In 2022, the market size of the translation services industry reached $9 billion in the US alone. Clearly, many companies are spending big bucks to make their content accessible in different languages. But, zooming in on that multi-billion dollar figure, what are the usual rates for translation projects? The answer is crucial to managing your localization budget effectively and maximizing the impact of your efforts.
Translation rates are most often calculated on a per-word basis, sometimes with a minimum charge. Since it’s based on the word count of the source text, pre-edits can be helpful to trim unnecessary words and reduce translation costs.
While less common, you may sometimes come across the following pricing structures:
However, since per-word rates are the translation industry standard, we’ll reference that structure going forward.
The exact cost can vary based on a number of factors, which we’ll discuss later. But human translation usually lands in the ballpark of $0.15 to $0.30 per word. Where do Smartling’s translation services fall within that range? Premium Translation—done by 100% native speakers and subject matter experts—costs between $0.17 and $0.20 per word, depending on the language.
Traditional Translation, on the other hand, costs $0.12 to $0.14 per word. Both are delivered with guaranteed multidimensional quality metrics (MQM) scores of 98. In the rare even that a translation isn’t up to par, we fix it at no cost, ensuring that you always receive high-quality translations.
How does the cost of machine translation (MT) compare?
Machine translation is known for its ability to translate millions of words in seconds and for a fraction of the cost of human translation. To illustrate, look at the pricing for standard translation from some of the most popular machine translation engines.
Among others, you can integrate any of the above engines with Smartling’s Neural Machine Translation Hub. This Hub is our cloud-based, multi-machine translation engine that uses AI to auto-select the best MT engine for your language pair and content.
The result is instant delivery of up to 350% higher quality translations for as little as $0.005 to $0.0012 per word. For around the same cost, you can even use a trained MT engine to translate content in your brand style and tone, no matter the content type.
Let’s put the price ranges we’ve covered into perspective. Here are some low- and high-end totals for two translation projects with different numbers of words.
These are just estimates, of course, and the final cost of a translation project depends on a variety of things.
We’ve established that word count or document length is an influencing factor since per-word rates are so common. What other factors impact translation costs?
Other factors can also influence how much you’ll spend. Think of a certified translation, for example. This is a signed statement from the LSP confirming that a text was translated accurately from the source document. You may need one for a business contract, service agreement, or other legal document. Given the importance of the source document, you can expect to pay a higher fee.
Additionally, translation memory can have a big impact on how much your translation services cost. Translation memory enables translators to reuse previously approved translations to keep your brand voice and terminology consistent, and prevent you from paying for the same translations repeatedly.
We’ve used the term “translation cost” a lot. While translation does have costs—time and money included—it’s ultimately more of an investment than an expense.
Proven translation services and software can get you a return on investment that far outweighs what you put into your projects. Case in point: Customers who use Smartling’s translation services enjoy 70% more website conversions while also saving 20% on translation costs. They also realize those benefits sooner, thanks to streamlined translation processes and faster turnaround times. They’re able to publish translated content 52% faster.
Our translation plans also help control translation costs. You can choose just the right option for your current localization needs and budget, but there’s also room to scale as needed.
Whether you need cost-effective, high-ROI services or software—or both—Smartling has a solution to match. To see how you can use the platform to optimize your translation efforts and make the most of your localization budget, check out our 5-minute, on-demand demo. If you have questions afterward or want a more in-depth, personalized demo, give our team a shout and we’ll be glad to help!