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Translation · head to head

Smartling vs Unbabel

Smartling logo

Smartling

Translation

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

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Unbabel logo

Unbabel

Translation

Human-in-the-loop translation combining machine translation with human post-editing, priced per word rather than per character

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Unbabel the attractive low per-word rate requires a minimum annual commitment reported around $120,000, which prices out most small and mid-sized businesses.
  • They diverge on capability: Smartling covers Translation memory, Unbabel covers Machine translation with human post-editing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Smartling and Unbabel actually diverge.

Attributes where Smartling and Unbabel differ
AttributeSmartlingUnbabel
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), 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 Smartling

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

Only in Unbabel

  • Machine translation with human post-editing
  • Multiple quality tiers
  • Customer support integration
  • Translation quality scoring
  • Human translator network
  • Enterprise reporting

What people use each for

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

Smartling

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

Unbabel

  • A multilingual customer support operation needing translated tickets accurate enough to send directly to customersnot Smartling
  • An enterprise with predictable, high-volume support translation needs able to justify a six-figure annual commitmentnot Smartling
  • A company wanting different quality tiers (raw MT versus human post-edited) depending on the sensitivity of the contentnot Smartling
  • A business integrating translation directly into an existing helpdesk platform rather than building a custom pipelinenot Smartling

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Unbabel

  • The attractive low per-word rate requires a minimum annual commitment reported around $120,000, which prices out most small and mid-sized businesses.
  • It should not be compared directly to per-character machine translation APIs, since the pricing unit, inclusion of human review and use case are all different, and doing so understates the real cost.
  • Turnaround time is inherently slower than pure machine translation, since human post-editors are part of the pipeline, which matters for real-time chat use cases.
  • Public pricing detail is limited outside the enterprise tier, so smaller buyers get little transparency into what they would actually pay before a sales conversation.
  • Quality and turnaround depend partly on the availability of the human post-editor network for a given language pair, which can vary for less common languages.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Unbabel

On request
  • Unbabel Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Per-word pricing reported from around $0.00015/word at top volume
    • Minimum annual commitment reported around $120,000
    • Rate depends on volume, language pairs, turnaround and quality tier

Which should you pick?

Choose Smartling if

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

Choose Unbabel if

  • You need machine translation with human post-editing.
  • You also want multiple quality tiers.
Unbabel review

Questions people ask

Is Smartling or Unbabel better?
Neither clearly leads. Smartling starts at On request and Unbabel at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Smartling or Unbabel?
Smartling starts at On request and Unbabel at On request.
Does Smartling or Unbabel run on more platforms?
Smartling runs on Web, API. Unbabel runs on Web.
What is Smartling best used for?
Smartling is most often used for a company that wants one supplier answerable for both the translation platform and the quality of the translated output, marketing sites where a translator needs to see the rendered page, not a spreadsheet of strings, to get tone and length right, replacing a platform vendor plus several separate agencies with a single contract and a single invoice, content operations at a volume where per-word rates are the dominant cost and the tooling fee is noise. Of those, a company that wants one supplier answerable for both the translation platform and the quality of the translated output and marketing sites where a translator needs to see the rendered page, not a spreadsheet of strings, to get tone and length right are not what Unbabel is typically brought in for.
What can Smartling do that Unbabel cannot?
Smartling covers Translation memory, Visual context CAT editor, Configurable workflows, First-party language services. Unbabel covers Machine translation with human post-editing, Multiple quality tiers, Customer support integration, Translation quality scoring.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Unbabel: Is Unbabel comparable to Google Translate’s API on price?

No, they are different products: Unbabel is a managed service billed per word with human post-editing included, while Google’s API is raw machine translation billed per character.

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.

Unbabel: What is the minimum commitment?

Enterprise pricing has been reported as requiring a minimum annual commitment around $120,000, which is a meaningful barrier for smaller buyers.

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.

Unbabel: Does Unbabel offer fully human translation?

Yes, alongside raw machine translation and MT-plus-post-edit tiers, priced differently by the level of human involvement.

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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