BasicCAT vs Trados
BasicCAT
basiccat.org
Trados
trados.comSide by side
| Figure | BasicCAT | Trados |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 11 |
| Spec score · Computer-Assisted Translation Software | 8.0 (#11) | 8.7 (#3) |
| Purpose | BasicCAT is an open-source, free computer-aided translation tool aimed at providing a simple tool for translators. | Trados is a translation platform for localization professionals, translators, language service providers, and organizations managing multilingual content. |
| Support | The support page recommends posting BasicCAT issues on its GitHub issue tracker rather than emailing the maker. | Customers get a knowledge base, community forums and free installation/licensing tickets; technical support requires an active support-and-maintenance agreement. |
Plans
Trados
- Trados Go Monthly£24 a month
- Trados Go Annual£288 a year
- Trados Freelance Monthly£34 a month
- Trados Freelance Annual£408 a year
- Trados Freelance subscription$408 a year
- Trados Team$1,688 a month
- Trados BusinessPriced on request
- Trados EnterprisePriced on request
- Trados FreelancePrice not published
- Trados GoPrice not published
In their own words
BasicCAT
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.
Trados
Trados is a translation platform for localization professionals, translators, language service providers and organizations managing multilingual content. It combines document translation, translation memory and glossary tools; Studio keeps approved terminology and recommends consistent wording across languages and scripts. Studio handles more than 50 file types. For browser work, Trados Go runs on any device without an installation, and users can select files from OneDrive, Dropbox, Box and Google Drive. The desktop editor is officially supported on Windows, not macOS. Studio licenses include up to 6 million characters of Language Weaver machine translation each year. AI Bridge connects to OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini and DeepSeek. Trados offers online resources and community support; direct technical support requires an active Support and Maintenance Agreement. There is no free plan, and a 14-day trial is listed. Trados Go costs £24 a month or £288 a year; Freelance costs £34 a month or £408 a year. Both price sets exclude VAT.