BasicCAT vs WordBeam
BasicCAT
basiccat.orgWordBeam
wordbeam.netSide by side
| Figure | BasicCAT | WordBeam |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $30/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 3 |
| Spec score · Computer-Assisted Translation Software | 8.0 (#11) | 7.4 (#23) |
| File formats | The homepage lists support for TXT, IDML, XLIFF, and Gettext PO files, and for the TMX, TBX, and SRX standards. | Listed formats include CSV, DOCX, DOCX bilingual, XLSX, IDML, JSON, MQXLIFF, MXLIFF, PO, PPTX, SCC, SDLXLIFF, SRT, TSV, TXT, and XLIFF. |
| Support | The support page recommends posting BasicCAT issues on its GitHub issue tracker rather than emailing the maker. | The pricing page lists 24/7 support for Freelancer and priority 24/7 support for Studio. |
Plans
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.