DeepL vs Google Translate: Translation showdown

In the dynamic world of machine translation, DeepL and Google Translate stand out as two prominent and valuable tools, each with its own strengths and areas of expertise. While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to choosing between them, understanding how they work, their key features and differences can help users make informed decisions based on their specific needs and priorities.

What is DeepL?

DeepL is an artificial intelligence-based online translation service launched in 2017, now known for its high-quality machine translations, which ensured its place in the Forbes Cloud 100. It was developed by DeepL GmbH, a German company, and has gained popularity for its ability to produce translations that are more accurate and contextually relevant compared to many other machine translation services.

DeepL has gained recognition for its translation quality and has been used by professionals, businesses, and individuals for a wide range of translation needs, including documents, websites, and communication with international audiences. It continues to improve and expand its language support, making it a valuable tool for those seeking high-quality machine translations.

DeepL Pro for Business

DeepL Pro for Business is a subscription-based service offered by DeepL. This service is designed to meet the translation needs of businesses, organizations, and professionals, offering advanced features and customization options tailored to commercial use.

DeepL is relied upon by more than 20,000 businesses globally for effective communication with both their team members and customers, including Deutsche Bahn AG, Beiersdorf, Swiss Federal Railways Fujitsu, and Nikkei.

What is Google Translate?

Google Translate is a online machine translation service launched in 2006, and as the name suggests, it is provided by the American tech giant Google. The service uses machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques to perform automatic language translation, and it supports a multitude of languages.

This is a widely used and accessible translation tool that caters to a broad range of users, from individuals looking to understand foreign text to businesses seeking to communicate with international clients. While its translation quality can vary depending on the language pair and context, it remains a valuable resource for overcoming language barriers.

How accurate is Google Translate?

While Google Translate can be a valuable resource for getting the gist of a text or translating simple phrases, it was found that it may not be the best tool for critical or sensitive tasks, such as medical or legal translations.

According to a 2021 research paper titled “A Pragmatic Assessment of Google Translate for Emergency Department Instructions,” Google Translate showed an accuracy rates of 94% for Spanish, 90% for Tagalog, 82.5% for Korean, 81.7% for Chinese, 77.5% for Vietnamese, 67.5% for Farsi, and 55% for Armenian.

Researchers concluded that the accuracy of Google Translate for ED discharge instructions varies by language. Despite the promising accuracy rates for some languages, it is not yet ready for prime time use in the emergency department; further improvements and validation are needed before Google Translate can be considered a reliable tool in critical healthcare settings.

Google Translate vs Google Cloud Translation

Google Translate and Google Cloud Translation are related Google services but they serve different purposes. As mentioned earlier, Google Translate is designed for general use by individuals and provides translations for a wide range of languages. It is user-friendly and accessible to the general public.

Google Translate API allows developers to access Google’s powerful machine translation technology, making it easy to translate text between multiple languages in real-time. It’s a versatile tool for multilingual support in applications, websites, and more, offering both text and speech translation features.

More than 55,000 companies are using Google Translate API to translate their websites and other digital content. Notable names include UCLA, Annalect, and Blackfriars Insurance Brokers Ltd. Among the user base, a significant 65% are small businesses with fewer than 50 employees, while 12% belong to large enterprises with over 1000 employees, and 22% fall within the category of medium-sized businesses.

Google Cloud Translation is a more advanced and versatile version of Google Translate that is designed for developers and businesses. It is part of the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and provides cloud-based machine translation services. Google Cloud Translation offers more customization options and can be integrated into various applications and services. It can be used for tasks like language localization in software, content translation for websites, and more.

The Google Cloud Translation API is a specific tool within Google Cloud Translation that allows developers to access and integrate the translation service into their applications and services programmatically. It offers a RESTful API interface, making it easy for developers to build translation functionality into their software, websites, or mobile apps. Developers can use this API to perform automated translations, handle large-scale translation projects, and customize translation models to suit their specific needs.

When examining the customer base of the Google Translation API across various industries, we observed that the most significant sectors are Computer Software, accounting for 19%, followed by Information Technology and Services at 17%, Higher Education at 12%, and Internet at 8%. International Business Machines Corporation, OpenText, and Accenture PLC are notable clients leveraging Cloud Translation’s capabilities.

DeepL vs Google Translate

DeepL and Google Translate are both popular online translation tools, but they have some differences in terms of features, performance, and usage. Here are the main takeaways:

Languages supported

Google Translate provides translations for more than 130 languages, which is its primary advantage. This makes it a more versatile tool for users who need to translate between less common or non-European languages.

Initially, DeepL offered translations for a limited set of languages, but it has been expanding its language offerings over time, numbering more than 30. However, it still supports fewer languages compared to Google Translate.

Translation quality

While Google Translate has improved over the years, its translation quality may vary depending on the language pair and context. For widely spoken languages, it can produce accurate translations, but for less common languages, it may not be as reliable as DeepL.

DeepL is known for providing high-quality translations, especially for European languages such as English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch. It’s often praised for producing more natural-sounding translations with accurate grammar and context.

User Interface

Google Translate offers a user-friendly web interface and mobile app for both Android and iOS users. It can be used for text translation, voice translation, and even image translation, making it a comprehensive tool for various translation needs.

DeepL has a simple and clean user interface. It’s easy to use, and you can enter text directly on the website for translation. Users can download their iOS and Android apps for on-the-go translations.

Integration

Google Translate is often integrated into other Google services, such as Google Docs, making it convenient for users who frequently work with documents. Many browsers, mobile apps, social media platforms, e-commerce platforms, content management systems (CMS), as well as localization and internationalization services integrate this tool to provide translation functionality.

DeepL offers flexible integration too. Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) tools, document translation services, language learning platforms, business communication tools, e-learning platforms, and localization providers, among others, are some of the businesses that integrate DeepL to enhance accessibility and productivity in multilingual contexts.

Test both with POEditor

POEditor is integrated with both Google Translate and DeepL, allowing users to leverage the machine translation capabilities of these services to speed up the translation process. Businesses and development teams can use this our translation management system to streamline the process of localizing software and other digital content.

Once you’ve added languages to your project, you can initiate the translation process for specific languages. This is where you can choose to use machine translation services like Google Translate, DeepL, as well as Azure AI Translator, to generate initial translations for your content, as seen in the overview below.

The machine-generated translations are imported into your project, and you can review and edit them within the POEditor interface. This is a crucial step because machine translations may not always be entirely accurate or contextually appropriate, especially for specialized or technical content.

Once translations are completed and reviewed, you can export them from POEditor in the format needed for your software or content. This might include exporting files in various localization file formats or integrating directly with your software development tools.

DeepL vs Google Translate: Conclusion

The choice between DeepL and Google Translate depends on one’s specific requirements. When translation quality is paramount, DeepL may be the preferred choice. However, for everyday translation tasks, quick references, and accessing translations across various platforms, Google Translate’s versatility and accessibility make it a reliable option.

The good news is that the competition between these two services is driving ongoing improvements in machine translation technology. Regardless of your choice, both services have made significant strides in breaking down language barriers and bridging global communication.