memoQ vs Smartcat
memoQ and Smartcat side by side: what each one is, what it costs to start, and whether you can try it free. Everything below comes from the vendors' own sites and other public sources, not from hands-on testing.
At a glance
| memoQ | Smartcat | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Translation & Localization | Translation & Localization |
| Starting price | $36.33/mo (checked October 2026) | $100/mo (checked October 2026) |
| Free tier | Not listed | Not listed |
| Profile | Read profile | Read profile |
Prices are in US dollars unless shown otherwise. Confirm the current price on the vendor's site before you buy.
Key differences
Neither lists a free tier, so expect to pay to use either one.
memoQ has the lower starting price ($36.33/mo against $100/mo for Smartcat). The cheapest plan rarely has the same limits or features, so compare plans before choosing on price.
Both are in our Translation & Localization category.
About each tool
memoQ
Windows CAT tool for translators with translation memory, term bases and LiveDocs; $436 a year billed annually ($36.33/mo) or $54 monthly.
Who it is for
memoQ describes it as a tool for translators, editors and reviewers, and also mentions translation students. It is a standalone edition: the help center says it has no server access or online collaboration by default, though a client's server credentials let you connect to their memoQ TMS.
Strengths
- memoQ lists a translation memory with concordance search, a term base that highlights terms and warns about missing ones, LiveDocs for aligned reference documents, and The Muse, predictive typing trained on your own memories and LiveDocs.
- The pricing page lists machine translation integration, live preview, LQA, real-time spell checking, pre-translation, statistics, glossary export (CSV, Multiterm) and InDesign support with preview in both plans.
- memoQ says it supports over 100 languages and formats such as Word, XLIFF, XML, SDLXLIFF and INDD.
- Both plans include software updates and 24/7 support, per the pricing page, and a 14-day trial is offered.
- The system requirements page lists 64-bit Windows 10 (Anniversary Update or later) or Windows 11, 8 GB RAM minimum (16 GB or more recommended) and 600 MB of disk space.
Limitations
- Both subscriptions renew automatically. The help center says memoQ offers no refunds and that you can cancel any time before the next billing date.
- The pages read do not state how many computers a subscription covers or how translation data is stored or used. The FAQ, which covers perpetual licenses, says a license can be used on up to two computers.
Smartcat
Content translation and creation platform with AI agents, translation memory and a human linguist Marketplace. Adapt starts at $1,200 a year, billed annually (about $100 a month).
Who it is for
Smartcat describes plans for teams and enterprises that localize content at volume, from a $1,200 a year Adapt plan up to custom Autonomous contracts. It does not publish a self-serve monthly or free-forever plan, so it is not aimed at occasional individual users.
Strengths
- Smartcat says it supports 280+ languages across translation and content creation and handles 80+ file formats.
- Smartcat lists unlimited users on every current plan, with 1 workspace on Adapt and Accelerate, 2 on Anticipate and 7 on Autonomous.
- Smartcat says its Smartwords are not used for 100%+ translation memory matches, repetitions (including cross-file), auto-copy-from-source or number conversion; fuzzy matches of 50-99% do use them.
- Smartcat lists integrations by tier: Google Drive, Google Sheets, OneDrive and a Chrome extension on Adapt, Figma and Canva added on Accelerate, and GitHub, Jira, Contentful and Salesforce Marketing Cloud among those added on Anticipate. It says it connects to 40+ tools.
- Smartcat says its Marketplace gives access to 500K+ vetted human experts; it is an add-on on Adapt and included from Accelerate up.
- Smartcat says it is SOC 2 Type II compliant, encrypts data with TLS in transit and 256-bit AES at rest, and does not use customer content to train or improve AI models.
Limitations
- API access is listed from Anticipate up, and SSO, 2FA and a security questionnaire are listed from Anticipate up. A second workspace requires Anticipate or higher, and extra workspaces are sold at an add-on price that is not published.
- Smartcat's pages disagree on the trial: the pricing FAQ says the 15-day trial includes API access, while an older help-center page read earlier said the trial has no API access. The pricing page gives no word limit for the trial.
- The pricing page shows Accelerate, Anticipate and Autonomous as custom, while the help-center plan overview says "From $24,000/year" and "From $60,000/year" for Accelerate and Anticipate. Support hours and response times also differ by plan: Adapt has no Level 1 update interval and a 4-hour Level 1 response, against 2 hours on Anticipate and Autonomous.
