Comparison
Glossa vs every localization tool
Most localization tools charge for what you keep: hosted words, strings, keys or seats. Glossa hosts all of it for free, lets your own agents audit and translate for free, and charges only for the words Claude translates. Here is each tool next to it, from their own pricing pages.
| Tool | What you pay for | A bigger library costs more? | Free plan | Paid from | Agents | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GlossaUs | Free to host; priced by AI-translated words. | No: hosting is free and unlimited; reused strings are free. | Unlimited hosting, 20,000 AI words a month | $49/mo | Hosted MCP, CLI, REST, plugins | Pricing |
| Crowdin | Priced by hosted words: source words × target languages. | Yes: every new string or language adds hosted words. | A free plan; open-source projects are welcome. | Not listed plainly | An Agent Skill and a Claude Code plugin for the Crowdin CLI. | Switch guide |
| Lokalise | Plans list hosted words, processed words and seats. | Hosted words and seats are listed plan limits. | No free plan; a 14-day trial. | $149/mo | An official hosted MCP server, in beta. | Switch guide |
| Phrase | Priced by Strings seats and managed words. | Yes: managed words and seats are plan limits. | No free plan; a 14-day trial. | Not listed plainly | An official hosted MCP server for Strings and TMS. | Switch guide |
| Transifex | Priced by AI-translated words; price on request. | No: priced on AI-translated words, like here. | No free plan listed. | Contact sales | An official hosted MCP server. | Switch guide |
| POEditor | Priced by strings: terms plus translations. | Yes: every translation you add counts as a string. | Up to 1,000 strings and 5 contributors. | $20/mo | An official MCP server, published on its GitHub. | Switch guide |
| Weblate | Hosted plans priced by hosted strings. | Yes: every string and language adds hosted strings. | A 14-day trial; free for public open-source projects and to self-host. | €47/mo | No official MCP server listed. | Switch guide |
| Tolgee | Priced by hosted words plus MT credits. | Yes: hosted words count every translated language. | 30,000 hosted words and 3 seats. | €58/mo, billed yearly | An official hosted MCP server. | Switch guide |
| Localazy | Priced by source keys; languages unlimited. | More source keys need a bigger plan; more languages do not. | Up to 200 source keys. | Not listed plainly | No MCP server listed. | Switch guide |
| Lingo.dev | A platform fee plus usage in tokens. | No storage meter; translation is billed in tokens. | Sandbox: pay as you go, 100K tokens a day, data kept 7 days. | $99/mo + usage | An MCP server for glossary, brand voice, rules and models. | Switch guide |
| SimpleLocalize | Priced by translation keys, members and characters. | Yes: more keys or members need a bigger plan. | 500 keys, 10 languages and 1 member. | €12/mo | An open-source MCP server that runs locally. | Switch guide |
Details from each tool's public pricing and documentation pages, checked 2026-10-29; every switch guide links its sources. Prices change: check them before you decide. Corrections welcome at jonathan@getglossa.dev.
Why hosting should be free
A tool that charges for hosted words, strings or keys bills you for keeping your library, adding an app or adding a language, even when nothing new is translated. In Glossa, keeping everything is free, and putting more apps in makes translation cheaper: a string they share is translated once.
| Example | A hosted-words plan | Glossa |
|---|---|---|
| “Sign in” in your iOS, Android and web apps, 10 languages | 3 strings × 10 languages, every month | Free to host |
| Translating it | Billed separately or from an allowance | 2 words × 10 languages, once; 0 if your agent translates |
| Fixing a translation, re-importing, exporting | Still 3 strings × 10 languages hosted | Free |
| Keeping it for five years | Counts toward your plan every month | Free |
Free to come and go
- Import your strings and every existing translation from any of these tools; AI never overwrites what you import.
- Audit and translate your whole library with your own agents over MCP or the CLI, without counting a single AI word.
- Export every language in its original format whenever you like. Your files stay in your repository.
How to switch, with one prompt for your agent · The detailed Crowdin comparison
Keep all of it here
Hosting is free for every app, language and teammate. Pay only when Claude translates something new.