Ship multilingual software without blocking releases.

Locize is the localization platform engineering teams use to ship software in every language — web apps, SaaS, desktop, embedded — without making translation a release blocker. Built by the creators of i18next.

Trusted by ABB, Zürcher Kantonalbank, Swiss Red Cross, The Booking Factory, and roughly a thousand other product teams. Translations land via CDN at runtime, or via CLI at build time — whichever fits how your software ships.

Free 14-day trialNo credit card required

The Locize editor — translators work here while developers stay in code.

Where software localization usually breaks

Most software teams discover localization is hard the second time they need to ship a typo fix.

Without a localization platform

✖ Translation strings live in JSON, .strings, .resx, or XLIFF files in the repo. Every edit is a PR.

✖ Adding a language is a coordinated launch: feature branch, contract, integration, deploy.

✖ Translators ping engineers with edits over email or spreadsheet; engineers paste them in.

✖ AI translation runs in someone's ChatGPT tab — no glossary, no review trail, no rollback.

With Locize

✔ Strings flow from your code into Locize automatically via i18next's saveMissing.

✔ Adding a language is minutes: pick the locale, optionally auto-translate, publish.

✔ Translators work in a dedicated UI. Reviews, glossary, style guide, audit log — built in.

✔ AI translation is built in (BYOK or managed) with your style guide, glossary, and TM injected into every prompt.

Locize vs. an agency vs. DIY

Three ways to localize software. Pick whichever fits how your engineering team ships.

	Localization agency	Locize	DIY (files in repo)
Cost model	Per-word fees, project minimums	Flat monthly plan, or usage-based	Free + engineering time
How translations ship	Files delivered back, you commit and deploy	CDN at runtime, or CLI at build time — your call	Commits + redeploys
Time to ship a typo fix	Days (intake → re-export → integrate → release)	Seconds — edit, publish, live on the CDN	One full deploy
CI/CD integration	Manual hand-offs	GitHub Actions, CLI, REST API, MCP server for AI agents	Whatever you script
AI translation	Sometimes — quality varies	Built in. BYOK (OpenAI, Gemini, Mistral, DeepL) or managed Locize AI/MT, with glossary + style guide + TM context	DIY scripting

Comparing Locize to a specific competitor instead? See side-by-side comparisons with Lokalise, Phrase, Crowdin, Transifex, Tolgee, and others.

The features that matter for software localization

Six things every software team eventually needs. All of them are built in.

i18next-native + multi-format

Drop-in plugin for any i18next stack — React, Vue, Next.js, Angular, Svelte, Node.js, Electron, Tauri. For mobile and desktop, the CLI handles XLIFF, Android XML, iOS .strings, RESX, .po, Fluent, JSON, YAML, and more.

CDN at runtime, or CLI at build time

Web/SaaS apps fetch translations from a global CDN — every typo fix is one publish, no redeploy. Mobile, desktop, and air-gapped builds sync via CLI / GitHub Action and ship strings inside the build artifact.

AI auto-translate, in context

When new keys arrive, Locize can automatically translate them into every target language using your configured AI/MT provider — with your project's style guide, glossary, and translation memory injected as context.

Pre-translate first, route to human review only when it matters.

Translation memory across versions

Reuse what you've already translated. The TM matches on whole strings and fuzzy variants, across versions, branches, and other projects in your account.

Branches, versions, review workflow

Translation branches mirror your feature branches. Review workflow gates AI or junior translator output before it reaches production. Audit log captures every change with who, what, when.

Multi-tenant for B2B SaaS

Each customer (or each market) gets its own override layer on top of a shared base, served separately through the CDN. No duplicate projects, no terminology drift.

See the full workflow

What kind of software fits?

Anything from a single-page app to a multi-tenant SaaS or a banking app that builds locally. The integration model adapts.

Web apps & SaaS

React, Vue, Angular, Svelte, Next.js. CDN at runtime — typo fixes are one publish, no redeploy.

Mobile apps

iOS (.strings, .stringsdict), Android XML, React Native. CLI sync at build time.

Desktop & embedded

Electron, Tauri, .NET (RESX), Qt, gettext (.po). Fetch with the CLI in your build pipeline.

Server-side / Node.js

Translate emails, push notifications, server-rendered pages. Same i18next, same backend.

Building a website specifically? See the website localization page. Localizing for global markets? Read the market expansion guide.

What it costs

Public pricing. No sales call. Pick a plan when the trial ends — or stay on Free if your project is small.

Free

$0/mo

Small personal projects: 1 user, 2 languages, 100k CDN downloads.

Starter

$7/mo

5 users, 5 languages, 1M CDN downloads, 50k AI tokens.

Growth — most popular

$49/mo

10 users, 10 languages, 3 branches, 5 tenants, review workflow, glossary, style guide.

Professional

$99/mo

Unlimited users, 20 languages, BYOK AI, SSO add-on.

See full pricing Start free trial

14 days, all features unlocked, no credit card. There's also a usage-based plan if you prefer paying for what you use.

Teams shipping multilingual software with Locize

Locize is a great tool for us to localise our hotel software solution into multiple languages for both users and their guests. We chose Locize because of their flexible pricing structure that is based on usage instead of a large monthly fee.

We already have some great early results and now our users can translate themselves into their local language!

Evan Davies, CEO

The Booking Factory

With the introduction of Locize, we had an overview of the status of translations or which text content still needed to be translated from the very beginning.

Thanks to the very flexible API, the current texts are integrated in every build (for technical reasons, ZKB cannot use an external CDN).

The handling is self-explanatory for translators.

Locize also has excellent support and very reasonable conditions.

Severin Dietschi, Product Owner

ZKB (Zürcher Kantonalbank)

We're using Locize for several projects, which offers different services for our international partners in the whole world.

Thanks to Locize our localization workflow is faster, more efficient and modern.

Davide Mora, Digital Product Owner & Project Leader

ABB

5-minute integration

If your stack already uses i18next, you're a single backend plugin away. Mobile and desktop builds use the CLI instead.

i18next setup

import i18next from 'i18next'
import Backend from 'i18next-locize-backend'

i18next
  .use(Backend)
  .init({
    fallbackLng: 'en',
    saveMissing: true, // sends new keys to Locize automatically
    backend: {
      projectId: '[PROJECT_ID]',
      apiKey: '[API_KEY]', // dev only — drop in production
      referenceLng: 'en'
    }
  })

New keys appear in Locize as you write code. The video walks through it end-to-end with auto-translation enabled.

Start your free trial

Locize: continuous software localization

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What is software localization?

Software localization (sometimes shortened to l10n) is the process of adapting a software product — its text, formats, currencies, dates, layouts, and sometimes assets — for users in a different language or region. It goes beyond translation: a localized product feels native to its market, with the right plurals, gendered language, sort orders, and number/date conventions.

Translation vs. localization vs. internationalization

Translation converts text from one language to another.

Localization (l10n) adapts the whole experience: text, formats, plurals, layouts, RTL where needed.

Internationalization (i18n) is the engineering work that makes localization possible — extracting strings, using ICU formatters, handling Unicode. i18next is one of the most-used i18n frameworks for JavaScript, and Locize is its native backend.

Why software localization is hard

Software strings are scattered across components. New ones arrive every sprint. Engineers don't want to babysit translations; translators don't want to learn Git.

And every market has rules: German plurals, Japanese kana, Arabic RTL, Brazilian formality. A localization platform turns those concerns into infrastructure instead of release-blocking work.

What a software localization process looks like with Locize

Add the i18next-locize-backend plugin to your app (or use the CLI for mobile/desktop builds).
Run the app once with saveMissing enabled — every translation key flows into Locize automatically.
Add target languages in the Locize UI. Optionally enable Automatic Translation to pre-translate using your AI/MT provider.
Translators or reviewers refine in the editor (or live, on the running app, via the In-Context Editor).
Publish. Web/SaaS apps fetch from the CDN; mobile/desktop builds sync via CLI in CI.
Repeat. New keys auto-appear; new languages take minutes; typo fixes don't need a release for web targets.

Real software localization examples

The Booking Factory — Hotel software in multiple languages, where users (hoteliers) translate their own guest-facing content with no developer in the loop.
Zürcher Kantonalbank — Banking software where security policy forbids an external CDN. Locize's API delivers the current strings into every build at compile time.
ABB — Industrial software localized centrally across multiple internal and partner-facing portals.
RealAdvisor — A Swiss property-tech SaaS that launched in three languages on day one, using i18next with React and Locize to let non-developers translate.

Want a deeper dive? What is software localization (long-form) · Mobile app localization specifically · Globalization vs. localization.

Why software teams pick Locize

The short list, from customers who switched off agencies, off DIY, or off another TMS.

Built by the i18next team

If your stack uses i18next (and most JavaScript stacks do), Locize fits like the missing piece.

Continuous

Translations are an always-on layer. Edit, publish, see the change live. No release cycle for typos.

Predictable pricing

Flat plans or usage-based. No per-seat traps, no per-word surprises, no MAU multipliers.

CI/CD-friendly

GitHub Actions, CLI, REST API, MCP server for AI agents. Translations integrate into your pipeline like any other dependency.

Self-serve. No sales call.

14-day trial, public pricing. Read the docs, sign up, ship. Want to know why? See our philosophy.

Made in Switzerland

Operated by a Swiss company — relevant for teams with EU/CH data residency requirements.

Frequently asked questions

If your question is missing, email support@locize.com

What is software localization?

Software localization is the process of adapting a software product — its text, formats, currencies, dates, layouts, and sometimes assets — for users in a different language or region. It goes beyond translation: a localized product feels native to its market, with the right plurals, gendered language, sort orders, and number/date conventions.

How is software localization different from translation?

Translation converts text from one language to another. Localization adapts the whole experience — text, date and number formats, currency, address layouts, plurals, gendered language, images, and sometimes layout direction (RTL for Arabic and Hebrew). Software localization additionally needs engineering: extracting strings from code, handling Unicode, ICU formatters, build-time vs. runtime delivery, and CI integration.

What kinds of software does Locize work for?

Web apps and SaaS (any framework that uses i18next, react-i18next, vue-i18next, next-i18next, angular-i18next, svelte-i18n), Node.js servers, desktop apps via Electron or Tauri, and mobile apps (iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter) via the CLI for build-time string fetching. Locize also supports XLIFF, JSON, Android XML, iOS .strings, RESX, .po, Fluent, YAML, and more.

How long does software localization take?

The integration is typically a single afternoon for an i18next-based codebase. After that, adding a new language is minutes — not a release cycle — because translations are served via CDN and update without a redeploy. For mobile and desktop apps, translations sync at build time via the CLI / GitHub Action.

How much does software localization cost?

Locize plans start at $0 (Free, for small projects) and scale through $7 (Starter), $49 (Growth), $99 (Professional), and a usage-based plan. There are no per-seat or per-word surprises — see the pricing page for full details.

Do I need to hire translators, or can AI handle it?

Both work. You can pre-translate with AI (OpenAI, Gemini, Mistral, DeepL, Google Translate, or Locize's own AI/MT services) using your project's glossary, style guide, and translation memory as context. For brand-critical content, route through a review workflow before publishing.

Can I localize a SaaS product where each customer needs different terminology?

Yes — Locize has a multi-tenant override system. Each of your customers (or each market segment) can have its own translation overrides on top of a shared base, served separately through the CDN. No need for separate projects per customer.

Stop redeploying for typos.

Spin up a project, connect your i18next setup or CLI, and ship translations continuously.