What Collins does

Collins is a 200-year-old language and reference publishing brand that today operates primarily as Collins Dictionary, a free online bilingual dictionary platform headquartered in Bishopbriggs, United Kingdom, and owned by HarperCollins Publishers (a subsidiary of News Corp). The platform offers 220,000+ dictionary entries, thesauruses, grammar guides, verb conjugations, pronunciation guides, curated word lists, interactive quizzes and games, and the annual Word of the Year cultural campaign across English paired with nine other languages (French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, Chinese, Korean, Japanese) plus site localization in nine country interfaces.

The product is built on the proprietary COBUILD corpus — extensive databases of real-world language usage that power definitions, examples, and language analysis — augmented by third-party translation infrastructure (Microsoft Translator covering 30+ languages) and a beta conversational AI Assistant for synonyms, definitions, pronunciation, and grammar queries. The portfolio also includes Paul Noble audio language courses, Visual Dictionaries, the Wordle Helper, the Scrabble tool, and a dedicated Schools platform serving Primary, Secondary, and Home School segments, plus a Dictionary API for developer and enterprise licensing.

Collins monetizes through a freemium consumer model (free access with optional registration; advertising on the public site), mobile applications on Android, B2B licensing of the Dictionary API, and content and technology partnerships — most notably with Microsoft (translation) and Quizlet (visual dictionary study sets reaching 50M monthly active students). Its primary customer segments are language learners, general consumers (including Scrabble and Wordle users), schools and educators, and B2B developers integrating language data.

Name

Collins

Legal name

Collins (HarperCollins Publishers)

Website

https://collinsdictionary.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1819

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Collins Dictionary is a 200-year-old online bilingual dictionary platform under HarperCollins Publishers serving global language learners, general consumers, schools, and developers with free definitions, translations across 10+ languages, grammar tools, and a beta AI assistant.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Dictionary and Language Reference

NAICS

Translation and Interpretation Services (54193), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Language Content Libraries & Digital Readers (Leveled Readers, Graded Content) (EDAFAOAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Multilingual/Translation Communication Apps (BPAMACAJ), Machine Translation & Multilingual NLP (HDAAADAD)

Keywords

• Online dictionary
• Language reference
• Multilingual translation
• Dictionary API licensing
• Language learning resources

Headquarters

HQ city

Bishopbriggs

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Advertising Revenue: Free dictionary platform monetized through advertising, with targeted ad placement and tracking technologies to enable targeted advertising and select relevant content for users.
2. Dictionary API Licensing: B2B licensing of dictionary, thesaurus, and translation data through the Collins API for developers and businesses needing language reference functionality.
3. Mobile Applications: Collins English Dictionary and related apps available on Android Play Store generating revenue from app distribution.
4. B2B Partnerships: Licensing and rights partnerships with businesses including Quizlet for visual dictionary study sets and Microsoft for translation services integration.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Collins operates a free online dictionary and language reference platform providing definitions, thesaurus entries, translations across 30+ languages, grammar guides, conjugations, and pronunciation resources for English and bilingual language pairs. The platform monetizes through advertising on the consumer-facing site and B2B licensing of its Dictionary API and language data to developers and partners, supplemented by partnerships with educational platforms such as Quizlet.

Product overview

Collins offers a comprehensive language learning and reference platform centered around its flagship Collins Online Dictionary, a bilingual dictionary system supporting monolingual English and 9 bilingual dictionaries (French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, Chinese, Korean, Japanese). The product portfolio includes COBUILD Grammar resources, an AI-powered Dictionary AI Assistant (beta), Collins Translator supporting 30+ languages, interactive Quiz/Games for language practice, Paul Noble audio language courses at multiple levels, Visual Dictionaries, Collins Conjugations, Word Lists, and the annual Word of the Year initiative. Additional offerings include Collins Dictionaries for Schools (Primary, Secondary, Home School), Wordle Helper, Scrabble tools, and a Dictionary API for developers. The platform leverages extensive language corpora databases for authoritative content.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Collins COBUILD: Collins COBUILD English Usage and Grammar resources
• Collins ELT
• Paul Noble Method

Products and services

• Collins Online Dictionary
• Collins COBUILD Grammar

Quantifiable outcome

• One hundredfold increase in usage of 'climate strike' leading to Word of the Year 2019 selection
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability2 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Microsoft TranslatorcoreTechnology or IntegrationMicrosoft Translator provides the translation technology powering Collins Dictionary's translation tool, enabling translation across over 30 languages including Afrikaans, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and more.
• QuizletminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollins partnered with Quizlet to provide visual dictionary study sets including pre-made flashcards, quizzes and games for language learning. This enables Collins to reach Quizlet's 50 million monthly active students and teachers.
• HarperCollins PublisherscoreOthersCollins is a major publishing imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, one of the world's largest English-language publishers. Collins specializes in educational, language, and geographic content, drawing on HarperCollins' extensive publishing resources and distribution network.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Wiktionary: Community-driven multilingual free dictionary that competes on price (zero) with Collins, capturing significant organic search traffic for word lookups and eroding the commercial dictionary category.
• Oxford Languages: Publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary and Oxford dictionaries across multiple languages, with comparable global bilingual dictionary coverage, university/institutional licensing, and online reference platform competing directly with Collins.
• Google Translate: Free, massively scaled machine translation tool that competes directly with Collins Translator for consumer translation queries and is integrated across Google's broader search and AI surfaces.
• Cambridge Dictionary: Cambridge University Press's free online dictionary covering English and bilingual pairings with similar ad-supported model, learner-oriented content, and global reach competing directly with Collins for language learners.
• Reverso: Free online translation and dictionary service with context examples and language learning features, offering a comparable combination of dictionary lookups and translation that mirrors Collins' product surface area.
• Dictionary.com: Direct competitor offering a free online English dictionary and thesaurus with similar freemium advertising and licensing model. Closely comparable scale and audience to Collins Dictionary, serving the same general consumer and language-learner segments.
• Merriam-Webster: Premier American English dictionary brand from Encyclopædia Britannica parent, operating a free online dictionary, thesaurus, and learning apps with similar ad-supported and B2B content licensing model to Collins.
• DeepL: Premium machine translation platform widely regarded for high-quality output, competing with Collins' translation offering particularly for professional and enterprise users willing to pay for quality.

Emerging players

• Duolingo: Category-leading consumer language learning app that overlaps with Collins' language learner segment via gamified vocabulary practice and bilingual content, representing both a competitor and a potential distribution partner for Collins' data.
• Babbel: Subscription-based language learning platform with professionally developed courses that intersects with Collins' Paul Noble courses and Schools platform, targeting the same adult language learner demographic with a paid model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/harper-collins-publishers-limited
• Xx.com/collinsdict
• Facebookfacebook.com/collinsdictionary

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments1 record

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

Frequently asked questions about Collins