Smartling

What Smartling does

Smartling is a privately held language service and technology provider founded in 2009 and headquartered in New York. The company operates a cloud-native, AI-powered translation management system (TMS) that combines machine translation, LLM-based AI, and human translator workflows into a single orchestration platform. Its core product portfolio includes the TMS, LanguageAI™ (a proprietary AI orchestration system with hallucination mitigation and tone enforcement), an AI Hub that routes content across 20+ LLMs and MT engines, an LQA Agent for AI quality evaluation, the Global Delivery Network (GDN) for automated content delivery, Translation Proxy for website localization, and professional translation services from a network of 4,000+ vetted linguists. The platform supports 50+ pre-built integrations across CMS, CRM, marketing automation, code repository, and cloud storage systems.

Smartling generates revenue through three streams: tiered SaaS subscriptions (Core and Enterprise plans billed annually with volume-based discounts), usage-based AI Translation pricing starting at $0.005 per word, and per-word or per-project professional (human) translation services. The go-to-market is enterprise-led with high-touch field sales, dedicated customer success managers, and self-service inside-sales for mid-market buyers. Customer segments span marketing teams, web/digital experience teams, software/mobile developers, localization program teams, and verticals including healthcare (HIPAA/HITRUST-certified), eCommerce/retail, and regulated industries. Named enterprise customers include Lyft, Therabody, DoorDash, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Reddit, Pinterest, HubSpot, Classpass, Secret Escapes, Gemini, Talkdesk, and Umbra.

The company is venture-backed, having raised approximately $223 million cumulatively across multiple rounds, including a $160 million round led by Battery Ventures in December 2021 earmarked for workforce expansion and AI product development. Smartling has executed two acquisitions (VerbalizeIt and Jargon in 2016) and maintains a comprehensive compliance posture (SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 17100, ISO 9001, ISO 13485, HIPAA, HITRUST CSF, PCI DSS Level 1, GDPR). Leadership includes CEO Bryan Murphy, CFO Frank Miele, VP of Product Andrew Saxe, VP of Engineering Max Sogin, VP of AI and Machine Translation Olga Beregovaya, and Director of Brand Strategy Adrian Cohn. The company employs 101-250 people and operates as Smartling, Inc., incorporated in Delaware.

Name

Smartling

Legal name

Smartling, Inc.

Website

https://smartling.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Translation Management Software

NAICS

Translation and Interpretation Services (541930), Translation and Interpretation Services (54193), Software Publishers (513210), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHDAAADAD

Machine Translation & Multilingual NLP

Hardware, Technology & Telecom/Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning/Natural Language Processing (NLP)

Keywords

• Translation management
• Enterprise localization
• AI translation services
• Multilingual content platform
• Language technology solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. SaaS Subscription (TMS Platform): Tiered SaaS subscription model with Core and Enterprise plans. Core plan covers foundational translation management needs; Enterprise plan adds full capabilities, advanced automation, and all integrations. Billing is annual or multi-year with volume-based discounts. Payment is non-cancelable per subscription term.
2. Professional Translation Services: Human translation from a network of 4,000+ vetted professional linguists. Offered as a managed service complement to the AI/MT platform, with project management and quality guarantees (98+ MQM). Billed per word or per project based on service type.
3. AI Translation Services: LLM-powered and neural machine translation services with usage-based pricing starting at $0.005 per word. AI post-editing and quality estimation services are included in workflows. Provides 70% average cost savings in the first year versus traditional human translation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Smartling provides a cloud-native, AI-powered translation management platform that combines machine translation, large language models, and human translator workflows to help enterprises localize digital content at scale. The platform includes a Global Delivery Network, professional translation services, and quality assurance tooling for marketing, product, legal, and support content across web, mobile, and document formats.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Translation Management System (TMS)
• AI Hub
• LanguageAI
• Global Delivery Network (GDN)
• Professional Translation Services
• LQA Agent
• Smartling Translate
• Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) Tool

Quantifiable outcome

• 70% average cost savings in the first year
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration16 records

AI capability4 records

Feature9 records

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Phrase: Phrase is a cloud-based translation management system and localization platform serving enterprise and mid-market customers with similar TMS, workflow automation and developer-oriented integrations. It is named directly in Smartling's own competitor comparison pages, making it one of the closest head-to-head rivals in the same product category.
• Lokalise: Lokalise is a developer-first TMS that competes with Smartling in software/app localization, offering overlapping integration libraries and tiered SaaS plans aimed at product and engineering teams. It is explicitly named in Smartling's competitive comparison content, indicating direct competition for similar enterprise and mid-market buyers.
• Crowdin: Crowdin is a cloud translation management and localization platform that competes in the same SMB-to-enterprise TMS category as Smartling, with deep CMS and developer-tool integrations. It is referenced by Smartling as a direct competitor and overlaps heavily on automation, integrations, and per-seat/per-word pricing models.
• XTM International: XTM International provides a cloud-based translation management system with workflow automation, MT integration and enterprise-grade localization features. It is named directly on Smartling's comparison pages and serves a similar enterprise buyer with comparable TMS, AI, and integration capabilities.
• memoQ: memoQ is an established CAT-tool and TMS vendor offering translation memory, terminology management and workflow features that overlap directly with Smartling's Translator Tools and TMS products. It competes for the same localization program managers and serves enterprise localization teams with similar core functionality.

Broad incumbents

• TransPerfect: TransPerfect is one of the largest language service providers globally, offering managed translation, interpretation, and its own TMS technology. It is a named Smartling competitor and competes for the same enterprise localization RFPs, but with a much broader service portfolio that extends well beyond software-only TMS.
• Lionbridge: Lionbridge is a major global language service provider offering translation, localization, AI services and proprietary technology platforms. It competes with Smartling on enterprise localization engagements and has far larger language service delivery operations, while also fielding its own TMS-adjacent technologies.
• RWS Group: RWS is a large, publicly listed language services and intellectual property company that owns SDL Trados, the long-established TMS/CAT platform. It competes with Smartling both as an LSP and through Trados in the TMS layer, giving it a broader portfolio spanning services, technology, and IP solutions.
• Welocalize: Welocalize is a global language service provider offering managed translation, localization, and AI-enabled content services with proprietary technology. It competes with Smartling on enterprise localization programs, particularly where buyers want a combination of platform and large-scale human delivery.

Emerging players

• DeepL: DeepL is a neural machine translation provider whose high-quality MT engine competes at the engine layer that Smartling's AI Hub wraps. It is increasingly selling into enterprise localization buyers (and adding workflow features), making it a partial competitor at the translation quality and pricing axis of Smartling's value proposition.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/smartling
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/smartling
• Facebookfacebook.com/smartlinginc

Compliance9 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds7 records

Investors13 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A2 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Smartling