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LibreTranslate

Open-source machine translation API you can run on your own server, fully offline.

Open sourceSelf-hostableTranslation tools
Visit LibreTranslateSee 5 alternatives
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About LibreTranslate

LibreTranslate is a free and open-source machine translation API built on the Argos Translate engine. You can run it on your own machine or server with Docker or Python, and once the language models are downloaded it needs no internet connection and sends nothing to a third party. That makes it popular for privacy-minded projects, self-hosted apps, and developers who want a translation endpoint without per-character bills. It comes with a simple web interface for translating text and files and a REST API that many other tools already support. The project also sells API keys for its hosted instance at libretranslate.com, which funds development. The trade-off is quality: its models are smaller than those behind DeepL or Google, so output is noticeably rougher, especially for long or idiomatic text and less common language pairs, and the language list is shorter. Running it well also needs a reasonably capable server.

Best for: Developers and privacy-focused teams who want a free, self-hosted translation API.

Pros and cons

What works

  • Runs entirely offline on your own hardware
  • Simple REST API supported by many self-hosted apps
  • No per-character costs when self-hosted
  • AGPL licence with an active community

Why people leave

  • Translation quality trails commercial engines
  • Fewer supported languages
  • Needs a decent server for acceptable speed

Top LibreTranslate alternatives

See all 5
  1. 1Argos Translate logo
    Argos Translate

    The underlying engine, usable directly as a Python library or desktop app.

    66.5
  2. 2DeepL logo
    DeepL

    Much higher quality output if sending text to a commercial API is acceptable.

    62.6
  3. 3Google Translate logo
    Google Translate

    Its Cloud API covers far more languages with a free monthly allowance.

    59.6
  4. 4Lingvanex logo
    Lingvanex

    A commercial on-premise translation server with more languages and support.

    57.2
  5. 5SYSTRAN logo
    SYSTRAN

    Enterprise-grade on-premise translation with vendor support.

    55.3

Why people left LibreTranslate

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LibreTranslate: common questions

Is LibreTranslate free?

Yes. LibreTranslate is free, open-source software that you can host yourself.

Is LibreTranslate open source?

Yes. The source code is on GitHub at LibreTranslate/LibreTranslate. You can also run it on your own server.

What platforms does LibreTranslate run on?

LibreTranslate is available for Web and Self-hosted.

What are the best alternatives to LibreTranslate?

The highest-ranked LibreTranslate alternatives right now are Argos Translate, DeepL and Google Translate. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 5 LibreTranslate alternatives