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Lokalise

A software and app localization platform built for development teams, managing translated strings, translation memory, and AI-assisted translation directly inside a product's build pipeline.

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What it does

Lokalise is built for a specific job that general translation tools don’t handle well: keeping a software product’s translated content in sync as the product itself keeps changing. Strings are pushed from a codebase into Lokalise, translated by AI, in-house staff, or connected machine translation engines, and synced back into the next build — with in-context screenshots so translators can see exactly where each string appears rather than translating disconnected fragments of text.

The platform adds translation memory, glossaries, and branching workflows aimed at teams managing localization across multiple products or releases, plus integrations with development tools like GitHub and Figma. It’s a natural fit for product and engineering teams localizing an app or website, and a poor fit for anyone who just needs to translate a document or occasional piece of text.

Ideal users

  • Development teams localizing a software product, mobile app, or website into multiple languages on an ongoing basis
  • Product and engineering teams that need translated strings to stay in sync automatically as code changes
  • Companies managing localization across multiple products or repositories that need branching, automation, and access controls
  • Teams that want AI-assisted translation combined with human review inside one collaborative editor

Who should avoid it

  • You just need to translate documents, emails, or occasional text — a standalone translator like DeepL or Google Translate is simpler and cheaper
  • You're a small team or solo developer with a limited budget — Lokalise's paid plans start well above consumer-tool pricing
  • You need a marketplace of human translators for large content projects outside of software strings — better served by Smartcat
  • You don't have a development pipeline or codebase to integrate with — Lokalise's core value comes from that integration

Key features

  • Translation key/string management synced with a development pipeline via CLI, API, and integrations
  • In-context screenshots so translators can see exactly where a string appears in the product
  • Translation memory and glossary management for consistency across releases
  • AI-assisted translation, including integrations with machine translation providers like Google Translate and DeepL, plus Lokalise's own AI translation with added context awareness
  • Branching and workflow automation for complex, multi-product localization setups
  • SSO (SAML) and advanced security controls on higher tiers

Pros

  • Purpose-built for keeping software/app translations in sync with an evolving codebase, which general translators can't do
  • In-context screenshots meaningfully reduce translation errors caused by missing context
  • Combines multiple machine translation engines and its own AI translation in one place
  • Strong fit for teams already using CI/CD pipelines and developer tooling

Cons

  • Priced for teams and businesses, not individuals — entry plans start well above consumer translation tools
  • Overkill for anyone not localizing an actual software product or app
  • Requires some setup and integration work to get full value from the pipeline features
  • Lokalise changed its pricing structure and tier names in recent updates, so older pricing information found online may be outdated

Pricing

Paid — $144/month (Explorer plan)

Lokalise's current (2026) lineup is Explorer at $144/month, Growth at $375/month, Advanced at $999/month, and custom-priced Enterprise, each with a 14-day free trial and no permanent free tier for production use. Standard AI/MT translation is included within each plan's processed-words allowance (Explorer gets a separate 240,000-words/year AI/MT allocation), while the more advanced Pro AI translation has its own separate word quota that scales with plan tier.

Typical workflows

  • A mobile app team pushes new UI strings from their codebase to Lokalise via API, translators (human or AI-assisted) translate them using in-context screenshots, and approved translations sync back into the next app build automatically.
  • A product team maintains a shared glossary and translation memory in Lokalise so that terminology stays consistent across web, iOS, and Android versions of the same product.

Integrations

  • GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket for syncing translation files with code repositories
  • Figma for design-file localization
  • Google Translate and DeepL as pluggable machine translation engines
  • CLI and API for custom pipeline automation
  • SSO/SAML for enterprise identity management

Privacy & security notes

Lokalise holds SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001/27017 certifications, undergoes annual third-party security audits, and hosts data on AWS infrastructure in EU regions; Enterprise plans add configurable data residency, SSO/SAML, and audit logs.

Frequently asked questions

Is Lokalise a translation tool or a project management tool?

Both — Lokalise manages the translation content (strings, translation memory, AI and human translation) and the workflow around it (who translates what, approvals, syncing with code), which is why it's categorized as a localization platform rather than a simple translator.

Does Lokalise translate for me, or do I need my own translators?

Lokalise offers AI-assisted translation built in and can also connect to engines like Google Translate and DeepL, but many teams also use their own in-house or freelance human translators inside the platform for final review.

Is Lokalise worth it if I only have a small app?

Its pricing is built for ongoing, multi-language localization work rather than small, one-off projects. A small app with only one or two target languages may not need Lokalise's full feature set.

How does Lokalise differ from just using Google Translate on my app's strings?

Google Translate translates text you paste in, one piece at a time. Lokalise manages the entire lifecycle of your app's translated strings — tracking what changed, keeping context and consistency across releases, and syncing directly with your codebase — which a standalone translator isn't built to do.

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