Is it possible to work professionally without an expensive licence?
For a translator starting out, one of the first questions is: Which CAT tool is the most convenient for work? High licence fees can be worrying – will the investment pay off later? Will the tool be comfortable to use? However, the CAT tools market offers plenty of free or affordable alternatives. With these tools you can explore basic functions, try out the technology in practice and see how useful it can be. These economical tools allow you to build translation memories, manage terminology, handle various files and make everyday work easier.
For students, it’s an opportunity to learn without financial pressure, and for translators taking on their first jobs, it’s a chance to practise and discover the right working routine.
Free CAT tools open the doors to the world of professional translation, while paid versions are only worth choosing when you really need more powerful technological capabilities. Today, free CAT tools are no longer limited to simple functions – some are even used by international institutions. Inform yourself about affordable or even completely free tools. Perhaps you will be brave enough to try one yourself.
OmegaT
This is the oldest translation tool, created in 2000 by British programmer Keith Godfrey, who lives in the Netherlands. OmegaT is an open-source programme, used by translators at the European Commission, among others. It works offline, so everything remains on your computer. OmegaT supports a wide range of file formats and allows you to build translation memories and terminology databases. Its greatest advantage is security. All projects remain on your device.
This practical tool is for those who require functionality over aesthetics. Its windows and buttons may look old-fashioned, and it takes some clicking around to get used to it, but once you go through the information on its website, you can start creating translation projects easily.
CafeTran Espresso
This is a niche but popular tool among translators working on small projects, created in 2005. Its developer is Igor Kmitowski, a translator-programmer of Polish origin living in the Netherlands. Like OmegaT, it is downloadable and works locally on a computer. The free version works without time limits but restricts the size of translation memories and term bases. You can work with up to 10,000 segments. It’s ideal for small projects and learning. It has many features: it supports various formats, integrates with cloud solutions, works on Windows, macOS and Linux, and is compatible with other CAT tools.
The user community is small, so answers to questions may take longer to find, or you may need to search for them yourself. Since it was developed by one person, you might even get a response directly from the creator. For more complex projects, €80 per year or a one-off fee of €200 gives you full support and functionality. If you have a paid ProZ.com subscription, you can use all of CafeTran Espresso’s paid features.
Video tutorials by the developer.
Wordfast Anywhere
Wordfast is considered one of the oldest and most widely used CAT tools. In 1999, French programmer and translator Yves Champollio tried to create a simpler alternative to Trados. Wordfast Anywhere is a browser-based version of Wordfast. It’s one of the most popular tools among freelance translators who want to start working quickly without installing software. From its creation in 2010 until 2022, it was available free of charge.
It appeals to those who want simplicity. Wordfast Anywhere handles many file formats, so you don’t have to worry about document type. No download is needed – everything is done in the browser. You can work from any device, as long as you have internet access.
Although now a paid service, the price remains low. After a free trial month, a subscription costs USD 9.90 per month for full functionality.
MateCat
The history of this tool began in 2011 with a three-year EU-funded scientific project that aimed to test the integration of machine and human translation. Researchers from Italy, France and the UK contributed to its creation. Today MateCat is a commercial product but remains free to use. It’s maintained by the translation technology company Translated.net. You simply open a browser, upload a document and start translating. No installation, no hassle. MateCat supports more than 80 file formats and allows teamwork. It has built-in machine translation (Google MT, ModernMT), so you always get suggestions to edit as needed.
SSL encryption ensures security. By default, projects are public, but you can select private mode. It’s important to know that if you leave data open, your segments may end up in the shared public database. So when translating highly confidential texts (such as legal or medical), it is advisable to choose private mode.
Smartcat
A cloud-based CAT tool, Smartcat was created in 2016 as a spin-off from ABBYY Language Solutions in Russia and is now registered in the USA. From the beginning, it was designed as a space where translators can work on texts, build translation memories, share glossaries and collaborate on projects. For freelancers, it’s free. Smartcat is focused on collaboration with clients – they can order translations directly through the platform.
It’s an online system, so constant internet access is necessary. All texts are stored on the company’s servers. Therefore, when handling confidential projects, you need to check whether this solution is acceptable to the client. Some additional features, such as more complex integrations, may require payment.
Tools Without People – Just Tools
Professionalism does not depend on which CAT tool you use. It lies in your ability to work neatly, ensure consistency and protect client data. A tool is just a helper, not a guarantee of translation quality. Both paid and free CAT tools today are powerful enough for beginners to experiment, learn and grow. Most have similar basic functions, differing mainly in their capacity to process and store information.
Before investing in an expensive licence, it’s worth starting with simpler solutions to determine your needs. The key decision is: What matters most to you: the ability to access projects from any device anywhere in the world, or data security that only you control? Experiment, create and share which tools you use. The most important thing is not the tool itself, but how you utilise it.