Best Smartling Alternative for Enterprises

Want the best Smartling alternative for enterprise use? Or are you simply wondering, “Is Smartling right for my company?” You’re in luck—plenty of alternatives to Smartling translation software are available.

While Smartling is a popular CAT tool, there are several reasons you might be searching for enterprise Smartling alternatives. However, you must consider the fact that all premium CAT software is a significant investment. You should get clear on why exactly you’re looking for a better alternative to Smartling.

That way, you don’t adopt another platform that presents the same challenges you encountered with your original software.

What you’ll learn

In this post, we explore potential Smartling drawbacks and user-specific needs you might identify with. You’ll benefit from learning the following:

• Why some teams outgrow Smartling—and what to look for instead

• Common pain points that signal it’s time to explore alternatives

• How different tools compare when it comes to onboarding, support, and flexibility

• Which Smartling features your team may not need (and what to prioritize instead)

• Emerging features like GPT integration and real-time collaboration

As a result, you can conclude whether alternatives to Smartling could fill these gaps. This will equip you to find the best tool for your needs. With nearly 68 million U.S. residents speaking a language other than English at home, the need for effective multilingual content isn’t just strategic—it’s essential.

You’ll also see a recommendation for the best Smartling alternative at the bottom of this page.

Smartling alternatives: Top 14 reasons to adopt one

1. Smartling alternatives might require less learning

One of the top reasons you might seek a Smartling alternative is the learning curve. If your team needs to quickly get up and running on a translation platform, the key is ease-of use and easy onboarding.

While Smartling’s learning curve has improved, some teams may still prefer ultra-streamlined tools focused on limited feature sets. Fast user adoption isn’t possible when your team needs to learn a lot about how to use the software.

If the Smartling solution is underutilized at your organization from the get-go, this is a possible indication of a learning barrier. If this is the case, find an alternative to Smartling that’s easier to learn. In the end, your company could realize a faster ROI.

2. You don’t use all of Smartling’s features

Do you use just a few of the many features Smartling offers? If the answer is yes, this could indicate this translation application isn’t the best fit for your organization.

While a feature-heavy Translation Management System can appear to offer additional value, it could indicate you aren’t using the best solution for your team.

Looking for something simpler than Smartling?

Your team might only need a specific set of features.

If you identify a translation system that simply caters to your specific set of needs, chances are the software developers will put more resources into the optimization of the most important features for your team. Consequently, you work more productively and have less distractions.

3. You don’t need visual context

A company or translation agency might choose Smartling for its visual context. This is a helpful feature for translation projects that require the ability to preview translated files and localized apps and websites.

However, if your organization doesn’t need visual context, you might choose software without it. Consider the best Smartling alternative for your specific translation project needs.

4. You don’t need additional language services

Smartling not only offers a cloud-based application, it also provides language services for their customers. This is ideal for organizations that don’t already work with individual translators or rely on staff to handle translations.

However, if your organization has already invested in these resources / relationships, this service point won’t add value for your company.

5. You’re not a Language Services Provider (LSP)

Smartling has many happy enterprise customers with large-scale Localization (websites, software, apps) projects managed in-house. If that sounds like you, Smartling might be your best choice and you might not find a better alternative to Smartling.

However, their features are particularly useful for teams that provide outsourced language services. Think translation agencies who deliver projects for a large client base and need to track specific cost metrics, integrate many different content management systems (depending on the client’s situation), and more.

6. You can’t purchase Smartling online

Are you ready to get started translating now and want to purchase software for an immediate need? Are you not sure you can even afford Smartling since there’s no pricing information available on their website?

If you don’t have time to speak with a salesperson, then you might need to search for alternatives to Smartling. You’ll need to invest time to book a call with them just to learn if Smartling is within your organization’s budget.

7. You need faster technical support

Smartling offers several forms of customer support. This includes live chat, a help center, and a contact form where you can submit a ticket.

However, it’s difficult to tell from their sales pages how quickly you can receive technical support, or if you will receive priority support with the enterprise plan. If you’re a current user and need to receive faster support than you’ve experienced, you might consider Smartling alternatives.

8. Smartling alternatives might translate larger files

Smartling supports a wide range of file types with generous size limits—for example, up to 500MB for InDesign files, 400MB for PowerPoint files, and even 1GB for specific ZIP packages.

Smartling-Supported File Types Limited to 10MB

However, if your projects involve large multimedia or complex design files, it’s worth reviewing their supported formats to confirm compatibility with your workflow. The files below are still limited to a maximum size of 10MB:

• Android XML

• ARB

• CSV

• DITA

• Gettext

• HTML

• iOS Strings

• iOS Plurals Localization Library

• Java Property Files

• JSON

• Markdown

• Microsoft Excel

• Plain Text

• QT Linguist

• RESX

• SubRip

• WebVTT

• XLIFF and XLIFF 2.0

• SML

• YAML

9. You won’t use workflows in translation software

If you and/or your team want to build workflows within your translation software and check off the various steps in the translation process, Smartling will be beneficial.

However, if you already use other software dedicated to improving translation workflow management, you might not get use out of this feature and it might be redundant.

10. Alternatives to Smartling might be more secure

Smartling has multiple certifications including HIPAA, which says a lot about its security standards.

However, there are additional security measures you might want to look for as an enterprise user, and it’s not clear exactly what additional security measures Smartling offers.

We’re talking “no return to MT providers,” non-indexed data, and policies that ensure your content doesn’t get used to train someone else’s AI model.

What security and confidentiality features to look for

If your organization requires additional enterprise-level security measures including any of the following, you might want to clarify with Smartling or consider an alternative to Smartling. The following is not an exhaustive list.*

• Well-Architected Review

• “No Return” to Machine Translation providers

• Ongoing vulnerability scans

• Third-party penetration testing

• Application data scrubbing

*It isn’t made clear if Smartling currently employs these security precautions.

11. You want GPT-powered support without leaving the platform

Let’s say your team is on a tight deadline, and you're unsure about the tone of a translation. Or maybe you’re debating the best phrasing for a niche technical term. You could break your workflow to hop over to a separate AI tool—or you could stay right where you are and use a platform with GPT built in.

While Smartling has introduced GPT-powered features in beta, some alternatives offer more mature, fully integrated AI writing assistance built into every step of the workflow. That means your translators and reviewers can get quick, AI-powered insights without disrupting their process.

Whether it’s summarizing source content, suggesting terminology, or reviewing tone, GPT integration speeds up decision-making and reduces back-and-forth between systems.

12. You’re translating audio or voiceover scripts

Smartling works well for web, app, and software localization. But if your organization produces training videos, eLearning content, or voiceover scripts, you’ll want something that handles audio more gracefully.

Some alternatives offer speech translation or voiceover file generation. That means your uploaded script comes back not only translated, but also recorded—without needing a voice actor.

It won’t replace a professional narrator, but it can be a game-changer for internal training, quick pilots, or mobile communication across teams in different countries.

If you regularly translate training modules, onboarding content, or internal presentations, Smartling may not offer everything you need out of the box.

13. You prefer real-time chat over comments and tickets

When you're managing large-scale translation projects, asynchronous comments can slow things down. If you’ve ever waited hours or days for clarification, you know how frustrating that can be.

While Smartling supports collaboration, some teams need real-time messaging built into the platform—similar to Slack or Microsoft Teams. Think instant translator questions, live feedback, or fast resolution of tone and phrasing issues.

If your translation workflow benefits from rapid back-and-forth (and email just doesn’t cut it), a platform with live translation collaboration tools could save you time and reduce miscommunication.

14. You want a clean, focused interface without the extras

Smartling is a robust platform. And with that robustness comes complexity. For some enterprise teams, that’s a good thing. But if your team just wants to get in, translate, and move on—some Smartling alternatives offer a minimalist, task-focused interface.

No extra steps. No crowded dashboards. Just the essential features for translation, collaboration, and approval.

If your team doesn’t need to build workflows, set up CMS integrations, or toggle between multiple environments, a more streamlined tool could reduce distractions and improve adoption.

Conclusion

Smartling is a powerful translation management tool, but it may not be the right fit for every enterprise—especially if your team needs faster onboarding, simpler features, built-in AI support, better security, or more streamlined workflows. If you find that Smartling is overly complex, underutilized, or not aligned with your specific needs (like real-time collaboration, audio translation, or rapid support), exploring alternatives can help you find a better match and improve translation efficiency.

Source: This blog was originally published at pairaphrase.com