Translation vs Localization: Key Differences and Pricing Insights

In the global business arena, the challenge of adapting content to diverse audiences – of different linguistic, geographic and cultural backgrounds – is of growing importance. Within that challenge, there are many factors at play, and it can quickly become overwhelming to navigate and understand the different options, let alone make educated and economically sound decisions. Do I need to just translate the text? Are there cultural sensitivities I must consider for a specific target audience? Should the visuals be adjusted? Each of these and many more questions must be answered in order to understand whether you need to translate, localize or maybe even entirely redo your materials for a different market.

Translation and localization can in many cases be used interchangeably, but there are key differences that impact the process, pricing and expectation of what each delivers. Let’s begin with the basics:

What is Translation?

Translation is the process of converting text from one language to another. The main goal is to preserve the meaning, clarity, and accuracy of the original content while ensuring it is grammatically and syntactically correct in the target language, considering contextual and cultural sensitivities as well. For example, if a company needs to translate a product description from English to French, a translator would render the English words into their French equivalents, preserving the intended meaning and tone.

While some may dispute the extent to which translation has to take cultural preferences into account, it is inconceivable that a translator would simply render “untranslatable” material, such as idioms, wordplays or language-related humor into the target language without adapting it. Think about how in English, when indicating that two things or expressions or opinions, are essentially the same, someone might say “tomato, tomato” (pronounced “tomayto, tomahto”), showing how the object is the same, just the dialect is different. Rendered directly into any other language, this would amount to nonsense, and any translator who would do so, should, frankly, not be a translator. But every language has an idiom that does express the same idea, and it is the translator’s job to use the target language’s equivalent.

So, in simple terms, translation focuses on converting the words from one language to another, firstly ensuring linguistic accuracy, but also to consider context and adapt them, at least minimally, to the target culture.

What is Localization?

Localization goes beyond translation in the sense that it involves adapting content not only linguistically but also culturally, functionally, and contextually to suit the target market. Localization takes into account factors such as regional dialects, legal requirements, currency, date formats, measurement units, and visuals. This ensures the content feels natural and relevant to the local audience, making it more likely to resonate with them.

Localization is especially important for industries like software, e-commerce, video games, and marketing, where not only the text but also the design, user interface, and multimedia elements may need to be adjusted. For instance, a website might require localization when expanding into a new market where design, visual elements, or even product names need to be culturally sensitive and appropriate. Famously, colors can have completely different associations in different parts of the world (like in most of the West, the mourning color is black, whereas in Eastern cultures it is white) and businesses have to consider whether they’re branding guidelines for one location are appropriate for a different location.

Localization, therefore, is more focused on cultural intricacies, market-specific relevance and local specifics. 

Translation vs Localization: The Grey Area

There are clear differences between translation and localization that are easily perceived from the above. Rendering text from one language to another is considered translation; adapting the overall feel of textual and visual material to a specific market is localization. But it is in the large overlapping area where it is slightly more difficult to differentiate between the two. And, unfortunately, there is no clear consensus on where translation ends and localization begins.

A good translator should always know how to adapt things like currencies, date formats, or measurement units. At Translationeer we would never deliver a translation for a US market that includes measurement like Celsius, meters or a European date format. Does that mean that the transcreation of marketing material including such measurements or idioms is considered and priced as localization? Absolutely not. Does every other language service provider think the same way? Probably not.

But it is our rule of thumb that any linguistic adaptation, of which measurements are a part, that are basic common knowledge (especially for translators because they will be deeply familiar with both cultures) constitute translation. Of course anything that goes beyond linguistics, such as visuals, research-related or other specialized adaptations will be considered localization. This still leaves room for some ambiguity, for example the above-mentioned legal requirements. Does a legal translator, despite being experienced with legal translation, have to know and adapt a contract to the legal requirements of the target location? Well, it’s complicated…

Translation Rates vs Localization Rates

The main difference between translation pricing and localization pricing is the way they are calculated. As a general rule, translation rates will be calculated on a per-word basis (since it is a text-only practice), while localization rates will be priced on a per-project basis (because other factors, such as market-research and DTP impact the overall price). But even within these categories, the rates can fluctuate immensely.

The cost of translation is mostly impacted by four factors:

• • • The language pair
    • The text’s complexity 
    • The deadline
    • The text’s volume

Other factors, such as the application of translation tools or MTPE options, may also play a role in the rate calculation. Most LSPs, however, will offer an all-inclusive rate for standard translation that includes editing and QA:

• • • Standard translation typically costs between $0.10 (for very common language pairs) to $0.20 per word (for rare language pairs).
    • For highly technical content, such as legal or medical documents, the cost may rise to $0.20 to $0.50 per word due to the need for specialized knowledge.

There are other ways translation rates can be calculated, like per page or per hour, or an all-in project cost, but for practical purposes and transparency the per-word cost is the most common.

Localization pricing is more complex and involves various elements, such as design, testing, and functional adaptation. The combination of different services means that costs are much less transparent, and localization rates are typically higher and calculated as a project-based fee or on an hourly basis. For instance:

• • • Localization of websites or software may range from $1,500 to $25,000+, depending on the project’s size and complexity.
    • For larger projects like software localization or multimedia content, costs could range from $10,000 to $100,000+, especially when the adaptation involves significant changes to functionality, testing, and multi-language support.
    • Hourly rates for localization often fall between $45 to $160 per hour, reflecting the need for technical and cultural expertise.

As with translation, sometimes localization rates will be calculated on a per-word basis, but only when the so-called localization does not involve any additional work (and, yes, that means it is not really distinguishable from translation).

To sum up, translation and localization can at times be entirely different services, but there is a very large overlap and, depending on who you are speaking to, translation and localization may be used interchangeably. In industries like gaming and software, localization is the go-to term, even if it’s only text-based, whereas in traditional industries, like in the legal, medical, or financial sectors, translation is still king. As for pricing, translation rates will usually be more transparent, but localization can often be a lengthy and complex process, warranting higher costs.