Softwr

Translation · head to head

Phrase vs Smartling

Phrase logo

Phrase

Translation

A flexible platform with product capacities that scale with your team

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Smartling logo

Smartling

Translation

Enterprise translation management sold alongside first-party language services priced per word

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Phrase business and Enterprise tiers require contacting sales for pricing; Smartling translation memory is retained for only 180 days on the Core tier, so the asset that would make a future migration cheap expires on the plan most likely to be used by a team testing the water.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Phrase and Smartling actually diverge.

Attributes where Phrase and Smartling differ
AttributePhraseSmartling
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWebWeb, API

Identical on both: starting price (On request), 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 Smartling does not also cover.

Only in Smartling

  • Translation memory
  • Visual context CAT editor
  • Configurable workflows
  • First-party language services
  • Linguistic quality assurance
  • Connectors and API

What people use each for

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

Phrase

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

Smartling

  • A company that wants one supplier answerable for both the translation platform and the quality of the translated outputnot Phrase
  • Marketing sites where a translator needs to see the rendered page, not a spreadsheet of strings, to get tone and length rightnot Phrase
  • Replacing a platform vendor plus several separate agencies with a single contract and a single invoicenot Phrase
  • Content operations at a volume where per-word rates are the dominant cost and the tooling fee is noisenot 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

Smartling

  • Translation memory is retained for only 180 days on the Core tier, so the asset that would make a future migration cheap expires on the plan most likely to be used by a team testing the water.
  • The platform subscription is not published while the per-word service rates are, so you can model the variable cost precisely and cannot model the fixed cost at all until you have been through a sales sizing exercise.
  • The vendor earns on words routed through it, so the commercial relationship rewards volume flowing to Smartling rather than volume being avoided through better reuse of existing memory.
  • Per-word pricing multiplies by target language, so adding a market to a product that ships in twelve languages costs a thirteenth of the current translation bill rather than a marginal amount.
  • Minimum contract term, minimum annual spend and whether individual connectors carry their own charge are all absent from the public site, so three of the numbers that determine total cost only appear inside a proposal.

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

Smartling

On request
  • Core$undefined/year
    • Subscription price not published
    • Basic workflow, user and project management
    • Browser CAT editor with visual context
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Subscription price not published
    • Fully configurable dynamic workflows
    • Translation memory with unlimited storage
  • Language services, charged separately per word$undefined/year
    • Machine translation from 0.0075 USD per word
    • AI translation from 0.06 USD per word
    • AI translation with human review from 0.12 USD per word

Which should you pick?

Choose Phrase if

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

Phrase review

Choose Smartling if

  • You need translation memory.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want visual context cat editor.
Smartling review

Questions people ask

Is Phrase or Smartling better?
Neither clearly leads. Phrase starts at On request and Smartling at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Phrase or Smartling?
Phrase starts at On request and Smartling at On request.
Does Phrase or Smartling run on more platforms?
Phrase runs on Web. Smartling 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 Smartling is typically brought in for.
What can Phrase do that Smartling cannot?
Smartling covers Translation memory, Visual context CAT editor, Configurable workflows, First-party language services.

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
Smartling: Is there a free plan?

The Core tier is advertised as free to start, but translation memory is kept for only 180 days on it and any production deployment is a quoted subscription. Treat it as an evaluation route, not a plan.

Phrase: Does Phrase offer a free trial?

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

Source
Smartling: What does the platform actually cost?

Smartling does not publish it. The published figures are per-word service rates. Expect an annual subscription sized against your content volume, workflows and language count, quoted after a scoping call.

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
Smartling: Can I use Smartling with my own translators?

Yes, the platform works with your own vendors and freelancers. You then pay for software and forgo the services revenue the pricing model is built around, which weakens your negotiating position on the subscription.

Smartling: What happens to my translation memory if I leave?

Translation memory is exportable, but on Core it only covers the previous 180 days, so leaving after two years on the entry tier means most of the asset is already gone.

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