# Lokalise — Translation & Localization

Lokalise by Lokalise, Inc. holds a panel rating of 3/5 from 6 AI judges (category median 3/5), as of 2026-11-02. Provenance: Rest of world; sovereignty: 1 of 6 dimensions proven.

- Vendor: Lokalise, Inc. (https://lokalise.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/lokalise
- Alternatives: https://whats-best.ai/software/translation/lokalise/alternatives ([markdown](https://whats-best.ai/software/translation/lokalise/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: Lokalise, Inc.
- Headquarters: Incorporated in United States [S7]
- Data hosting: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026
- Free plan: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026

## The panel's verdict

Lokalise, a localization platform, scores highest on the translation pipeline: machine translation, workflow and review, and integrations and formats cluster at 7-8 — 95 API endpoints, Git sync with branching on GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and Azure Repos, and fourteen QA checks whose Error level blocks saving. Portability and exit scores weakest at 4-5: translation memory exports only as TMX from the Pro plan upward, uploads are capped at 100MB, the documentation states there are no API endpoints for managing memories, and the terms say only that Lokalise may delete User Content. Pricing transparency is a flat 5 — Explorer, Growth and Advanced at $149/mo, $379/mo and $1049/mo with annual billing are published, but Pro AI bundles from 40k/yr carry no prices and Enterprise is contact sales. Sovereignty spans 4 to 6: the security pages state EU-based AWS processing while the privacy policy allows personal data to be processed in any country of operations, including the United States, and the contract sits with Lokalise, Inc., a Delaware corporation under exclusive Delaware jurisdiction, with US providers in the AI chain.

**Speaks for it:**
- Pro AI routes each string across the GPT, Claude and Gemini model families and scores every segment from 0 to 100 against MQM criteria, sending high-confidence strings to publish and the rest to human review.
- The developer surface spans 95 API endpoints, 33 webhooks, ten SDKs, an open-source CLI, over-the-air SDKs for iOS, Android and Flutter, and Git sync with branching on GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and Azure Repos.
- Fourteen QA checks run at project level with an Error level that blocks saving in the editor, alongside a translation memory shared across team projects.
- Agreements with OpenAI and Anthropic bar provider training on customer content, personal identifiers are masked before model calls, and prompts are never pooled across customers.
- SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and ISO 27017 are stated, with a pre-signed DPA for counter-signing and a published AI subprocessor list covering services, regions, retention and training flags.

**Held against it:**
- Translation memory exports only as TMX from the Pro plan upward, TMX uploads are capped at 100MB, the documentation states there are no API endpoints for managing memories, and the terms say only that Lokalise may delete User Content upon termination.
- Customer content may be used to improve Lokalise's own services unless the customer opts out through the AI Addendum.
- Headline quality figures — a 92% acceptance rate and 33% higher quality than using ChatGPT alone — are published without a stated measurement method.
- Metered costs are partly unpriced: Pro AI bundles appear only as volumes such as from 40k/yr, extra seats on Growth and Advanced are listed as on demand, and Enterprise is contact sales.
- The contracting party is Lokalise, Inc., a Delaware corporation under Delaware law with exclusive jurisdiction in Delaware courts and an aggregate liability cap of 50 US dollars.

**Best for:**
- You ship web or mobile apps and want localization wired into your repositories, with over-the-air updates that reach users without an app-store release.
- Your localization team runs many projects and languages and needs a shared translation memory, glossary and QA gates in one workflow.
- You translate product, support and CMS content together and rely on connectors like Contentful, Zendesk and Figma plus a documented API.
- You want AI-assisted translation with human review kept in the loop — high-confidence strings publish automatically, flagged strings go to reviewers.

**Avoid if:**
- Your procurement requires an EU contracting entity or EU jurisdiction — the terms bind you to Lokalise, Inc., a Delaware corporation, under Delaware law with exclusive jurisdiction in Delaware courts.
- You need a firm, contractual commitment to data return or deletion at exit — the terms state only that Lokalise may delete User Content when access expires or terminates.
- You cannot operate with vendor use of customer content to improve its services as the default, even with the AI Addendum opt-out.
- You depend on custom trained translation engines or model fine-tuning on your own content — the documentation states both are not supported.

## 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 | 4/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 4/5 | 3.5/5 |
| Translation memory, terminology & review workflow | 4/5 | 3.5/5 | 4/5 | 3.5/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 |
| Integrations, file formats & developer tools | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 3.5/5 | 4/5 | 3.5/5 |
| Confidentiality of translated content | 3.5/5 | 3/5 | 3.5/5 | 3/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 |
| Data export, portability & self-hosting | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 2/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 |
| European sovereignty | 3/5 | 3/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 |
| Pricing transparency | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 |
| **Weighted verdict** | **3.5/5** | **3/5** | **3/5** | **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: 1 of 6 dimensions proven.

| Dimension | Finding | Points | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Incorporated in US | 0/2 | [S7] |
| 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**
- AI act classification: AI system under EU AI Act [S18]
- AI act timeline: 2026-08-02 · February 2025 [S18]
- AI addendum: AI Features · Annex C (AI Addendum) [S9]
- AI disclosure: Article 50(1) EU AI Act · yes [S18]
- AI statement: yes [S1]
- Authorized user controller: Customer [S9]
- CCPA: yes [S18]
- Certifications: SOC 2 Type II · ISO 27001 · ISO 27017 [S19]
- Certifications: yes · yes [S18]
- DPA: yes · yes [S1]
- DPA available: yes [S8]
- Dpf: EU-U.S. DPF · UK Extension · Swiss-U.S. DPF [S8]
- Dpf dispute resolution: at no cost to you · JAMS [S8]
- GDPR: yes [S8]
- GDPR: compliant, objection rights supported [S18]
- GDPR dpo: privacy@lokalise.com · yes [S19]
- HIPAA: yes · no [S19]
- ISO 27001 iso27017: November 2020 · yes · yes [S11]
- ISO since: 2020-11 · ISO/IEC 27001 · ISO/IEC 27017 [S19]
- Llm training prohibited: no [S18]
- Not high risk: no [S18]
- Pci dss: Stripe · no · no [S11]
- Pci dss: no · no · Stripe [S19]
- SOC 2: yes · SOC 2 Type 2 [S8]
- SOC 2 annual audit: annual [S11]
- SOC 2 audit frequency: annual [S19]
- SOC 2 criteria: Sicherheit · Verfügbarkeit · Vertraulichkeit [S19]
- SOC 2 type2: yes [S11]
- Tenant identity: no [S18]
- Training on customer content: AI Addendum, withdrawable any time · yes [S18]
- Trial data controller: Lokalise [S9]

**Data**
- AI identifiers masking: yes [S8]
- AI training: no [S8]
- Content deletion: yes · no [S9]
- Data rights: delete · correct · object · restrict · access · portability · complain_to_authority · withdraw_consent [S8]
- Min age: 16 [S8]
- No automated decision making: no [S8]
- No enduser data: no [S8]
- No hosted ads: no [S8]
- No selling: no [S8]
- No sensitive data: no [S8]
- Prompt isolation: no [S18]
- Retention: 6-10 · 3 [S8]
- Scoring training deletion: regular, GDPR-aligned [S18]

**Hosting**
- Aws bedrock network: no [S18]
- Encryption at rest: AES-256 via AWS KMS · HashiCorp Vault [S18]
- Encryption transit: 1.2 [S18]
- EU aws: EU · AWS [S11]
- Infrastructure: EU · AWS [S19]
- International transfers: yes · yes [S8]
- Multi tenant isolation: no [S18]

**Integrations**
- API: CLI tool · API reference · iOS SDK · Android SDK [S6]
- API endpoints: 95 [S16]
- API reference clients: yes [S17]
- API v2 docs location: API v2 docs moved to Lokalise Developer Hub [S17]
- Automated supported apps: Contentful · HubSpot · Intercom Articles · Salesforce CRM · Salesforce Knowledge Articles · Storyblok · WordPress · Zendesk Dynamic Content · Zendesk Guide [S20]
- Branching: yes [S3]
- Cicd repos: GitHub · GitLab · Bitbucket · Azure Repos [S16]
- Cli: yes [S3]
- Cli v2: yes [S17]
- Cloud storage: Amazon S3 · Google Cloud Storage · yes [S16]
- Code repositories: GitHub · GitLab · Bitbucket · Azure Repos · yes [S3]
- Design tools: Figma · Sketch [S16]
- DPA available: DPA [S9]
- Marketplace: AWS Marketplace [S1]
- Mcp server: Cursor · Claude · ChatGPT · yes [S3]
- Mcp server: Cursor · Claude Code · VS Code · yes [S16]
- Mobile sdks: yes · iOS · Android [S16]
- Oauth2: yes [S17]
- Ota sdks: iOS · Android · Flutter · yes [S3]
- S3 gcs: Amazon S3 · Google Cloud Storage · CDN [S3]
- Salesforce: yes [S16]
- Sdk languages: Python, Ruby and more [S16]
- Sdks: 10 [S16]
- Support tools: Zendesk Guide · Intercom · Freshdesk · Front · Gorgias · Dixa [S16]
- Third party services: https://lokalise.com/product/apps · Jira · Asana · GitHub [S8]
- Tm API endpoints absent: no [S14]
- Tm download tmx plan: Pro [S14]
- Tmx management actions: upload · create · download · delete/clear [S14]
- Tmx merge by filename: same filename as existing TM [S14]
- Tmx only format: TMX [S14]
- Tmx tuv tag requirement: yes [S14]
- Tools count: 60+ [S16]
- Webhooks: yes · yes [S3]
- Webhooks: 33 [S16]

**Legal**
- Breach notification: yes [S8]
- Contracting entity: Lokalise, Inc. · Delaware corporation · Delaware [S9]
- Controller processor split: processor · yes [S8]
- Customer capabilities for end users: restrict/suspend/terminate access · access personal information · access and export personal information · amend personal information [S10]
- Customer is controller: End-user privacy requests should be submitted to the Customer as Data Controller [S10]
- DPA available: yes · yes [S6]
- DPA download pdf: PDF · yes [S10]
- DPA legacy for pre march 2023: 2023-03-21 · yes [S10]
- DPA link: yes · yes [S19]
- DPA presigned: yes · yes [S10]
- DPA submission email: privacy@lokalise.com · yes [S10]
- Entity: Lokalise, Inc. · 3500 South DuPont Highway, Suite BZ-101, Dover, DE 19901, United States [S8]
- Entity address: 19901 · Dover · 3500 South DuPont Highway, Suite BZ-101 · USA [S7]
- Entity name: Lokalise Inc. [S7]
- Governing law: State of Delaware · Delaware state or federal courts [S9]
- Governing law reference: German copyright law referenced for site content [S7]
- Liability cap: aggregate liability under these Terms · 50 [S9]
- Statement scope: September 2026 [S18]
- Terms effective date: November 2025 [S9]
- Tmg service provider status: Liability disclaimer referencing German TMG (§ 7 Abs.1, §§ 8-10) [S7]

**Pricing**
- Advanced price: 1049 [S6]
- Advanced seats: 10 · 15 · 5 · 100 · custom [S6]
- Automations: 50 · 100 · 25 · custom [S6]
- Cost savings vs human: 80 [S2]
- Enterprise price: no · yes [S6]
- Explorer price: 149 [S6]
- Growth price: 379 [S6]
- Hosted words: unlimited · unlimited · unlimited · unlimited [S6]
- Integrations: 3 · 5 · 2 · unlimited [S6]
- Languages: unlimited · unlimited · 10 · unlimited [S6]
- Pro AI words: from 40k/yr add-on bundles · from 150k/yr add-on bundles · add-on only · custom [S6]
- Processed words: from 225K/yr add-on bundles · from 1M/yr add-on bundles · from 60K/year · custom [S6]
- Projects: unlimited · unlimited · 5 · unlimited [S6]
- Standard seats: unlimited · unlimited · unlimited · unlimited [S6]
- Transparency: No hidden fees, transparent pricing guaranteed [S6]
- Trial: 14 · no [S6]
- Trial terms: yes · yes · no · yes · no [S9]

**Product**
- Acceptance rate: 92 · 60 [S2]
- AI assistant: OpenAI · no [S18]
- AI features: Context-aware, Scoring, Multi-LLM Smart Routing, Custom AI profiles (RAG), Vantage, Contextual Text Grouping, In-Context Previews, Smart HITL Routing [S6]
- AI options: Standard AI/MT · Pro AI [S13]
- AI profile evaluation: no [S18]
- AI quality scoring: 0 · 100 · no · yes · source language matches project's base language [S12]
- AI scoring: MQM · yes · yes [S2]
- AI suggestions: context-aware translation suggestions in editor [S18]
- AI task creation API: yes · yes [S12]
- AI tasks: automated task creation and workflow routing [S18]
- AI translation in all plans: AI translation words included in all plans, some limits apply · yes [S2]
- AI translations bulk: one-click bulk translation of all keys [S18]
- AI translations task type: Automatic translation task type for automated AI translation [S12]
- AI workflows: project creation · task assignment · review · delivery · yes [S2]
- API: API · Build your own integration [S4]
- API auth: yes · yes · yes [S19]
- API groups: Default projects endpoints manage projects, teams, translations, keys, contributors, payment cards, screenshots [S5]
- API sdks: Elixir · Golang · Node.js · PHP · Python · Ruby [S4]
- API token auth: yes · yes · yes [S11]
- App categories: Cloud file storage, Code repositories, Content management, Customer service, Design tools, Developer tools, Notifications and events, Project management [S4]
- Apps terms: yes [S4]
- Apps trial: 14 · no [S4]
- Audit logs: yes · yes · 12 [S11]
- Audit logs: yes · yes · 12 [S19]
- Automated export options: export languages · don't export empty translations · export references · frequency · content type (saved filter) · translation filter [S20]
- Automated import export: yes · Scheduled/hands-free import and export between Lokalise project and third-party apps [S20]
- Automated import options: import languages · overwrite updated translations · skip key creation for empty translations · import references · tags · frequency · content type (saved filter) [S20]
- Automations default scope: empty target values only [S13]
- Automations mt action: yes · Google Translate · DeepL [S13]
- Branching API: yes [S5]
- Ci cd parallel translation: yes · no [S3]
- Cli: CLI · Command-line tool for data exchange [S4]
- Cli tool: yes [S16]
- Cloud storage integrations: Amazon S3 · Google Cloud Storage [S4]
- Code repository integrations: Bitbucket · Azure Repos · GitLab · GitHub [S4]
- Collaboration: Collaborative web-based editor, Tasks, Task locks, Custom translation statuses, Versioning of documents, Chained tasks, Branching [S6]
- Content management integrations: Contentful · Contentstack · Hygraph · Storyblok · Webflow · Wordpress [S4]
- Content management tab: Automated import/export configured via Automated settings cog in Content management tab; Web/mobile projects use the Apps tab [S20]

**Subprocessors**
- List published: yes [S9]
- List URL: https://lokalise.com/sub-processors [S8]
- List URL: https://lokalise.com/ai-subprocessor-list · services · data processed · retention periods · regions · provider training [S18]
- Stripe payments: Stripe · payment processing [S8]
- Vetting: yes [S18]

**Support**
- Channels: 24/7 support, Digital success services, Priority support, Dedicated CSM manager, Regular business reviews, Private communication channel, Solutions engineer, Premium success, Workflow audits [S6]
- Developer hub: API reference, iOS SDK, Android SDK, Supported file formats [S1]
- Docs: Documentation, Status [S1]

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

## Questions

### Is Lokalise European?

No. whats-best.ai classifies Lokalise as Rest of world. Its vendor, Lokalise, Inc., is incorporated in United States, per [the vendor’s page captured 1 Nov 2026](https://whats-best.ai/evidence/14790).

### Where does Lokalise store data?

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

### Does Lokalise have a free plan?

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

### What are the best alternatives to Lokalise?

As of 2 Nov 2026, the panel rates [SimpleLocalize (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/translation/simplelocalize), [LILT (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/translation/lilt) and [Phrase Localization Platform (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/translation/phrase) 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: [Lokalise alternatives](https://whats-best.ai/software/translation/lokalise/alternatives).

## Head-to-head

- [Lokalise vs Phrase Localization Platform](https://whats-best.ai/compare/lokalise-vs-phrase.md)

## What this page leaves out

- 47 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.
- 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.
- 2 compliance 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.
- 2 legal 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 pricing 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 subprocessors 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://lokalise.com/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S2] Features page (AI translation): https://lokalise.com/ai/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S3] Features page (for developers): https://lokalise.com/product/for-developers/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S4] Integrations page: https://lokalise.com/product/apps/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S5] API documentation: https://developers.lokalise.com/reference/lokalise-rest-api (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S6] Pricing page: https://lokalise.com/pricing/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S7] Legal notice: https://lokalise.com/imprint/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S8] Privacy policy: https://lokalise.com/privacy-policy/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S9] Terms of service: https://lokalise.com/terms-of-service/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S10] Data processing agreement (dpa): https://lokalise.com/dpa/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S11] Security / trust page: https://lokalise.com/product/security/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S12] Machine translation & AI quality — found from sitemap: https://docs.lokalise.com/en/articles/8011393-ai-translations (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S13] Machine translation & AI quality — found from sitemap: https://docs.lokalise.com/en/articles/5166158-machine-translation (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S14] Translation memory, terminology & review workflow — found from sitemap: https://docs.lokalise.com/en/articles/1409589-translation-memory (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S15] Translation memory, terminology & review workflow — found from sitemap: https://docs.lokalise.com/en/articles/2564656-qa-checks (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S16] Integrations, file formats & developer tools — found from sitemap: https://lokalise.com/product/api-translation/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S17] Integrations, file formats & developer tools — found from sitemap: https://docs.lokalise.com/en/articles/1400695-lokalise-api-v2 (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S18] Confidentiality of translated content — found from sitemap: https://lokalise.com/ai-statement/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S19] Confidentiality of translated content — found from sitemap: https://lokalise.com/de-DE/product/sicherheit/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S20] Data export, portability & self-hosting — found from sitemap: https://docs.lokalise.com/en/articles/6240547-automated-import-export (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S21] Code repository (open-source licence) — found from the homepage: https://github.com/lokalise/lokalise-cli-2-go (checked 2026-11-01)

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

Corrections: https://whats-best.ai/correct/1309?target=page