Unbabel vs Smartling

Unbabel and Smartling are two of the most popular tools in the translation category, but they take different approaches to solving the same problems. Unbabel, developed by Unbabel (founded 2013), is described as "enterprise translation platform combining ai and human editors for high-quality customer support translation.". Meanwhile, Smartling by Smartling (founded 2009) "enterprise translation management platform with ai-powered translation memory and workflow automation.". In terms of overall user satisfaction, Smartling edges ahead with a rating of 4.3/5.0, compared to Unbabel's 4.2/5.0 — a difference of 0.1 points. Smartling's strongest advantages include enterprise-grade, great workflow tools, while Unbabel is praised for high accuracy. Neither tool is perfect: Unbabel's main drawbacks include expensive, not for individuals, while Smartling users typically cite expensive as its biggest limitation. Both tools excel at enterprise localization, so either choice will serve you well for these core use cases. However, Unbabel has an edge in customer support, which might be the tiebreaker if that's important to you. In terms of target audience, Unbabel is particularly popular among enterprises and support teams, while Smartling tends to attract enterprises and localization teams. Our verdict: Smartling holds a slight edge, but the gap is narrow enough that both tools are worth trying. Start with the free tier of each and see which fits your workflow better.