What Smartling does
Smartling is an enterprise translation and localization platform that has evolved into one of the most AI-forward stacks in the industry. The product spans AI translation, AI-human translation, translation memory, glossary management, workflow automation, in-context review, and CMS connectors so global brands can localize websites, apps, marketing content, and support material at scale.
In 2025, Smartling reported that AI translation across its customer base grew 218% year-over-year, with enterprises moving decisively from experimentation into production. Smartling spent the year building infrastructure that lets customers deploy AI translation at scale across regulated content while keeping human-in-the-loop oversight for high-risk use cases. AI translation comes from a stack that combines purpose-built models with leading third-party engines, including a partnership with DeepL.
Who it's for
Smartling sells to global enterprise brands — typically marketing, product, and localization leaders at companies like IHG Hotels & Resorts, Shopify, Pinterest, State Farm, British Airways, and Lyft.
Pricing
Smartling is sold via enterprise subscriptions tiered by content volume, languages, and modules. There is no public price list, though smaller usage tiers are available for self-serve translation through the Smartling AI Hub.
Team & funding
Smartling was founded in 2009 by Jack Welde (CEO) and Andrey Akselrod (CTO) and is headquartered in New York City. The company has raised approximately $383M in total funding, with its largest round a $160M growth round in 2021. While Smartling has not announced a new traditional financing round in 2025, it has been one of the loudest commercial growth stories in the localization category.
Position vs competitors
Smartling competes with translation incumbents like Lionbridge and TransPerfect, modern AI-translation tools like DeepL, and developer-first localization platforms like Lokalise and Lingo.dev. Its differentiator is the deep enterprise integration and AI-human hybrid workflow.