seat and 200K managed words.

Source
Smartcat: What is a Smartword?

A credit. One Smartword is consumed per source word per target language, so 1,000 words into five languages costs 5,000 Smartwords. AI dubbing costs ten Smartwords per dubbed word.

Phrase: Does Phrase offer a free trial?

Yes, Phrase offers a 14-day free trial of Enterprise features across all plan types.

Source
Smartcat: Does Smartcat take a cut from freelancers?

No. The vendor states it does not deduct a platform commission from supplier earnings; the marketplace commission is charged to the client. Freelancers pay withdrawal fees, a fixed one to ten dollars plus half a percent, and a two and a half percent currency conversion markup.

Phrase: What are the per-seat costs for higher Phrase tiers?

The Team plan ($1,245/month) provides unlimited TMS seats and 20 Strings Seats. Business and Enterprise plans have unlimited seats but require custom quotes for pricing.

Source
Smartcat: Is there a free plan?

No. There is a fifteen day trial of the full platform. A legacy free tier still appears in help articles but is not on the current pricing page.

Smartcat: What happens if I do not review delivered work?

After fifteen days the system verifies the work automatically and triggers supplier payment, so silence is treated as acceptance.

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