Crowdin

Overview

Crowdin is a localization workspace for translating and managing software, websites, games, marketing content, and documentation. It suits product teams that need translators to work alongside development workflows, rather than people looking only for a standalone text translator. Its broad workflow coverage is the draw; hosted-word limits and plan-specific pricing are the main things to check before committing.

Key features

An online editor, Translation Memory, glossaries, collaborative editing, and context-aware translation features bring recurring translation work into one place. Memory and glossary tools can help teams reuse prior work and maintain terminology, while built-in QA checks add a review step. Progress dashboards, cost tracking, productivity metrics, customizable reports, and string-level QA give coordinators ways to monitor work beyond individual translations.

For software teams, Git integrations, branch-based translation management, in-context UI previews, an API, and support for more than 100 file formats make localization part of a developer workflow. Crowdin says it offers more than 700 apps and integrations, including GitHub, Figma, WordPress, and Notion. Its API, CDN, SDKs, and webhooks support automation and content synchronization. Android and iOS SDKs add over-the-air content delivery, real-time translation preview, and screenshot upload and tagging—useful when mobile releases need updated translations without treating delivery as a separate process.

AI-assisted draft translations can use Translation Memory, machine-translation engines such as DeepL and Google Translate, and AI providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Azure AI. That gives teams several sources for initial drafts, but the product also includes human collaboration and QA features rather than presenting draft generation as the whole workflow.

Crowdin states that its information security management system is ISO/IEC 27001 certified and that it is GDPR compliant. Its listed controls include two-factor authentication, SAML 2.0 single sign-on, granular API tokens, role-based permissions, backups and versioning, password complexity enforcement, and device verification. It says it uses AWS data centers and geographical restrictions to limit processing to specified countries. Customers handling PHI must sign its Business Associate Agreement.

Pricing

Crowdin uses a freemium model, with a free plan and a 14-day trial.

Crowdin for Open Source is also free and is available by request for non-profit open-source projects. Academic licenses that are granted include unlimited projects, strings, and members; that is a meaningful fit for qualifying academic work, but it is not a general free-plan entitlement.

Creating a first localization project starts a 14-day Crowdin Team trial at no cost, with Team features during the trial. Crowdin Enterprise has a 30-day trial at no cost, including Business plan features. These trials offer a way to evaluate different levels of the product, but the trial periods are finite.

Crowdin Enterprise has custom pricing and annual billing only. It includes unlimited content, customizable workflows, and enterprise controls, making it the relevant paid option for organizations that need those controls rather than a fixed published price. Across paid subscriptions, translators and proofreaders are unlimited, but hosted-word limits apply across the account or organization, and the allowance depends on the plan. That shared quota matters when multiple projects draw on one subscription.

Platforms

Crowdin supports web, Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, and API access. This range suits teams coordinating work across desktop and mobile products, with SDK-based mobile delivery available for Android and iOS.

Who it's for

Crowdin describes its standard product as suited to individuals and small in-house teams, while Crowdin Enterprise is aimed at private organizations coordinating localization across multiple products. Its wide content coverage and developer integrations make it especially relevant to teams managing recurring software localization. It is less compelling for someone who only needs occasional document translation and does not need project coordination, integrations, or delivery tooling.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Translation, QA, reporting, and developer workflow features sit in one platform, reducing the need to separate localization from product work.
• Pro: Android and iOS SDKs support over-the-air delivery and preview workflows, which can help mobile teams manage translation changes as part of ongoing releases.
• Pro: Paid plans allow unlimited translators and proofreaders, so staffing translation and review is not capped by seat counts.
• Con: Hosted-word quotas are shared across an account or organization and vary by plan, so multiple projects can compete for the same allowance.
• Con: Enterprise requires annual billing and custom pricing, which makes it a less straightforward choice for buyers seeking a predictable monthly commitment.
• Con: The free plan's exact limits are unclear, while the open-source offer is request-based and intended for non-profit projects.

Alternatives

Localizely is worth considering for a smaller project that can fit within its free tier: it provides 250 hosted string keys, one project, and unlimited users and languages, with no credit card needed. LingoHub may suit teams that prefer a published Starter price: €45 a month includes 100k linguistic credits, roughly 15k words, and unlimited seats. locize is another option for teams whose needs fit its free allowance of 2,000 words, two languages, five namespaces, one user, and 100K standard CDN downloads per month.

PROMT is an alternative with freemium plans. Lara Translate is an alternative with a free plan. Mate Translate is an alternative with freemium plans. Papago is an alternative with a free plan. OneSky is an alternative with a free plan.

Browse Translation Software or Translation Management Software to compare products in those categories. Teams focused on game projects can also explore Game Localization Software, while website-focused buyers can compare Website Translation Software.

Verdict

Crowdin is a strong fit for teams that need a connected localization workflow across product content, development, QA, and mobile delivery. Its main advantage is breadth: translators and developers can work within the same system, with integrations and automation to support ongoing releases. Look elsewhere if you need simple, fully transparent pricing or a known free quota before starting; Enterprise is custom-priced annually, and hosted-word allowances vary by plan.