OmegaTvs
MateCat
MateCat: If you want a browser-based, company-maintained free CAT tool instead of a volunteer-maintained desktop app
OmegaT
Free, open source desktop CAT tool under the GPLv3, maintained by a volunteer community rather than a company
As of 1 September 2026, OmegaT is free to use. A computer-assisted translation tool with translation memory, fuzzy matching and glossary support, distributed at no cost under the GPLv3. Softwr lists it under Translation. OmegaT is made by OmegaT open source project, available on Windows, macOS, Linux.
Overview
What OmegaT does
OmegaT is a desktop computer-assisted translation tool providing translation memory, fuzzy matching, glossary lookup and project-based translation leveraging across more than 50 file formats via its Okapi plugin, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, HTML, XLIFF and formats used by commercial tools such as Trados and Wordfast. It has existed since 2002, making it one of the longest-running open source CAT tools still in active use. The licensing fact worth stating precisely is that OmegaT is released under the GNU General Public License version 3 (GPLv3) and is not maintained by a company selling a commercial edition alongside it; unlike MateCat, which is developed and hosted by the company Translated, OmegaT’s development is driven by a volunteer open source community and distributed through SourceForge and its own project site. There is no paid tier, no hosted cloud version sold by a vendor, and no commercial support contract available directly from a maintaining company. Buyers, in the sense of adopters, are individual freelance translators and small language service providers who want a capable CAT tool without a Trados or memoQ licence fee, and who are comfortable with community-based support and a Java desktop application rather than a polished commercial UI. The trade-off is that OmegaT lacks the collaborative, cloud-hosted project management features of a commercial TMS, and translators needing client collaboration workflows or vendor support contracts typically look elsewhere.
What people use it for
- A freelance translator who wants translation memory and fuzzy matching without paying for a Trados or memoQ licence
- A small language service provider standardising on a free tool for individual translators before investing in a shared TMS
- A translator working with files from clients using commercial CAT tools, leveraging Okapi’s format support for compatibility
- A developer or power user who wants to inspect, modify or extend the tool since it is open source under the GPLv3
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about OmegaT.
- There is no commercial support contract available, so a business relying on it for critical work has only community forums to fall back on when something breaks.
- It lacks the cloud-hosted, real-time collaborative project management features of commercial TMS platforms like memoQ or Smartling.
- The interface is a Java desktop application with a dated look and feel compared with modern web-based CAT tools, which affects onboarding speed for new users.
- Release cadence and feature development depend on volunteer contributor availability rather than a company roadmap, so some requested features take a long time to arrive, if ever.
- Machine translation integration requires configuring third-party API keys (Google, DeepL) separately, adding setup steps a commercial all-in-one tool would handle natively.
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of OmegaT
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- OmegaTvsReverso
Reverso: If you need consumer translation and context lookup rather than professional translation memory tooling
Pricing
What OmegaT costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
OmegaT
Free
- Full CAT tool functionality, GPLv3 licensed
- No paid tier, no vendor support contract available
Capabilities
Features
Translation memory
Fuzzy matching and leverage of previously translated segments
Glossary support
Terminology lookup and consistency checking during translation
Wide format support
Over 50 file formats via the bundled Okapi Filters plugin, including Trados and Wordfast formats
Project-based workflow
Source and target file management within a defined translation project
Machine translation plugin support
Optional integration with third-party MT engines including Google and DeepL APIs
Cross-platform desktop app
Runs identically on Windows, macOS and Linux as a Java application
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Is OmegaT really free, with no paid version?
Yes, it is fully free and open source under the GPLv3, with no commercial edition or vendor support contract sold alongside it.
Who maintains OmegaT?
A volunteer open source community, not a company; this differs from MateCat, which is developed and hosted by the company Translated.
Can it open files from Trados or Wordfast?
Yes, via the bundled Okapi Filters plugin, which supports SDLXLIFF, TTX, TXML and many other commercial CAT tool formats.
Keep looking
Where to go from OmegaT
- OmegaT alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- OmegaT pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- OmegaT badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Translation softwareThe full category
- Best Translation softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Translation software for
Compare OmegaT with
- MateCat
- Reverso
- Systran
- SDL Trados Studio
- Twine
- Pontoon
- XTM Cloud
- Smartling
- Google Translate
- Gengo
- Sonix
- XTRF
- Plunet
- POEditor
- Reverso
- XTM Cloud
- Sonix
- XTRF
Other Translation software
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Pricing on request10 researched notesWindows desktop CAT tool that agencies treat as the default exchange format
Pricing on request11 researched notesMozilla open source localisation platform that you host yourself
Open source11 researched notesEnterprise translation management from XTM International, now the centre of a private-equity backed roll-up that also owns Transifex
Pricing on request12 researched notesEnterprise translation management sold alongside first-party language services priced per word
Pricing on request12 researched notesFree consumer translation app and website, backed by the paid Cloud Translation API priced per million characters
Free plan11 researched notesHuman translation marketplace and API, priced per word from $0.06, owned by Lionbridge since 2019
10 researched notesAutomated transcription and translation with per-hour pricing published up front
From $10/mo12 researched notesTranslation business management system for language service providers, with published pricing starting at $9,000 a year
Pricing on request11 researched notesBusiness and translation management system for language service providers and in-house translation departments
Pricing on request11 researched notesLocalisation management billed by string count with unlimited contributors
Free, then $14.99/mo11 researched notesConsumer translation, dictionary and grammar tool with a free tier and a Premium subscription around $6.49 to $9.99 a month
Free plan10 researched notesEnterprise translation management from XTM International, now the centre of a private-equity backed roll-up that also owns Transifex
Pricing on request12 researched notesAutomated transcription and translation with per-hour pricing published up front
From $10/mo12 researched notesTranslation business management system for language service providers, with published pricing starting at $9,000 a year
Pricing on request11 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for OmegaT, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on OmegaT
OmegaT alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
OmegaT pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare OmegaT
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Best Translation software alternatives
Azure AI Translator, priced at $10 per million characters for standard text translation with volume commitment discounts available
Per million charactersFree, browser-based CAT tool under the LGPL, developed and hosted by the translation company Translated
Open source, no licence feeConsumer translation, dictionary and grammar tool with a free tier and a Premium subscription around $6.49 to $9.99 a month
Per user per monthHuman translation marketplace and API, priced per word from $0.06, owned by Lionbridge since 2019
Per wordBusiness and translation management system for language service providers and in-house translation departments
quoteFree consumer translation app and website, backed by the paid Cloud Translation API priced per million characters
Per million characters
AWS machine translation API priced at $15 per million characters, with a 2 million character monthly free tier for the first 12 months
Per million characters