Foreign Languages

11 Best Free and Open Source Translators

Translation is the process of reworking text from one language into another to maintain the original message and communication.

But, like everything else, there are different methods of translation, and they vary in form and function.

Google Translate needs no introduction, being probably the most well-known multilingual neural machine translation service software out there. It translates multiple forms of texts and media such as words, phrases and webpages. Google Translate is not open source software.

There is a wide range of translation software available for Linux. Some of the tools included are front-end to other services. We’ve also included software which translates text on your local machine, and we include both GUI and CLI tools.

Here’s our verdict captured in a legendary LinuxLinks-style ratings chart. Only free and open source software is eligible for inclusion.

Ratings chart

Click the links in the table below to learn more about each tool.

Translators
LibreTranslateMachine translation API which is entirely self-hosted
Argos TranslateState of the art neural machine translation software.
Speech NoteCombines Speech to Text, Text to Speech and Machine Translation
Translate ShellCLI powered by Google Translate, Bing Translator, Yandex, and Apertium
Crow TranslateCross-platform, lightweight, translator
translateLocallyTranslation on your local machine with a GUI
DialectTranslation app for GNOME
MoonTranslatorMinimalist desktop translation app with hotkeys and multiple services
KlaroSimple and fast translation app
GlateGoogle Translator and Text To Speech Service on Linux Desktop
LocalTranslateMachine translation locally using Firefox translation models

This article has been updated to reflect the changes outlined in our recent announcement.

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