Comparison

Google Translate vs Language Translator by Mate

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Google Translate

Instantly translate text, voice, and images between hundreds of languages. Features include offline translation, real-time conversation translation, and the ability to save frequently used phrases.

Highlights
  • Text translation
  • Offline translation
  • Instant camera translation
  • Photo translation
  • Voice translation
  • Conversation translation
  • Phrasebook
Read full description

Translate between up to 249 languages. Feature support varies by language: • Text: Translate between languages by typing • Offline: Translate with no internet connection • Instant camera translation: Translate text in images instantly by just pointing your camera • Photos: Translate text in taken or imported photos • Dictation: Translate spoken words and phrases • Conversations: Translate bilingual conversations on the fly • Transcribe: Continuously translate someone speaking a different language in near real-time • Handwriting: Draw text characters instead of typing • Phrasebook: Star and save translated words and phrases for future reference Permissions notice: • Microphone for speech translation • Camera for translating text via the camera • Photos for importing photos from your library Translations between the following languages are supported: Abkhaz, Acehnese, Acholi, Afar, Afrikaans, Albanian, Alur, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Assamese, Avar, Awadhi, Aymara, Azerbaijani, Balinese, Baluchi, Bambara, Baoulé, Bashkir, Basque, Batak Karo, Batak Simalungun, Batak Toba, Belarusian, Bemba, Bengali, Betawi, Bhojpuri, Bikol, Bosnian, Breton, Bulgarian, Buryat, Cantonese, Catalan, Cebuano, Chamorro, Chechen, Chichewa, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Chuukese, Chuvash, Corsican, Crimean Tatar (Cyrillic), Crimean Tatar (Latin), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dari, Dhivehi, Dinka, Dogri, Dombe, Dutch, Dyula, Dzongkha, English, Esperanto, Estonian, Ewe, Faroese, Fijian, Filipino, Finnish, Fon, French, French (Canada), Frisian, Friulian, Fulani, Ga, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Guarani, Gujarati, Haitian Creole, Hakha Chin, Hausa, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hiligaynon, Hindi, Hmong, Hungarian, Hunsrik, Iban, Icelandic, Igbo, Ilocano, Indonesian, Inuktut (Latin), Inuktut (Syllabics), Irish, Italian, Jamaican Patois, Japanese, Javanese, Jingpo, Kalaallisut, Kannada, Kanuri, Kapampangan, Kazakh, Khasi, Khmer, Kiga, Kikongo, Kinyarwanda, Kituba, Kokborok, Komi, Konkani, Korean, Krio, Kurdish (Kurmanji), Kurdish (Sorani), Kyrgyz, Lao, Latgalian, Latin, Latvian, Ligurian, Limburgish, Lingala, Lithuanian, Lombard, Luganda, Luo, Luxembourgish, Macedonian, Madurese, Maithili, Makassar, Malagasy, Malay, Malay (Jawi), Malayalam, Maltese, Mam, Manx, Maori, Marathi, Marshallese, Marwadi, Mauritian Creole, Meadow Mari, Meiteilon (Manipuri), Minang, Mizo, Mongolian, Myanmar (Burmese), Nahuatl (Eastern Huasteca), Ndau, Ndebele (South), Nepalbhasa (Newari), Nepali, NKo, Norwegian, Nuer, Occitan, Odia (Oriya), Oromo, Ossetian, Pangasinan, Papiamento, Pashto, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Punjabi (Gurmukhi), Punjabi (Shahmukhi), Quechua, Qʼeqchiʼ, Romani, Romanian, Rundi, Russian, Sami (North), Samoan, Sango, Sanskrit, Santali (Latin), Santali (Ol Chiki), Scots Gaelic, Sepedi, Serbian, Sesotho, Seychellois Creole, Shan, Shona, Sicilian, Silesian, Sindhi, Sinhala, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Spanish, Sundanese, Susu, Swahili, Swati, Swedish, Tahitian, Tajik, Tamazight, Tamazight (Tifinagh), Tamil, Tatar, Telugu, Tetum, Thai, Tibetan, Tigrinya, Tiv, Tok Pisin, Tongan, Tshiluba, Tsonga, Tswana, Tulu, Tumbuka, Turkish, Turkmen, Tuvan, Twi, Udmurt, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uyghur, Uzbek, Venda, Venetian, Vietnamese, Waray, Welsh, Wolof, Xhosa, Yakut, Yiddish, Yoruba, Yucatec Maya, Zapotec, Zulu

About

Language Translator by Mate

Translate text, speech, and entire web pages across 103 languages, both online and offline. Deeply integrated with iOS, it offers extensions for Safari, Mail, Notes, and iMessage, plus a handy widget. Advanced features include phonetic transcription, noun genders, and a phrasebook for language learners.

Highlights
  • Translate text, speech, and websites
  • 103 languages supported
  • Online and offline translation
  • Safari, Share, and iMessage extensions
  • Widget for clipboard translation
  • Noun genders, phonetic transcription
  • Phrasebook and speech translator
Features
Read full description

Mate translates 250+ languages — online and offline. Whether you're traveling, learning a language, or just need to understand something quickly, Mate is built to help. Translate text, speech, and websites. Works across your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and all major browsers — with everything synced between devices. TRANSLATE WHAT YOU SEE Point Mate at a sign, menu, document, or screen — translation is drawn directly onto the image, following the perspective and rotation of the original text. Switch to table view for a clean side-by-side list. Pick from your photo library to translate screenshots. Works online for top quality, and offline for travel. TRANSLATE ANYWHERE ON iOS - Camera — point at any text and read it in your language. Works on signs, menus, documents, and screens, online or offline. - Default Translator (iOS 18.4+) — set Mate as your system translator and the iOS Translate action everywhere uses Mate. 250+ languages instead of Apple's 20, plus synonyms, definitions, phonetic transcription, reverse-translate, and noun genders, all inside the system popover. - Safari Extension — translate entire web pages or selected text without leaving the browser. - Share Extension — select any text, tap Share, then tap Mate to translate without leaving the app you're in. Works in Mail, Notes, PDFs, and anywhere else iOS shows the Share menu. OFFLINE TRANSLATION Download language packs for 55+ languages and translate without an internet connection. Manage your downloaded languages easily in Settings. BUILT FOR LANGUAGE LOVERS - Phrasebook — save translations you want to remember. Organize them into lists and review anytime. - Noun genders for French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, and Dutch. - Phonetic transcription and transliteration. - Speech translation — speak and get instant results. ACCESSIBILITY Full VoiceOver support, Dynamic Type, and reduced motion throughout the app. AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE Mate works on iOS, macOS, Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Opera. One account keeps your history and phrasebook in sync across all of them. Mate requires a subscription. 7-day free trial available. Privacy Policy: https://matetranslate.com/en/privacy Terms of Use: https://matetranslate.com/en/eula

Screenshots

Google Translate4 screens
Language Translator by Mate4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Google Translate at none against Language Translator by Mate's 19. Google Translate also leads on ratings volume (84K vs 1.7K) and chart position (#1 vs #169). Language Translator by Mate's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 4.3) and review sentiment (51% vs 41%). On price, ads, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Language Translator by Mate sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Google Translate asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Language Translator by Mate holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Google Translate has 84K ratings behind it against 1.7K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 41% of Google Translate's written reviews are positive against 51% of Language Translator by Mate's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Google Translate ships an update weekly, Language Translator by Mate fortnightly. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Google Translate versus Language Translator by Mate: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGoogle TranslateLanguage Translator by Mate
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (84K ratings)4.6 (1.7K ratings) — better
Positive reviews41.1% of reviews51.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings84K — better1.7K
Update frequencyWeekly — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#1 — better#169
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size295 MB157 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGoogleTwopeople Software

Customer experience

Google Translate

All ratings83,720 ratings
Positive81.2%
Neutral5.3%
Negative13.4%
Written reviews1,449 reviews
Positive41.1%
Neutral11.2%
Negative47.6%

Language Translator by Mate

All ratings1,691 ratings
Positive89.6%
Neutral2.2%
Negative8.2%
Written reviews378 reviews
Positive51.3%
Neutral6.6%
Negative42.1%

User reviews

Google Translate

From 84K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Spoken Cantonese & Jyutping recently added
  • 🚀 Fantastic for translating on the go
  • 👍 Easy to navigate
  • 👍 Useful for learning languages
  • 👍 Offline translation available

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inaccurate translations for some languages
  • 🐛 Buggy camera/image translation
  • 🐛 Inconsistent translation of formal/informal language
  • 🐛 Slow performance, especially offline
  • 🐛 Cluttered interface, poor UX design

Language Translator by Mate

From 1.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Accurate translations
  • 🚀 Fast and efficient
  • 💡 Convenient features (e.g., share, copy, paste)
  • 🌍 Supports many languages
  • 📢 Good pronunciation

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches (e.g., crashes, freezes, unresponsive features)
  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 🤖 Robotic-sounding voice
  • 🌐 Requires internet connection for full functionality
  • 📚 Limited language dialect support

Bugs and requests

Google Translate

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Camera translation not working without internet connection
  • Inability to select and translate specific text in images
  • Inconsistent translation of words with multiple meanings
  • Predictive text feature providing inaccurate suggestions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more language support, especially for minority languages
  • Improve accuracy of translations, especially for Asian languages
  • Allow manual selection of text in image translation
  • Add option to toggle between formal and informal language
  • Improve offline performance and functionality

Language Translator by Mate

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Subscription issues (e.g., unable to log in, charges despite cancellation)
  • Microphone not working for speech translation
  • Safari extension not functioning properly
  • Incorrect language detection
  • Partial/incomplete translations

Requested features

5 requests
  • Offline translation mode
  • Camera/image translation support
  • Customizable voice options
  • Improved language dialect support
  • Better integration with other apps (e.g., iMessage, iBooks)

In-app purchases

None

Google Translate

No in-app purchases

7 purchases

Language Translator by Mate

Subscriptions7
  • Mate Monthly4 variants$5.991 Month
  • Mate Monthly7 Days trial4 variants$5.991 Month
  • Mate Pro Weekly7 Days trial$7.997 Days
Show 4 more
  • Mate Weekly7 Days trial$7.997 Days
  • Mate Educational Annual$24.991 Year
  • Mate Annual4 variants$49.991 Year
  • Mate Annual7 Days trial4 variants$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Google Translate free?
Google Translate is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Language Translator by Mate free?
Language Translator by Mate is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Google Translate or Language Translator by Mate?
Language Translator by Mate is rated higher. Google Translate averages 4.3 out of 5 from 84K ratings, while Language Translator by Mate averages 4.6 from 1.7K ratings.
Do Google Translate or Language Translator by Mate have ads?
Neither Google Translate nor Language Translator by Mate shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Google Translate or Language Translator by Mate?
Google Translate ships an update weekly, and Language Translator by Mate fortnightly. Most recently, Google Translate was updated on September 24, 2026 and Language Translator by Mate on September 24, 2026.
Which is more popular, Google Translate or Language Translator by Mate?
Google Translate currently peaks at #1 in the App Store charts, and Language Translator by Mate at #169. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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