← Translator Project Quote Calculator
This calculator vs. Smartcat
Two different shapes: Smartcat is an account-based CAT tool, translation-memory, and marketplace platform built for running ongoing localization work. This page is a free, private calculator for one direct-client quote — weighted words, add-ons, and a printable quote, with nothing to sign up for.
What each tool is for
Smartcat is a cloud-based CAT (computer-assisted translation) tool and localization-management platform. Inside one account it combines a translation-memory-driven editor, terminology management, optional machine-translation pretranslation, project and vendor workflow, and a marketplace that connects businesses with freelance linguists and agencies. Word counts and fuzzy-match discounts are computed automatically against a translation memory the platform keeps between projects, which is most valuable when the same client sends recurring work and that memory compounds over time. It requires an account, and setting up a project means working inside Smartcat's own workspace. Smartcat's own pricing and plan terms are not repeated here, since this session cannot verify today's figures against Smartcat's current terms; only its well-documented scope as a CAT-tool and localization-management platform is described.
This calculator does none of what Smartcat's workspace does. It has no account, no translation memory, and no marketplace matching. It takes the new and fuzzy word counts, hourly rate, QA and desktop-publishing add-ons, a rush fee, and a minimum project price for one job you already have in front of you, and returns the weighted word count, direct cost, target-margin price, and the recommended quote — plus, once you have a number, a one-page printable quote for the client with the scope, total, deposit split, and a signature line. It runs free in any browser, needs no account and no project set up in advance, and uploads nothing you type.
| Question | Where to answer it |
|---|---|
| I take recurring work from the same client and want a translation memory that compounds fuzzy-match savings across projects. | Smartcat — that ongoing memory and workflow is what its account-based platform is built for. |
| I have one project's word counts and rates in front of me and want a defensible quote floor and target-margin price right now. | This calculator — free, instant, private, no account or project setup. |
| I want to find new translation clients or work through a marketplace of agencies and businesses. | Smartcat or a comparable marketplace — this page has no client-matching feature at all. |
| I need a one-page quote to hand this direct client, with the total, deposit split, and a place to sign. | This calculator — the built-in printable quote is exactly that document. |
| I need CAT-editor features — a translation-memory workbench, terminology base, or machine-translation pretranslation — to do the actual translating. | Smartcat or a comparable CAT tool — this page prices a project, it does not translate one. |
| Do I need an account, a configured workspace, or a shared translation memory to use the tool? | This calculator: no. Smartcat's CAT editor and marketplace run inside a configured, ongoing account. |
Most freelance translators get different value from each: Smartcat (or a comparable CAT platform) for the editor, memory, and marketplace behind ongoing or agency-routed work, and a private calculator like this one for pricing a single direct-client project honestly before a proposal goes out. This page's own figures are one project's arithmetic, not a translation memory, a marketplace listing, or a substitute for the CAT tool you actually translate in.
This tool needs no account and no sign-in: it is a static page, the arithmetic runs in your browser, and once it has loaded it keeps working with the connection off.
Common questions
Should I use this calculator or Smartcat?
They solve different problems. Smartcat is a cloud-based CAT tool and localization-management platform: translation memory, terminology, machine-translation integration, project workflow, and a marketplace connecting businesses with freelance linguists and agencies all run inside one account. It is built for ongoing or recurring localization programs, where a translation memory accumulates across many projects and a client or agency needs a system of record for the whole pipeline. This calculator does none of that. It has no account, no translation memory, and no marketplace. It takes the weighted word count, hourly rate, and add-on costs for one project you already have in front of you and turns them into a quote floor, a target-margin price, and a printable client-facing quote, instantly, with nothing uploaded and nothing to configure first. A translator already running recurring work through Smartcat's workflow gets that project's numbers from the platform it already operates in; a freelancer pricing a single direct-client job, or without a Smartcat account at all, is in the right place here.
Is this page affiliated with Smartcat?
No. This site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Smartcat. Smartcat is named here only to describe what this calculator is and is not, based on Smartcat's own public site.
Open the Translator Project Quote Calculator to price your own project, or see the full quoting guide with a worked example.