A side-by-side comparison of Polyglot and Crowdin for developers at small teams. Compare features, pricing, and workflows.
Both Polyglot and Crowdin help teams translate their software into multiple languages. Crowdin is an established translation management system (TMS) built around a web dashboard, while Polyglot is a CLI-first tool that finds hardcoded strings, translates with LLMs, and previews locally. Scan, plan, wrap and preview run on your machine; generated translations are reviewed in the Polyglot dashboard (automatic approval is off).
The key difference: Crowdin is a platform you sync translation files to; Polyglot starts inside your codebase.
| Feature | Polyglot | Crowdin |
|---|---|---|
| Hardcoded-string detection (AST-based) | ✓Yes | ✕No |
| AI/LLM translation | Built-in | ✓Yes (Crowdin AI) |
| Local preview | ✓Yes (polyglot preview) | Via in-context editor (setup required) |
| CI/CD integration | ✓Yes (GitHub Action) | ✓Yes |
| CLI support | Primary interface | ✓Yes |
| IDE integration | ✓Yes (VS Code extension) | ✓Yes (VS Code extension) |
| Web dashboard | ✓Yes (translation review) | Full-featured |
| Free tier | Free local scanning, 500 source strings (lifetime) | 1 private project |
| Starting price | $0 (free scanner) | $0 (limited) |
| Translation memory | ✓Yes | ✓Yes |
| Glossary support | ✓Yes | ✓Yes |
| Vendor management | ✕No | ✓Yes |
| Over-the-air delivery | ✕No | ✓Yes |
Crowdin is a mature platform with a lot of depth. If you need any of the following, Crowdin is likely the better choice:
Crowdin has a mature marketplace of translation agencies, reviewer roles, and approval workflows. If you work with external translators, Crowdin handles this natively.
Crowdin can push translation updates to mobile apps without an app store release. Polyglot requires a redeploy.
Crowdin integrates with 700+ tools and has SDKs for many platforms, plus a CLI and an official VS Code extension. It has been around since 2009 and the ecosystem reflects that.
Crowdin's GitHub integration syncs translation files through service branches and can send finished translations back as pull requests.
Polyglot uses tree-sitter to parse your source code at the AST level and report untranslated strings. Detection covers Next.js, Astro, SvelteKit, Vue, Angular, React Native and Flutter; runtime support varies by setup, and Next.js App Router with next-intl is the best-tested path. Crowdin works with strings you have already extracted into translation files, so finding and wrapping them is up to you.
Polyglot runs locally, reads your code directly, and fits into the workflow you already have. A VS Code extension flags untranslated strings inline as you type and an open GitHub Action calls out new untranslated strings right on the PR. On Team and Scale, Polyglot Automation (early access) adds managed checks and catalog sync, and its Publisher opens a separate catalog-only PR after human review — your team merges it.
Polyglot's fine-tuned LLMs scored 4.96/5 across 49 languages on our June 2026 pipeline, AI-judged — reproducible benchmark. The dataset, judge prompts, and re-judge script are public.
polyglot preview launches a local server showing your app with translations applied, before you deploy. Crowdin's in-context editor requires setup and works differently across frameworks.
| Polyglot Free | Polyglot Pro | Crowdin Free | Crowdin Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $49/mo ($39 annual) | $0 | $59/mo |
| String detection | Unlimited (local) | Unlimited (local) | N/A | N/A |
| Translation | 500 source strings (lifetime) | 10,000 source strings (lifetime) | Included | Included |
| Languages | 2 | 5 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Projects | 1 (unlimited local scanning) | 3 | 1 private | See Crowdin pricing |
Crowdin's free tier limits you to a single private project. If you have two projects — say, your main app and your marketing site — you are already on a paid plan. Crowdin's paid plans are Pro at $59/month, Team at $179/month, and Team+ at $450/month, and pricing scales with hosted word count.
Polyglot's free tier lets you scan unlimited projects locally and translate 500 source strings (lifetime), or try 50 with no account.
Competitor pricing checked September 22, 2026.
Start in your terminal
Install the CLI, run a scan, and see exactly what you're missing. Free, no account required.