# LILT — Translation & Localization

LILT by LILT, Inc. holds a panel rating of 3.5/5 from 6 AI judges (category median 3/5), as of 2026-11-02. Provenance: Rest of world; sovereignty: not determined.

- Vendor: LILT, Inc. (https://lilt.com/)
- Category: [Translation & Localization](https://whats-best.ai/software/translation.md)
- Provenance (editorial classification): Rest of world
- Canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/translation/lilt
- Alternatives: https://whats-best.ai/software/translation/lilt/alternatives ([markdown](https://whats-best.ai/software/translation/lilt/alternatives.md))
- Data as of: 2026-11-06 · evaluated 2026-11-02 · oldest source captured 2026-11-01

**AI-generated.** Every score, rationale and verdict here is written by a panel of AI judges from public evidence — an analysis, not a hands-on test. Every fact quotes the vendor page it was read from. No score can be bought. How scores are made: https://whats-best.ai/methodology

## At a glance

- Vendor: LILT, Inc.
- Headquarters: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026
- Data hosting: Default not stated; pages mention United States [S7]
- Free plan: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026

## The panel's verdict

LILT is an enterprise AI translation platform built on adaptive machine translation with human review. Machine translation leads at 7 to 8: models fine-tune in real time from human corrections, custom models train on historical data, and a model library includes OpenAI, Anthropic and Google. Integrations and formats scores sit at 7 on 100+ native connectors, a documented REST API and MCP support. Content confidentiality scores 7 to 8 on SOC 2 Type II audited by A-LIGN, ISO 9001 and ISO 17100, a published data processing agreement, Standard Contractual Clauses, retention capped at 90 days after completion of services, and private cloud, on-premises, bare metal and air-gapped deployments. Sovereignty is the weak side, with scores spanning 4 to 6: judges who valued the self-managed editions scored higher, while others weighed the US-based controller and servers; we found no public information on EU hosting of the cloud service. Portability and exit scores run 6 to 7 — import is broad, but the documented export covers termbase entries to CSV. Pricing is request-only: every tier says Contact Sales.

**Speaks for it:**
- Adaptive models fine-tune in real time from human corrections, with custom models trained on customers' historical data and third-party LLMs from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google in the model library
- 100+ native connectors reach GitHub, Contentful, Shopify, Zendesk and competing translation systems, alongside a documented REST API and MCP on every plan
- SOC 2 Type II audited by A-LIGN, ISO 9001 and ISO 17100, a published data processing agreement and Standard Contractual Clauses are documented
- The retention obligation ends 90 days after completion of services
- Private cloud, on-premises, bare metal and air-gapped deployments are documented with their own self-managed documentation

**Held against it:**
- Sovereignty scores span 4 to 6: the controller is LILT, Inc. in San Francisco, servers are stated to be in the United States on Google Cloud Platform, and we found no public information on EU hosting of the cloud service
- The documented export endpoint covers termbase entries to CSV; we found no public information on translation-memory export as TMX or complete project export
- We found no public information on whether customer texts train models or on zero-retention terms with the named LLM providers
- We found no published translation-quality evaluation with its method, and the supported-languages list is available through an API endpoint rather than a readable page
- Every tier — Team, Business, Enterprise, Government — says Contact Sales, with a Request Pricing page and no figures

**Best for:**
- You need machine translation that learns from your translators' corrections and can pair with OpenAI, Anthropic or Google models
- Your content lives in GitHub, a CMS such as Contentful or Sitecore, or Shopify, and you want native connectors plus a documented REST API
- You can operate the self-managed edition on your own private cloud, on-premises, bare metal or air-gapped infrastructure
- Your translators rely on central termbase entries that overwrite the memory like dictionary items and are highlighted during translation

**Avoid if:**
- You need the standard cloud service hosted in the EU — the captured pages state the company's servers are located in the United States on Google Cloud Platform, and we found no public information on EU hosting
- You need a documented exit with your translation memory in hand — the documented export covers termbase entries to CSV
- You need published figures to budget before engaging sales — every tier says Contact Sales
- Your team has no system administrators — ask the vendor: the public pages we read do not show it

## Scores by judge and criterion

Scores out of 5, each judge scoring independently against the published rubric (v1). "n/r" = not rated: the vendor publishes no price, or the judge found no public information on that criterion.

| Criterion | The Localization Manager | The App Developer | The In-House Document Translator | The Data Protection Officer | The E-Commerce Marketer | The Skeptic |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Machine translation & AI quality | 3.5/5 | 4/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 |
| Translation memory, terminology & review workflow | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 |
| Integrations, file formats & developer tools | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 |
| Confidentiality of translated content | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 4/5 | 3.5/5 |
| Data export, portability & self-hosting | 3/5 | 3.5/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| European sovereignty | 2/5 | 2.5/5 | 3/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2.5/5 |
| Pricing transparency | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r |
| **Weighted verdict** | **3.5/5** | **3.5/5** | **3.5/5** | **3/5** | **3.5/5** | **3/5** |

### The judges

- **The Localization Manager** (v1.0): Runs localization for a Hamburg software company whose product, help centre and marketing site ship in fourteen languages, with two agencies and a pool of freelancers. Every release brings a few thousand new strings and a deadline. Wants one translation memory and termbase across all content, machine translation that respects the glossary, review steps per language, QA checks that stop a broken placeholder before it ships, and cost and progress per vendor in one view.
- **The App Developer** (v1.0): Lead developer of a web app and two mobile apps at a Vienna start-up, with strings in JSON, xcstrings and Android XML. Has hand-merged translation files once and will not do it again. Wants a CLI and a GitHub sync that opens pull requests, over-the-air updates so a typo fix does not need an app store release, an API that does everything the interface does, and ideally an open-source edition they could run themselves if the vendor changes course.
- **The In-House Document Translator** (v1.0): Works in the legal and export team of a machine builder in Baden-Württemberg with customers in France, Italy, Poland and China. Translates contracts, operating manuals and supplier correspondence every day, with no translation management system and no wish for one. Needs translations that read like the company wrote them, the company's terms kept through a glossary, Word and PDF files back with their layout intact, and a written promise that a draft contract is not kept or used to train anything.
- **The Data Protection Officer** (v1.0): Data protection officer of a health insurer whose staff translate letters to members, HR documents and internal guidelines. Found a free translator in the proxy logs and had to explain to the board what had been pasted into it. Reads the terms before the feature page: how long texts are kept, whether they train a model, which engines and LLM providers a platform passes them to, who the subprocessors are and where, and whether the contract names a European entity.
- **The E-Commerce Marketer** (v1.0): Runs marketing for a Shopify shop selling cycling apparel from Munich, live in German and English and due in French, Italian, Dutch and Spanish before the spring season. Has no developer and no translator on staff. Wants product pages, checkout and emails translated in days, a way to fix a bad product name by hand, multilingual SEO that search engines index, and a monthly price that does not double when the catalogue grows.
- **The Skeptic** (v1.0): Has seen "human quality" on an engine nobody has evaluated in public, "we never store your data" next to a TMS that forwards every segment to three LLM providers, and a translation memory built over six years that could only leave as a spreadsheet. Reads that a product is "enterprise-grade secure" and asks how long the text is kept, which models it reaches, and whether the memory and termbase export as TMX and TBX — and what leaving would cost.

## European sovereignty — proven facts

Built only from facts on the vendor's own pages; a dimension we could not prove is left open, never scored as zero. Headline: not determined.

| Dimension | Finding | Points | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Not determined | — | — |
| Hosting location | Not determined | — | — |
| Hosting options | Not determined | — | — |
| Open source | Not determined | — | — |
| Data processing agreement | Not determined | — | — |
| Transfer impact assessment | Not determined | — | — |

## Key facts

Each fact is the vendor's own statement, cited to the source page it was read from ([S*n*] → Sources).

**Compliance**
- Certifications: SOC 2 Type II · ISO 9001 · ISO 17100 [S1]
- Cyber essentials: UK Government-backed · Cyber Essentials [S16]
- Deployment options: private cloud · on-premises · air-gapped [S12]
- Documents: Privacy Policy · Terms of Service · Cookie Policy [S8]
- Gcp CCPA: California, US residents · CCPA [S16]
- Gcp GDPR: EU and EEA data · GDPR [S16]
- ISO 17100: ATC Certification · yes · ISO 17100 [S16]
- ISO 9001: ATC Certification · yes · ISO 9001 [S16]
- Multi cloud: yes · yes [S1]
- Opt out sale email: CCPA sale/sharing opt-out via email [S7]
- Page available: yes [S6]
- Scc: yes · yes [S7]
- Security measures: yes · yes [S7]
- Security page: yes [S6]
- SOC 2 auditor: A-LIGN · yes · SOC 2 [S16]
- Statement: yes [S8]
- Trust page: yes [S6]

**Data**
- Retention max: retention obligation ends 90 days after completion of Services [S7]
- Termbase export async: yes · GET /2/memories (is_processing==0) · POST /2/memories/termbase/download [S18]
- Third party sources: public databases · joint marketing partners · affiliate programs · data providers · other third parties [S7]

**Hosting**
- Aws: AWS S3 [S9]
- Azure blob: Azure Blob [S9]
- Deployment options: private · on-prem · air-gapped [S1]
- Deployment options: multicloud · on-premises [S2]
- Gcp: Google Cloud Platform [S9]
- Gcp fisma moderate: Google App Engine · FISMA Moderate [S16]
- Gcp HIPAA baa: HIPAA BAA [S16]
- Gcp ISO 27001: ISO 27001 [S16]
- Gcp pci dss: PCI DSS v3.0 [S16]
- Gcp SOC 2: SOC 2 [S16]
- Gcp soc3: SOC 3 [S16]
- Gcp terms compliance: yes [S16]
- Provider gcp: computing infrastructure · Google Cloud Platform [S16]
- Server location: United States [S7]

**Integrations**
- Adobe experience manager: With one click, send content from AEM into LILT for translation [S15]
- Adobe workfront: auto-launch translation projects from Workfront requests with real-time status [S15]
- Amplience: CMS · Amplience [S15]
- API auth: BasicAuth · ApiKeyAuth [S18]
- API driven: Legacy: file uploads/email; modern approach: native API-driven connectors [S12]
- Aws s3: Cloud Storage · AWS (Amazon S3) [S15]
- Azure blob storage: Cloud Storage · Microsoft Azure Blob Storage [S15]
- Bitbucket: Code Repository · Bitbucket [S15]
- Box: File Sharing · Box [S15]
- Braze: Other · Braze [S15]
- Captionhub: Other · CaptionHub [S15]
- Contentful: CMS · Contentful [S15]
- Contentstack: CMS · Contentstack [S15]
- Count: 100 [S1]
- Craft cms: CMS · Craft CMS [S15]
- Crowdin: TMS · Crowdin [S15]
- Custom connectors API: Custom connectors and APIs via forward-deployed engineers [S2]
- Dropbox: File Sharing · Dropbox [S15]
- Drupal: CMS · Drupal [S15]
- Figma: Collaboration · Figma [S15]
- Git: supports self-hosted Git repositories [S15]
- Github: Code Repository · GitHub [S15]
- Gitlab: Code Repository · GitLab [S15]
- Google cloud storage: Cloud Storage · Google Cloud Storage [S15]
- Google drive: File Sharing · Google Drive [S15]
- Helpshift: Support · Helpshift [S15]
- Heretto: CMS · Heretto (formerly easyDITA) [S15]
- Hubspot: translate emails, blogs, pages, forms, landing pages [S15]
- Inriver: PIM · Inriver [S15]
- Intercom: Support · Intercom [S15]
- Jira: Project Management · Jira [S15]
- Languages auth: BasicAuth · ApiKeyAuth · Basic <base64 username:password> [S11]
- Languages endpoint: GET · list supported languages · /v2/languages [S11]
- Languages response shape: source_to_target · code_to_name · ISO 639-1 [S11]
- Lokalise: TMS · Lokalise [S15]
- Magento: Ecommerce · Magento [S15]
- Mcp API: yes · yes · 100 [S1]
- Mcp support: Native MCP support for AI assistants [S2]
- Memory import content type: entire POST body treated as the file · application/octet-stream [S19]
- Memory import response: id · isProcessing [S19]
- Microsoft onedrive: File Sharing · Microsoft OneDrive [S15]
- Native connectors: Native workflow integration with tools like GitHub, Contentful CMS, Zendesk [S12]
- Optimizely: CMS · Optimizely (formerly Episerver) [S15]
- Palantir fedstart: Deploy LILT in an IL4/IL5 environment [S15]

**Legal**
- Affiliates sharing: data may be shared with affiliates [S7]
- Children privacy age: 13 [S7]
- Company entity: LILT, Inc. [S2]
- Controller: LILT, Inc. is the controller [S7]
- Cookie policy: Cookies [S6]
- Copyright holder: LILT, Inc. [S15]
- Data processing agreement: Data Processing Agreement [S6]
- Entity: LILT, Inc. [S12]
- Entity: LILT, Inc. [S8]
- Last updated: 2025-07-15 [S7]
- Legal entity: LILT, Inc. [S6]
- Main services agreement: Main Services Agreement [S6]
- Platform SLA: Platform SLA [S6]
- Policy changes at any time: policy may change at any time [S7]
- Privacy policy: Privacy Policy [S6]
- Revision history: 2022-04-05 · 1.0 · 2024-09-29 · 2.0 · 2025-07-15 · 3.0 · 3.0 [S7]
- Sale of data: no [S7]
- Services SLA: Services SLA [S6]
- Supplier code of conduct: Supplier Code of Conduct [S6]

**Pricing**
- Business features: yes · yes · 5 · yes [S5]
- Business plan: Business · yes · contact_sales [S5]
- Enterprise features: yes · yes · yes · yes · yes · yes [S5]
- Enterprise plan: Enterprise · contact_sales [S5]
- Government features: yes · yes · yes · yes · 99.9 · yes [S5]
- Government plan: Government · contact_sales [S5]
- Request only: pricing via demo/request, no prices shown on page [S10]
- Team contact sales: Team · contact_sales [S5]
- Team features: yes · yes · yes · 3 · instant AI, agent-verified, human-expert verification (usage-based) [S5]

**Product**
- Adaptive data feedback: Adaptive data feedback triggers new data requests or refinements automatically based on model behavior, feedback, or performance gaps [S4]
- Adaptive workflows: Adaptive workflows incorporate feedback from model outputs, user interaction, and expert review [S4]
- Agentic AI: autonomous agentic AI for multilingual content [S1]
- Agentic automation: Agentic automation with human routing [S2]
- AI model builder: AI Model Builder: custom AI models plus third-party LLMs in model library [S2]
- AI providers: configure, manage and automate translation workflows with automated fine-tuning cadence [S10]
- AI review agents: AI Review agents perform an initial automated error check before human review [S12]
- Analytics reporting: yes [S3]
- API connect: yes · custom integrations and automated translation workflows [S14]
- API create: yes · content generation in target language via prompts [S14]
- API manage: yes · manage content, data, and system settings via API [S14]
- API translate: yes · translation API with CAT tool predictive capabilities [S14]
- API workflow adapters: Connects through APIs and workflow adapters with labeling platforms, MLOps systems, and internal tools [S4]
- Assist positioning: AI assistant for managing, creating, and translating multilingual content via prompt [S3]
- Automated fine tuning: automated fine-tuning cadence directly to LLM and MT system of choice [S10]
- Backend service access: Backend service access via Kubernetes service accounts and secrets [S17]
- Brand governance: Brand guidelines, glossaries and tone-of-voice stored and used to verify output [S12]
- Brand terminology grounding: yes [S3]
- Built for segments: Enterprise · Public Sector · AI / ML [S12]
- Built for segments: Enterprises · Public Sector · AI Developers [S1]
- Built for segments: Enterprise · Public Sector · AI / ML [S2]
- Byo llm: Platform supports bring-your-own LLM (BYO-LLM) [S12]
- Collaborative review loops: Collaborative review loops in a shared environment for linguists, SMEs, and ML teams [S4]
- Connectors summary: Access LILT's fine-tuned AI models and expert translators with just a few clicks in any content system. [S15]
- Content risk routing: Agents route content by risk profile, flagging low-risk content for full automation and high-risk for human review [S12]
- Contextual tuning: Models are fine-tuned in real-time from human corrections [S12]
- Continuous improvement: continuous AI quality improvement via automated real-time fine-tuning [S10]
- Cost savings: AI-powered workflow automation for cost savings [S10]
- Custom llm: yes · yes [S1]
- Custom model training: Custom context-aware models trained on customer historical data [S12]
- Custom models: create and update translation models from LILT and third-party translation LLMs [S10]
- Customer support use case: yes [S3]
- Data management: Extensive data management for models and datasets [S2]
- Data transparency: content supply chain management with full visibility [S10]
- Database encryption: ECB · AES-128 [S17]
- Default model auto: yes [S13]
- Department of defense: trusted by U.S. Department of Defense [S1]
- Domains segmentation: Domains segment workflows by assigning resources (users, models, preferences) to specific domains [S17]
- Engineering use case: yes [S3]
- Evaluation benchmark integration: Evaluation and benchmark integration for ongoing model validation [S4]
- Featured resources: Resources include Developers, Knowledge Base, LILT Status, FAQ [S15]
- Flexible delivery: Flexible delivery formats and API-ready outputs for custom models and pipelines [S4]
- Forward deployed engineers: yes [S12]
- Governance: end-to-end governance with real-time visibility [S1]

**Subprocessors**
- Analytics: Google (U.S.) · Meta (U.S.) [S7]
- List available: yes [S6]

**Support**
- Developer docs: developer documentation hub covering APIs and best practices [S14]
- Docs: yes · yes [S12]
- Forward deployed engineers: forward-deployed engineers for model training, implementations, content ops [S1]
- Use cases: Use cases include website localization, regional marketing, product launches, brand campaigns, technical documentation, helpdesk & support, professional services, clinical trials, eLearning, regulatory compliance [S12]

84 more facts on the canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/translation/lilt

## Questions

### Is LILT European?

No. whats-best.ai classifies LILT as Rest of world.

### Where does LILT store data?

The default storage location for customer data is not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026. The vendor’s pages mention United States as hosting location, per [the vendor’s page captured 1 Nov 2026](https://whats-best.ai/evidence/14703).

### Does LILT have a free plan?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026.

### What are the best alternatives to LILT?

As of 2 Nov 2026, the panel rates [SimpleLocalize (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/translation/simplelocalize), [Phrase Localization Platform (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/translation/phrase) and [Tolgee (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/translation/tolgee) highest among the other 12 Translation & Localization products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The highest-rated European alternative is [SimpleLocalize](https://whats-best.ai/software/translation/simplelocalize) (EU-Made). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: [how scores are made](https://whats-best.ai/methodology#ordering). The full list, with European products first: [LILT alternatives](https://whats-best.ai/software/translation/lilt/alternatives).

## What this page leaves out

- 3 integrations facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 3 product facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 compliance fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 data fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 hosting fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 2 sovereignty dimensions could not be confirmed on the vendor’s own pages and are shown as unknown.

## Sources

- [S1] Vendor homepage: https://lilt.com/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S2] Features page (AI platform): https://lilt.com/products/ai-platform (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S3] Features page (translation assist): https://lilt.com/products/assist (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S4] Integrations page: https://lilt.com/workflow-integration (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S5] Pricing page: https://lilt.com/pricing (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S6] Terms of service: https://lilt.com/legal (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S7] Privacy policy: https://lilt.com/legal/privacy (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S8] Security / trust page: https://lilt.com/products/security (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S9] Features page (private deployment): https://lilt.com/security-private-server (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S10] Machine translation & AI quality — found from sitemap: https://lilt.com/products/custom-models (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S11] Machine translation & AI quality — found from sitemap: https://support.lilt.com/api-reference/languages/retrieve-supported-languages (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S12] Translation memory, terminology & review workflow — found from sitemap: https://lilt.com/help-center/translation-management (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S13] Translation memory, terminology & review workflow — found from sitemap: https://support.lilt.com/self-managed/v6.1/manage-memory-and-termbase (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S14] Integrations, file formats & developer tools — found from sitemap: https://lilt.com/developers (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S15] Integrations, file formats & developer tools — found from sitemap: https://lilt.com/connectors (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S16] Confidentiality of translated content — found from sitemap: https://lilt.com/security-compliance (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S17] Confidentiality of translated content — found from sitemap: https://support.lilt.com/self-managed/v6.1/encryption-and-access-control (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S18] Data export, portability & self-hosting — found from sitemap: https://support.lilt.com/api-reference/memories/termbase-export-for-a-memory (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S19] Data export, portability & self-hosting — found from sitemap: https://support.lilt.com/api-reference/memories/file-import-for-a-memory (checked 2026-11-01)

---

Cite as: whats-best.ai, "LILT — Translation & Localization", AI panel analysis, as of 2026-11-06. https://whats-best.ai/software/translation/lilt

Corrections: https://whats-best.ai/correct/1313?target=page