The AI revolution which started in 2022 has spawned a multitude of new translation websites and mobile apps which offer free machine translation. Are these new sites and apps going to threaten the hegemony shared by the well-known systems like Google, Bing and DeepL? Do these new sites offer features that were previously unavailable? This post will dive into this topic with some new and insightful information.
What is AI Translation?
AI Translation is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically translate text from one language to another without direct human involvement. AI translation employs advanced machine learning algorithms to go beyond basic word-for-word conversion, aiming to preserve the full meaning and context of the original text in the target language. By analyzing text elements and their relationships, AI translation systems produce more accurate and natural translations, reflecting the nuances of the source language.
What are the Most Popular AI Translation Tools?
Automatic translation tools are used predominately on PCs and on mobile apps like smartphones.
Ranking the Free Translation Websites*
Although it is difficult, if not impossible, to gauge the precise amount of traffic on any given website (unless you are the site owner), the following are the most popular free translation websites as measured by daily traffic:
We purposely did not include Amazon Translate, since they require you to register on the AWS website. We only wanted to include websites which are 100% free and anonymous.
How did we calculate this ranking? We used Similarweb to estimate the traffic worldwide and Semrush to estimate the total organic traffic on Google in the USA.
What are the Most Popular AI Mobile Translation Apps?
- Google Translate
- Google Lens
- Translate Now-AI Translator
- Hi Translate – Chat translator
- Microsoft Translate
- iTranslate Translator
- Voice Translator: AI Translate
- DeepL
- Papago
- Yandex
- Talking Translator – Languages
- Reverso
How did we calculate this ranking? We used 42matters and the Google Play Store to rank each app by number of downloads.
Where does ChatGPT rank?
One thing that we learned while compiling these lists, is that the overall use of the free websites/apps is in decline.
Looking at the chart above (courtesy of Similarweb), you can see that both Google Translate and DeepL have lost over 4% of their monthly traffic in November, 2024. This is undoubtably due to the entrance of ChatGPT into the market. How much traffic does ChatGPT and how many translation requests does ChatGPT get? We asked ChatGPT and this is the response we received:
OpenAI has not publicly disclosed specific data on the number of daily translation requests made through ChatGPT. While ChatGPT is widely used for various tasks, including translation, precise metrics regarding the frequency of such requests are not available.
It’s worth noting that ChatGPT has been recognized for its translation capabilities. For instance, PCMag conducted a test comparing ChatGPT’s translation abilities with other tools and found it to be superior in certain aspects. Wikipedia
Additionally, ChatGPT has been utilized in official capacities; the Albanian government signed an agreement with OpenAI to use ChatGPT for rapid translation of European Union documents.
These instances highlight ChatGPT’s effectiveness in translation tasks, but specific usage statistics remain undisclosed.
New AI Translation Apps
Now that we have established that ChatGPT is a major player in free machine translation, this and other AI engines have also given rise to a multitude of new AI translation apps. Most of them are new and unknown. And due to the highly competitive nature of online search, which is still dominated by Google, most of your will not have heard of these apps until now.
Sider.ai’s ChatGPT AI Translator enhances communication with advanced translation capabilities. It supports multiple languages, offering seamless, accurate translations powered by AI, ideal for businesses, professionals, and individuals seeking efficient multilingual solutions. This app is based on ChatGPT. It has a free version which allows 30 free credits per day. It does, however, require login which may make it unattractive to some users.
An all-in-one AI-powered browser extension offering translation services among other features. It provides translations directly in your browser without the need for additional apps.
Wordvice AI’s Translator offers free, instant translations for over 40 languages, utilizing advanced AI to ensure accurate and natural localization, enhancing communication across diverse linguistic needs.
Translate text into over 100 languages accurately and quickly. Features customization options to tailor translations based on the target audience.
Apertium is an open-source rule-based machine translation platform. It’s free to use and supports a variety of language pairs, especially those less commonly addressed by other platforms.
The platform provides several subscription tiers to accommodate different user needs: Free, Starter, Pro, and Ultimate. Each tier offers distinct advantages, from daily credits and character limits in the Free plan to unlimited credits and advanced features like text-to-speech and scanned PDF translation in higher-tier plans. Special discounts are available for students and educators, and the service supports multiple payment options including major credit cards and digital wallets.
