What a translation round costs

Defaults are 2025-typical rates for English-source translation, and every tier card states its per-word rate. Start here, then reprice the exported CSV against vendor quotes.

All-in total

$19,578

4 locales · 20,000 words

Translation program

$10,378

Translation + LQA + PM overhead

Engineering (one-time)

$9,200

i18n framework · Webfonts · Per-locale integration

Where the money goes

Translation$7,520(38%)
LQA$1,504(8%)
PM overhead$1,354(7%)
Engineering$9,200(47%)

Parallel duration

6 days

All locales at once

Sequential duration

23 days

One translator across all

Per-locale breakdown

Locale	Rate ×	Translation	LQA	Subtotal	Days
es-ESSpanish	1.0	$1,600	$320	$1,920	5.7
fr-FRFrench		$1,760	$352	$2,112	5.7
de-DEGerman		$1,920	$384	$2,304	5.7
ja-JPJapanese		$2,240	$448	$2,688	5.7
Translation subtotal	$7,520
LQA subtotal (1 round)	$1,504
PM overhead (15%)	$1,354
Translation program	$10,378

Vendors usually set a per-locale minimum charge of $50–100. This tool applies $50 to short word counts.

1 · Source word count

Planning figures: small app ~5,000 · web product ~50,000 · enterprise app ~200,000+

2 · Translation tier

3 · LQA rounds (1)

0 (skip)1 (standard)2 (high-stakes)3 (regulated)

Translators per locale (1)

Adds throughput but increases coordination overhead.

PM overhead (15%)

2025 planning figures: 15-20% for in-house, 25-30% for a full-service vendor. Replace with the real PM load if known.

4 · Target locales (4)

Or load a preset

See the reach this set buys in the launch planner The planner treats these locales as already supported and ranks what to add next.

5 · Translation memory

Repetitions and fuzzy matches bill below the new-word rate.

Repetitions / 100% matches(bill 25%)0%

Fuzzy 75–99% matches(bill 60%)0%

6 · Engineering setup

One-time localization-engineering work the per-word rate never covers. The lines below come from the locale set.

Codebase still needs i18n framework setupUncheck if strings are already externalized.

i18n framework$6,000
Webfonts (1 script)$1,200
Per-locale integration (4)$2,000

One-time total$9,200

Before this goes to finance

Count only the billable words. On an update that is the delta; translation memory should cover the rest at close to zero.
Tier moves the total more than locale count. Eight locales at MT post-edit often costs less than two at premium, so drop a tier for high-volume, low-stakes content like support and docs.
One LQA round catches most style issues. Save a second for regulated or high-stakes launches, and a third for hero copy.
Parallel days assume every locale starts at once; sequential is the worst case. Budget closer to sequential when one shared reviewer serves all locales.