Cross-border commerce is a fantastic way to expand your market and increase revenue. But to be successful, you’ll need to deliver a localised experience in every market you enter.
This is where AI translation tools come in. Rather than the time and expense of using a professional translator, AI can translate your entire website copy into dozens of languages in minutes.
There are various AI translation tools to choose from. In this article, we review the market leaders so you can decide which is best for you.
What is an AI translation tool?
An AI translation tool uses artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) to rapidly translate content from one language to another.
Online retailers can use AI translation tools to quickly launch localised websites in foreign markets. You can also use them to translate other marketing copy, like promotional emails and online ads, without hiring an expensive human translator.
AI offers several advantages to retailers of any size. These include:
- Cost efficiency – Although human translation services are valuable, they can be costly and quickly add up when translating large volumes of content. AI reduces these expenses by automating the translation process and eliminating the need for in-house teams or contractors.
- Speed – There are only so many words a human can translate each day, with translators typically maxing out at around 2,000 per day. AI can translate an unlimited amount of words in seconds, however. That means you can launch much faster in new markets.
- Global reach – AI translation tools help UK retailers prepare to sell in almost any country. While sourcing a translator for a less common market might be difficult, using AI is as simple as clicking a button to change the output language.
Even if you still want a human translator to proofread your copy, AI translation tools give them something to work from for a very low cost.
Top AI Translation Tools for UK Businesses
1. DeepL
DeepL is one of the most accurate AI translation tools available and excels at European languages. The platform supports 100-plus languages and uses advanced neural networks to deliver contextually accurate translations that sound remarkably natural.
You can translate as much content as you need, without any restrictions. This makes it a great choice for large retailers who operate in dozens of markets.
Key features include:
- Accurate translations for documents, images, speech, and text
- Custom glossaries for consistent terminology
- Integration with CAT tools
- Document translation that maintains original formatting
- Flexible alternatives that let you choose the best translation for your customers' needs
Pricing starts at €7.49 per month, billed annually. There is a 30-day free trial.
2. Google Translate
Google Translate is the best-known translation service in the world. It supports over 100 languages, and you can use it for free in your browser just by visiting Google.
The platform offers text, speech, image and document translation and seamlessly integrates with other Google services. There’s even an option to translate your webpage automatically by adding a small piece of JavaScript code.
If you want to test the waters in a new market without investing in dedicated software, Google Translate is a great place to start.
Key features include:
- Extensive language coverage
- Camera-based image translation
- Automatic website translation
- Integration with Chrome, Gmail and other Google services
Google Translate is free to use.
3. Microsoft Translator
Microsoft Translator is the Seattle-based company’s challenger to Google Translate. Like Google’s product, it supports over 100 languages and is free to use.
Microsoft Translator integrates seamlessly with the Microsoft business ecosystem, including Office, Teams, and Azure services, making it a great choice if you want to translate content within a Word document. The platform offers text, voice and image translation with robust offline functionality.
Key features include:
- Seamless integration with Microsoft products
- Custom translation models
- Offline translation capabilities
- Enterprise-level security and data privacy
Microsoft Translator is free to use.
Please note that the web version of the tool will be retired on 30th June, 2026, after which time you’ll need to download the Microsoft Translator app.
4. Smartling
Smartling is a comprehensive translation management platform that combines AI, machine translation and human expertise. The platform provides end-to-end localisation with advanced workflow automation and quality control features.
It lets you translate all of your content on one platform, including your website, marketing materials and even your help centre. There are even professional linguists on hand to proofread your work, ensuring the output’s accuracy.
Key features include:
- Access to 20+ large language models and MT engines
- Automated quality checks and workflow management
- Translation memory with unlimited storage
- Integration with 60+ business tools, including Shopify.
- AI-enabled human translation services
While you can try Smartling for free, pricing is available on request.
5. ChatGPT
Whilst not specifically designed for translation, ChatGPT has proven to be a remarkably good tool for translation-related tasks. It excels at understanding context and nuance, offering adaptability that traditional translation tools lack.
You’ll probably want to pay a human translator to proofread ChatGPT’s work, but it’s a great place to start if you already have a subscription.
Key features include:
- Contextual understanding for nuanced translation
- Ability to adjust tone, style and length
- Translation into multiple languages simultaneously
- Proofreading and alternative suggestion capabilities
- Real-time refinement through interaction
You can access the GPT-3.5 model for free. Access to GPT-4 models and higher requires a £20 monthly subscription.
6. Amazon Translate
Amazon Translate provides neural machine translation as part of Amazon Web Services. The platform supports over 75 languages with real-time and batch translation capabilities.
Unlike other tools, Amazon Translate works on a pay-per-use basis. This makes it an excellent choice for small one-off translations, but it may mean it’s expensive to translate thousands of words.
Key Features:
- Automatic language detection
- Custom terminology support
- Real-time and batch translation
- Integration with AWS services
- Support for multiple document formats
You can use Amazon Translate’s Free Tier to translate up to 2 million characters monthly for up to 12 months.
7. Lokalise
Lokalise has established itself as the go-to platform for SaaS brands and retailers involved in large, ongoing translation projects.
Unlike traditional translation tools, Lokalise focuses on "continuous localisation", enabling businesses to automatically translate web and mobile apps as they are developed. That means you can automatically produce dozens of translations every time you create a new product page in English.
Lokalise offers brand-aligned translations. The Lokalise AI engine learns your specific voice from past translations, ensuring consistency across all your digital products.
Key features include:
- Brand-aligned translations that match your specific tone and style.
- Integrations with design tools like Figma and code repositories like GitHub to automate translation workflows.
- Context-aware translation using images as visual clues.
- AI quality scoring
Lokalise offers a limited free tier. Premium pricing starts at $144 per month, billed annually.
How accurate is AI translation?
AI translation tools are reasonably accurate, depending on the language pairs. For high-resource pairs such as English-Spanish or English-German, accuracy can reach 99%.
AI translation tools will be accurate enough for most retail brands. But they'll never be a complete replacement for human translators. That’s why you should always hire a professional to proofread your copy.
Research shows businesses achieve the greatest performance improvements when humans and machines work together strategically. AI handles data-heavy tasks with speed and consistency, whilst human translators focus on cultural adaptation, creative content and quality assurance.
Conclusion
It’s not just your website and marketing content you need to translate when entering a new market. You’ll also need to translate dozens of customer communications, from delivery updates to return instructions. After all, there’s nothing worse than a customer purchasing a product in their own language only to receive an English confirmation email.
This is where Pro Carrier's cross-border delivery service excels. We guarantee consistent and localised communication every step of the journey, including at least six shipping updates sent in your customer’s local language.
Ready to launch in new markets? Learn more about our cross-border delivery service by reading our case studies or speaking to an expert today.