Crowdin - Detailed Review
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Crowdin - Product Overview
Crowdin Overview
Crowdin is a comprehensive localization management solution that helps businesses translate and localize their content efficiently, making it accessible to a global audience.Primary Function
Crowdin’s primary function is to facilitate the translation and localization of various types of content, including websites, mobile apps, games, documentation, and more. It enables companies to manage multilingual content in a streamlined and automated manner, ensuring that new and updated content is quickly available in multiple languages.Target Audience
Crowdin is designed for companies of all sizes, particularly those with agile teams that need to manage frequently updated content. Its user base includes developers, translators, proofreaders, and project managers who work on multilingual projects.Key Features
User Management and Collaboration
Crowdin allows you to invite users and define their access levels (manager, translator, proofreader) with specific language assignments. This ensures that the right people have access to the right content, facilitating collaboration and efficient project management.Automation and Integration
The platform automates many aspects of the localization process, such as content synchronization, translation memory management, and glossary management. It integrates with various tools like GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, and more, making it easy to sync translatable content and receive translations in real-time.Reporting and Task Management
Crowdin offers basic and advanced reports to track project activity, calculate translation costs, and manage tasks. You can assign files to translators and proofreaders, set due dates, and receive notifications about updates and changes.Quality Assurance and Tools
The platform includes features like Translation Memory (TM), glossaries, and QA checks to ensure consistency and quality in translations. It also supports machine translations from providers like Google Translate, Microsoft Translator, and DeepL Translator. Additionally, Crowdin offers an In-Context Visual Editor and screenshot functionality to improve translation accuracy.AI Integration
Crowdin integrates with AI providers such as OpenAI and Google Gemini, allowing for AI-powered translations and an AI Assistant in the Editor. This AI Assistant can correct TM suggestions, serve as an advanced dictionary, and suggest translations based on context.Customization and Security
Crowdin allows for custom file format support and emphasizes data security, ensuring that translated content is stored securely with controlled access permissions for team members. The platform also supports exporting translations in various formats using the “Bundles” feature. By leveraging these features, Crowdin helps businesses streamline their localization processes, reduce costs, and deliver high-quality, culturally appropriate content to their global audiences. Crowdin - User Interface and Experience
User Interface Overview
The user interface of Crowdin is renowned for its intuitiveness and user-friendliness, making it accessible to both beginners and experienced professionals.Intuitive UX
Crowdin’s interface is clear and organized, allowing users to quickly access essential tools and features. This intuitive design minimizes the learning curve, enabling teams to focus on producing quality translations without spending a lot of time figuring out how to use the platform.Editor Overview
The main workspace in Crowdin is the Editor, where project members can suggest, vote on, review, and approve translations. The Editor offers various customizable options, such as setting the default view mode, compact strings view, translation preview, and the display of HTML tags. Users can also enable features like non-printable characters displaying, translation field highlighting for QA issues, and real-time spellcheck. These options enhance the translation process and make it more efficient.Customization and Themes
Users have the flexibility to customize the appearance of the Editor, including choosing between light, dark, or auto themes based on their device settings. Additionally, custom themes can be installed from the Crowdin Store or created personally. This customization allows users to work in an environment that is comfortable for them.Responsive Design
Crowdin’s interface is responsive, ensuring a seamless experience across various devices, from desktops to mobile phones. This makes it convenient for teams to work from anywhere, at any time.Keyboard Shortcuts and Quick Access
The platform offers keyboard shortcuts that can be customized to personal preferences, allowing for quick actions within the Editor. There is also quick access to frequently used menu items, such as language and file selections, which streamlines the workflow.Context Menu Options
When selecting words or phrases in the source string or translation, a context menu appears with useful options like searching Translation Memory (TM), finding explanations in project terminology or Wikipedia, creating new terms, and transforming text to uppercase or lowercase. These options enhance the efficiency and accuracy of the translation process.User Feedback
Users generally praise Crowdin for its ease of use and the quality of its tools. Reviews highlight that Crowdin helps translators ensure they have written well and facilitates collaboration to suggest the best translations. However, some users mention minor annoyances, such as difficulties with certain features like branch management and the distinction between Crowdin Enterprise and the standard version.Conclusion
In summary, Crowdin’s user interface is highly intuitive, customizable, and responsive, making it an effective tool for translation management. Its ease of use and comprehensive features contribute to a positive overall user experience. Crowdin - Key Features and Functionality
Integration with AI Providers
Crowdin supports multiple AI providers, including OpenAI, Google Gemini, Microsoft Azure OpenAI, Mistral AI, and Anthropic. Users can choose between using their own API keys for enhanced privacy and control or opting for the managed by Crowdin service, which simplifies the integration process without the need for external API keys.Configuring AI Prompts
Users can manage AI prompts through the Crowdin interface, allowing them to filter, search, edit, clone, and delete prompts. Prompts can be categorized by type (e.g., AI in editor, pre-translate) and status (e.g., enabled, disabled). This flexibility ensures that AI interactions are contextually relevant and aligned with specific translation needs.AI Assistant in the Editor
The AI Assistant is a core feature that integrates AI directly into the Crowdin Editor. This assistant is context-aware, meaning it considers the string being translated, related glossaries, translation memories (TM) matches, and other relevant context. The AI Assistant can:- Correct TM suggestions to ensure consistency with terminology and previous translations.
- Act as an advanced dictionary by providing term definitions, translation variants, and synonyms.
- Suggest translations that can be refined or saved as is.
Pre-Translation via AI
Crowdin allows users to apply AI translations to their content with a few clicks. This pre-translation feature leverages AI to translate content before human translators review and refine it, significantly speeding up the localization process.Full Document Context and Assist Feature
The new Assist feature introduced in May 2024 integrates AI with the Crowdin Editor, providing linguists with full document context. This allows translators to work with entire documents rather than just segments. Key benefits include:- Full document context: Linguists can request file summaries, filter strings with specific words or tags, and fix tags in multiple translations.
- Comprehensive AI understanding: The AI has access to the full context of the document.
- Flexible translation requests: Translators can request full or partial translations, change prompts, and use voice dictation (experimental).
AI Settings and Customization
Users can configure default AI settings across their Crowdin account and override these settings for individual projects. This includes selecting default prompts for AI interactions and AI suggestions in the Editor. These settings ensure that AI functionality is aligned with the specific needs of each project.Crowdin Context Harvester CLI
This feature uses AI to provide better context for localization keys from code, enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of the translation process. It is part of the broader updates aimed at improving the translation experience and user interface. By integrating these AI features, Crowdin enhances the localization workflow, making it more efficient, accurate, and user-friendly for translators and project managers. Crowdin - Performance and Accuracy
Performance
Crowdin integrates advanced AI technologies from top providers such as OpenAI, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Azure OpenAI, which significantly enhance its performance. Here are some notable points:AI-Assisted Translations
Crowdin’s AI tools can assist translators and proofreaders within the Editor, providing context-aware suggestions, correcting translation memory (TM) matches, and serving as an advanced dictionary. This integration makes the translation process more efficient and accurate.Pre-Translation via AI
With just a few clicks, users can apply AI-powered translations to their content, which can then be refined based on specific project needs.Customizable Prompts
Users can configure AI prompts to include contextual information such as project-specific terminology, style preferences, and target audience considerations. This ensures that AI algorithms generate translations that align closely with the project’s requirements.Accuracy
The accuracy of Crowdin’s AI-driven tools is enhanced through several features:Contextual Awareness
The AI Assistant in Crowdin’s Editor is context-aware, meaning it considers the string being translated, related glossaries, TM matches, and other relevant context. This ensures more accurate and relevant assistance.Quality Assurance Tools
Crowdin’s quality assurance tools, including in-context editing and automated checks, help maintain high translation standards. These tools ensure consistency across translations and catch common issues like missing translations or formatting errors.Terminology Management
Effective terminology management within Crowdin ensures that technical terms are translated consistently, which is crucial for maintaining accuracy across different translations.Limitations and Areas for Improvement
While Crowdin offers a range of powerful features, there are some limitations and areas where improvements could be made:String and Word Limits
Users on free or open-source plans may encounter limits on the number of strings or words they can host. These limits can be restrictive for larger projects, although Crowdin support can sometimes increase these limits upon request.Integration Issues
Some users have reported minor inconveniences with integrating Crowdin with certain version control systems, which could be improved upon.User Interface
There have been some user feedback indicating that the GUI can be a bit annoying to navigate, especially when dealing with unfinished sentences or projects. Additionally, some users find the branching and release management features confusing and problematic. Overall, Crowdin’s performance and accuracy are significantly bolstered by its advanced AI integrations and quality assurance tools. However, addressing the limitations related to plan restrictions and user interface usability could further enhance the user experience. Crowdin - Pricing and Plans
Pricing Plans Overview
Crowdin, a localization project management and translation tool, offers a variety of pricing plans to cater to different needs and scales of projects. Here’s a breakdown of their pricing structure and the features included in each plan:
Free Plan
- Cost: $0
- Features:
- 1 Integration
- 1 Private Project
- 60,000 Hosted Words
- Features for Translators’ Efficiency
- Unlimited Public Projects
- Unlimited Translators in Public Projects
Pro Plan
- Cost: $50 per month (or $480 billed yearly)
- Features:
- 2 Integrations
- 2 Private Projects
- 60,000 Hosted Words
- Unlimited Public Projects
- Unlimited Translators
- This plan is ideal for creating private projects to localize your product’s latest updates.
Team Plan
- Cost: $150 per month (or $179 per month, or $1,800 billed yearly)
- Features:
- 100,000 Hosted Words
- 3 Integrations
- 5 Managers Included
- Unlimited Private Projects
- This plan adds managers who can upload files, invite people, and connect integrations.
Team Plan
- Cost: $450 per month (or $5,400 billed yearly)
- Features:
- 500,000 Hosted Words
- Unlimited Integrations
- 5 Managers Included
- This plan is an extension of the Team plan with more hosted words and unlimited integrations.
Enterprise Plan
- Cost: Custom pricing (contact for a quote)
- Features:
- 2,500,000 Hosted Words
- 10 Managers Included
- All features from the Team plan
- Custom Authorization Methods
- High Volume Pricing
- IP Allowlist
- Permissions Granularity
- Priority Support & SLAs
- Single Sign-on (SAML SSO)
- Slack Support
- This plan is designed for large-scale localization projects with multiple teams involved.
AI Translation Costs
For users of Crowdin’s AI translation features, the costs are based on the specific AI model used and the number of tokens. These costs are determined by OpenAI and do not incur additional charges from Crowdin. Users can either use a managed mode with a provided balance or their own OpenAI API key for more control and customization.
Crowdin - Integration and Compatibility
Crowdin Overview
Crowdin, a comprehensive localization management platform, integrates seamlessly with a wide range of tools and platforms, making it a versatile solution for managing translations across various projects.
Version Control Systems (VCS)
Crowdin integrates with popular VCS platforms such as GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket. This integration allows for the automatic synchronization of source strings and translations between your Crowdin project and your VCS repository. For instance, new texts from pull requests are sent to Crowdin for localization, and translated content is automatically pushed back as pull requests to the localization branch in your repository.
Design and Development Tools
Crowdin has plugins for design tools like Adobe XD and Figma, enabling designers to actively participate in the localization process. These plugins allow designers to upload production-ready texts from Crowdin, add new source strings, and send them for translation along with context for translators. This streamlines the creation of multilingual marketing visuals and design prototypes.
For developers using Android Studio, Crowdin offers a plugin that improves the process of downloading and uploading strings, making localization more efficient.
Project Management and Collaboration
Crowdin integrates with JIRA, allowing translators to report issues in source strings, which are then automatically created as sub-tasks in JIRA. This ensures that developers are instantly notified of any issues, facilitating a faster localization process.
Additionally, Crowdin integrates with Slack, providing a new notification system that keeps teams informed about updates and changes in real-time.
Translation Tools
Crowdin works in conjunction with Poedit, a translation tool for Gettext resource files. This integration allows translators to synchronize their work with Crowdin, reducing the need for manual handling of localization files. Translators can work offline and save translations directly to the cloud.
Marketing and Customer Support
For marketing and customer support, Crowdin integrates with ActiveCampaign, ensuring that source emails and translations are synced automatically. This eliminates the hassle of file exchanges with translators and enhances translation accuracy using context, glossaries, and style guides.
General Compatibility
Crowdin supports over 100 file formats, including .md, .xml, .json, .csv, .php, .yaml, and more. This wide range of file format support makes it compatible with various types of projects, from mobile apps and cloud software to games and websites.
Cross-Platform Accessibility
The platform is accessible from any device, including desktops, mobile devices, and tablets. This ensures that translators and project managers can work efficiently regardless of their location or device.
Automation and APIs
Crowdin offers a powerful RESTful API 2.0 and CLI tools that allow for the automation of localization workflows. This enables the integration of Crowdin into CI servers, GIT, SVN, Mercurial, and other systems, ensuring that source texts and translations are updated automatically and in real-time.
Conclusion
In summary, Crowdin’s extensive integration capabilities and compatibility across various platforms and tools make it an essential tool for managing and automating the localization process, ensuring a smooth and efficient experience for developers, designers, and translators alike.
Crowdin - Customer Support and Resources
Customer Support Options
Crowdin offers a comprehensive array of customer support options and additional resources to ensure users receive the help they need, especially in the context of their localization and translation tools.24/7 Customer Support
Crowdin provides round-the-clock support, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This ensures that customers can get quick and competent answers from the Customer Success team whenever they need them. You can reach the support team via chat or by sending an email tosupport@crowdin.com. If your issue requires a more in-depth discussion, you can also request a personal demo video call.
Technical Support
The Customer Success team is well-versed in the technical aspects of agile localization. For highly technical questions, you can request the involvement of a tech specialist. This ensures that even the most challenging technical issues are addressed promptly and effectively.Additional Support Services
Beyond the standard support, Crowdin offers several additional services that can be purchased:- On-demand Tutorials and Onboarding Sessions: These help educate your team and provide onboarding sessions after subscription purchase.
- Technical Calls and Troubleshooting: These sessions cover integration setup, streamlining localization workflows, and troubleshooting technical cases. Crowdin engineers can be involved if necessary.
- Dedicated Account Management: Available for Pro, Team, Team , and Business subscription plans, this includes an assigned personal account manager, unlimited support calls, and tracking of important feature releases and subscription-related questions.
- Custom Development: This service includes developing custom processors, apps, and API-related requests, and is available for Pro, Team, Team , and Business plans. The price is negotiated based on the complexity of the request.
Educational Resources
Crowdin provides a variety of educational resources to help users get the most out of their tools:- Courses and Video Guides: These include free courses such as “Crowdin for Linguists,” “Localization Manager for Tech Company,” and “Mastering AI Translation.” There are also video guides on topics like using Crowdin CLI, localizing websites, and setting up Crowdin GitHub Action.
- Podcasts: The Agile Localization Podcast by Crowdin is a valuable resource for professionals managing multilingual content, covering localization strategies, solutions, and real-world case studies.
- Knowledge Base: Crowdin’s Knowledge Base contains detailed articles and instructions that can help users resolve issues quickly. This resource is available while the support team is working on your query.
Developer Tools
For developers, Crowdin offers several tools to automate and integrate the localization process into their workflow:- Crowdin CLI: A command-line tool that simplifies the management of localization projects, allowing users to upload source files, download translations, and keep localized content up-to-date.
- GitHub Action: This tool automates the localization process by synchronizing assets between your GitHub repository and your Crowdin project.
- Content Delivery SDKs: Available for Android, iOS, Flutter, and websites, these SDKs enable over-the-air delivery of translations to users without the need for a new app version.
- IDE Plugins: Integrations with Visual Studio Code and Android Studio simplify the localization process by allowing users to upload new source strings, autocomplete string keys, and download translations directly from Crowdin.
Crowdin - Pros and Cons
Advantages of Crowdin
Cost-Effective
Crowdin is praised for its affordability and great quality of tools, making it a valuable option for those on a budget.
AI Integration
Crowdin offers an AI Assistant that can be used for translation, which can be customized to suit specific needs. This feature does not incur extra costs beyond what is charged by OpenAI.
Collaboration Features
Crowdin allows for real-time collaboration and transparency, which is beneficial for team projects. It also supports unlimited translators, although manager seats are limited by the pricing tier.
Glossaries and Terminology
Crowdin integrates user glossaries and terminology effectively, especially when the AI model is trained on the project’s resources. This ensures consistent and accurate translations.
Notifications and Updates
The platform provides notifications for new translations, which helps in keeping the team informed and up-to-date.
Extensive Integrations
Crowdin offers over 600 plugins and integrations, making it versatile for various project needs.
Disadvantages of Crowdin
User Interface Issues
Some users find the GUI a bit annoying, particularly when browsing unfinished sentences or projects. There are also issues with the visibility of contributing code if automatic bots are used.
Branch and Release Management
Understanding how branches work and how translations behave between releases can be difficult, leading to problems with translators.
Limited Flexibility in Translation Updates
Users have reported difficulties in updating, changing, and improving translations once they have been approved. This can lead to delays, sometimes taking several months.
Confusing Enterprise Version
The Crowdin Enterprise version is not very user-friendly for translators and can be confusing to use, especially compared to the standard version.
Public Translation Storage in Free Version
The free version of Crowdin stores translations in public memory, which may raise privacy concerns for some users.
Complex Pricing Model
Crowdin’s pricing plan can be confusing, with costs based on the number of managers and words, which can make budgeting more challenging.
Overall, Crowdin offers a range of beneficial features, especially in terms of cost and AI integration, but it also has some drawbacks related to user interface, translation management, and pricing complexity.
Crowdin - Comparison with Competitors
When Comparing Crowdin to Other AI-Driven Localization Tools
Several key features and differences stand out.
Unique Features of Crowdin
- AI Integration: Crowdin heavily leverages AI to improve the localization process. It offers an AI Assistant app that integrates as a custom machine translation engine, allowing for fine-tuning models using translation memories and dictionaries. This ensures context-aware translations, which can be up to 95% ready-to-publish in real-world UI localization projects.
- Context Harvesting: Crowdin’s AI can provide better context for localization keys from code, and it supports context per project, file, key/string, and translator session levels. This includes AI seeing screenshots with tagged strings, enhancing translation accuracy.
- Collaboration Tools: Crowdin is known for its strong collaboration features, allowing hundreds or thousands of people to work on a project together. It offers content management options, translation memory, and glossary features that speed up the process.
- Integrations: With over 600 integrations available, Crowdin can seamlessly connect with various development, content, and communication tools, automating the localization process.
Comparison with Smartling
- End-to-End Solution: Smartling offers a more comprehensive end-to-end translation management platform, including managed services and white-glove support from expert project managers. This contrasts with Crowdin, which may not provide the same level of full-service support.
- Workflow Customization: Smartling allows for more customizable workflows and detailed reporting features, including cost estimates, cost savings, and workflow velocity. Crowdin, while offering project reports and task management, may not be as detailed in its reporting.
- Translator Management: Smartling connects customers with a network of fully vetted translators and subject matter experts, whereas Crowdin allows users to work with their own translation teams or order translations through third-party vendors.
Comparison with Lokalise
- Scope of Use: Lokalise is primarily suited for translating UI copy, whereas Crowdin is more versatile and better suited for making an entire company multilingual. Crowdin supports a broader range of file formats and integrations.
- Cost and Scalability: Crowdin is often preferred for its cost-effective solutions for both small and large teams. It offers scalable localization platforms and 24/7 support, which may not be as prominent in Lokalise.
Potential Alternatives
- Smartling: For businesses needing a full-service, end-to-end translation management solution with expert project managers and detailed reporting, Smartling might be a better fit.
- Lokalise: If the primary focus is on translating UI copy and you need a more specialized tool for this task, Lokalise could be an alternative to consider.
Conclusion
In summary, Crowdin stands out for its strong AI integration, extensive collaboration tools, and wide range of integrations. However, depending on the specific needs of your business, Smartling or Lokalise might offer advantages in terms of full-service support or specialization in UI translation.
Crowdin - Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions about Crowdin AI
What is the cost of using Crowdin AI in my localization project?
Crowdin does not charge extra for its AI features. The cost is determined by the specific AI model you choose and the number of tokens used, which is set by OpenAI. You can use OpenAI’s tokenizer tool to calculate the token count, and the cost will depend on factors like language, word length, and content.Can I use my OpenAI API key with Crowdin AI?
Yes, you have two options: Managed Mode and Using Your OpenAI API Key. In Managed Mode, Crowdin provides $5 of free balance to get you started, even if you don’t have your API key. Using your OpenAI API key offers greater customization, control, and privacy options.What AI models can I use for translation with Crowdin AI?
You can use various AI models such as GPT-3.5 Turbo, GPT-4, and Crowdin’s fine-tuned model, which is designed to handle contextual information better. These models allow for more accurate and contextually relevant translations.How can I leverage prompt engineering within Crowdin AI?
You can customize prompts for translators to guide the AI in handling translations according to your project’s unique requirements. This includes defining specific terminologies, styles, and linguistic nuances. The AI Assistant can include prompts after each chat response to ensure consistency and accuracy.Can I train my own AI model using Crowdin AI?
Yes, you can train your own model by selecting the “Fine-tuning” option during the Crowdin AI Assistant setup. Choose the translation memories and glossaries you want to use for training, submit the training request, and Crowdin will provide an estimated cost. Once approved, you will receive an email when the training is complete.How does Crowdin AI handle user glossaries and terminology?
When translating single segments in the Editor, Crowdin AI considers user prompts, including metadata like translation memory matches and relevant glossary information. For translating entire projects and making full use of glossaries and translation memories, training your model is essential to ensure consistent application of these resources.Can I use Crowdin AI as a Machine Translation engine for pre-translation?
Yes, you can use the AI Assistant as a Machine Translation engine to pre-translate content. This allows you to customize translations to your specific needs and enhance translation quality using specialized models.What is the new Assist feature in Crowdin, and how does it work?
The new Assist feature integrates AI with the Crowdin Editor, providing AI-generated translations and allowing translators and managers to interact with the AI through chat. This feature enhances the linguists’ AI-assisted translation experience by making it more intuitive and interactive.How does Crowdin AI improve the context for localization keys from my code?
Crowdin has introduced the Crowdin Context Harvester CLI, which uses AI to provide a better context for localization keys from your code. This tool helps in improving the accuracy and relevance of translations by providing more contextual information.What are the benefits of using Crowdin’s AI in the translation process?
Using Crowdin’s AI can enhance your localization projects by providing accurate and contextually relevant translations, allowing for customization through prompt engineering, and integrating seamlessly with the Crowdin Editor. It also supports continuous translation and quality checks, ensuring high-quality translations.