BasicCAT vs TextUnited

BasicCAT is a free, open-source computer-aided translation tool intended to give translators a simple desktop workspace. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows and includes translation memory, terminology management, language checking, Quickfill, AutoCorrect, and interactive machine translation. Users can merge or split segments, export Word files for external review, and create bilingual paragraph files. Listed file support includes TXT, IDML, XLIFF, and Gettext PO, alongside TMX, TBX, and SRX standards. Its documentation lists built-in connections to 12 machine translation services, including Baidu, Google, Microsoft Bing, MyMemory, Tencent Cloud, IBM Watson, and Amazon. Most services require API keys; MyMemory instead requires an email address. Language checks use LanguageTool through its API or locally. Translation memory and terms can be shared through a server program, while Git collaboration is for work files and does not sync those resources. The sharing server requires Java 8 or later.

TextUnited is a language platform for companies managing multilingual product, software, technical documentation, marketing, legal, and localization work. Teams can run self-service projects and file translations, connect through the API, use automation platforms, or work with an MCP Server. Its AI localization widget applies company terminology, tone, and writing style, while human linguists review high-impact copy and low-scoring segments. The API supports more than 120 languages, including dialects and right-to-left languages, and accepts files, strings, JSON, and XML through REST endpoints. The service preserves PDF, DOCX, HTML, XML, Markdown, and XLIFF formatting, including layouts, placeholders, and metadata. Listed API use cases include GitHub CI pipelines, Contentful, Sitecore, Git repositories, Sanity CMS, Next.js, Salesforce, and legacy apps. TextUnited says its API is SOC 2-compliant, GDPR-ready, AES-256 encrypted, hosted on dedicated IBM Cloud infrastructure, and includes granular access controls and audit trails. Customer data remains in the selected region, according to the company. The free plan includes 15,000 words and 15 PDF pages per month for one user. TEAM is 150€/mo; OnePlatform is 780€/mo.