Overview

Founded in 2009, Crowdin brings translation work and project coordination into one workspace. Alongside an online editor, Translation Memory and glossaries help teams reuse translations and keep terminology consistent; collaborative editing and context-aware features support work across content types.

For software teams, Git integrations, branch-based translation management, in-context UI previews, built-in QA checks, and support for more than 100 file formats connect localization to development work. Crowdin says it offers more than 700 apps and integrations, including GitHub, Figma, WordPress, and Notion.

Key features

Translation drafts can draw on Translation Memory, machine-translation engines such as DeepL and Google Translate, and AI providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Azure AI. That range gives teams several ways to produce a first pass, while QA and review tools remain relevant for checking results before release.

An API, CDN, SDKs, and webhooks support automation and content synchronization. Android and iOS SDKs add over-the-air content delivery, real-time translation previews, and screenshot upload and tagging—useful when mobile teams need to manage translated content alongside app work.

Progress dashboards, cost tracking, productivity metrics, customizable reports, and string-level QA help coordinators follow work across projects. Crowdin also states that its Information Security Management System is ISO/IEC 27001 certified and that it is GDPR compliant. Security controls include two-factor authentication, SAML 2.0 single sign-on, role-based permissions, granular API tokens, backups and versioning, password complexity enforcement, and device verification. It uses AWS data centers and geographical restrictions to limit processing to specific countries; customers handling PHI must sign its Business Associate Agreement.

Pricing

Crowdin uses a freemium model, with a free plan and trials. Hosted-word limits apply across all projects in an account or organization, and the included amount depends on the plan. Paid subscriptions allow unlimited translators and proofreaders, so the hosted-word quota—not translator headcount—is an important constraint to assess as work grows.

Crowdin Free Plan: Free. The free subscription has no stated included limits, so its fit depends on checking whether its allowance covers the project.
Crowdin for Open Source: Free. The option is available by request for non-profit open-source projects. Granted academic licenses include unlimited projects, strings, and members.
Crowdin Team trial: Free for a 14-day free trial. Creating a first localization project starts the trial with Team plan features, giving a team a short window to evaluate the standard product.
Crowdin Enterprise trial: Free for a 30-day free trial, with Business plan features. It offers a longer evaluation period for organizations considering Enterprise controls.
Crowdin Enterprise: custom pricing, annual billing only. It includes unlimited content, customizable workflows, granular access control, and organization-wide user and group management.

Crowdin describes its standard product as suited to individuals and small in-house teams, while Enterprise targets private organizations coordinating localization across multiple products. Enterprise is the more natural fit when centralized controls and custom workflows matter; smaller teams should weigh those needs against annual-only billing and custom pricing.

Platforms

Crowdin supports Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, web, and Windows, as well as API access. Document and website translation are supported, alongside software, mobile apps, games, marketing content, and documentation localization.

Who it's for

Crowdin suits teams that need translators, developers, and localization coordinators to work across recurring projects. Its developer integrations, mobile delivery tooling, and reporting make it particularly relevant to product organizations localizing apps or websites in multiple languages. It is less compelling for someone seeking only a standalone text translator, or for an organization that cannot work within hosted-word limits or Enterprise's annual custom-pricing terms.

Pros and cons

Pros: Broad content coverage and developer workflow features bring software localization close to release work; Translation Memory, glossaries, and QA support consistency and review.
Pros: More than 700 integrations, plus API, CDN, SDKs, and webhooks, offer multiple routes to connect localization with existing tools and automate synchronization.
Pros: Unlimited translators and proofreaders on paid subscriptions avoid per-translator caps as teams collaborate.
Cons: Hosted-word limits apply across the whole account or organization, so multiple projects draw on a shared plan allowance.
Cons: Enterprise requires annual billing and custom pricing, which makes it a more involved choice for organizations that need its controls.

Alternatives

Consider Localizely if a free plan with 250 hosted string keys, one project, and unlimited users and languages better matches a smaller project. locize may suit a team whose needs align with its free allowance of 2,000 words, two languages, five namespaces, and one user, alongside 100K standard CDN downloads per month. Weblate is an option when its Premium Cloud 10k plan—47.00 EUR per month for 10,000 hosted strings and unlimited languages, projects, and components—fits the budget and scope.

wxrks (formerly Bureau Works) is another freemium alternative. TextUnited offers a free self-service plan with 15,000 words per month, 15 PDF pages per month, and one user, which may suit a single-user document workflow. Transglot provides a free plan with 100,000 words to start, then 10,000 per month, one project, 14 target languages, and three seats. Lara Translate is worth comparing for its free allowance of 60,000 characters per month and one user. PROMT offers paid Lite options for one language pair or multilingual offline translation.

For broader comparisons, browse Translation Software, Translation Management Software, Website Translation Software, or Game Localization Software.

Verdict

Crowdin is a strong choice for product teams that need localization woven into development, mobile delivery, and ongoing project coordination. Its central advantage is the combination of translation tools, developer integrations, automation, and team controls; its principal trade-offs are shared hosted-word limits and Enterprise's annual custom-priced commitment. Choose it when localization is a continuing cross-functional workflow, and look elsewhere if your needs are limited to simple translation or do not justify that operational breadth.

	Crowdin	Youdao Document Translation
Free plan	Yes
Free trial	Yes
Paid from	Free
Platforms	Android, api, iOS, Linux, macOS, Web, Windows	api
Free plan	Yes
Document translation	Yes	Yes
Website translation	Yes
Translation memory	Yes
Glossary tools	Yes
API access	Yes	Yes
Supported languages		2

Crowdin vs Youdao Document Translation

Crowdin

Youdao Document Translation