Comparison

Google Translate vs PONS Translate & Dictionary

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

PONS Translate & Dictionary

Translate text and words between 40 languages with over 50 dictionaries. Features intelligent search, voice translation, and offline access to saved entries. Ideal for travelers and language learners.

Highlights
  • Text and word translation
  • Over 50 dictionaries
  • Intelligent search with suggestions
  • Camera translation
  • Voice translation and conversation mode
  • Offline access to favorites
  • Pronunciation audio
Features
Read full description

The free translator app from PONS Get quick and reliable translations - with over 50 PONS Dictionaries and text translation for 40 languages. This tool gives you a translation for all of your search queries. The app includes PONS Dictionaries for Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovakian, Slovenian, Spanish and Turkish. In addition to dictionaries with German you will find dictionaries for combinations such as Spanish-English, French-Polish, or Portuguese-Spanish. You have access to over 50 dictionaries. The text translation system integrated into the app covers all the languages of the online dictionaries plus an additional 12 languages such as Hebrew or Korean. INTELLIGENT SEARCH Type in or say your search term and to make your search quicker and more convenient, the system provides suggestions for words and phrases. If the app can’t find a result in the PONS Dictionaries, the integrated text translation service kicks in to give you your desired result. Search without even typing: Use the camera on your phone to translate menus, signs etc. immediately. COMMUNICATION AID Listen to the correct pronunciation of your dictionary translation. Use the zoom function to magnify the translation and show it to someone else on your device. Especially handy on trips! Conversation mode: PONS Translate recognizes your voice and translates into your desired language. CONVENIENT REFERENCE Save your frequently searched or important entries in your favorites - you can use these offline, too. In your search history you can find your most recent searches. With the copy and paste function you can use your translations in other applications. EXAMPLE SENTENCES Language in context and information on language usage help you find the correct translation. AN IDEAL COMPLEMENT Copy your translations to the free PONS Vocabulary Trainer so that you can learn them. EDITORIALLY REVIEWED QUALITY Our dictionary content is editorially reviewed by our lexicographers and constantly growing. AVAILABLE ALSO OFFLINE AND AD-FREE Download selected dictionaries and use the app offline and online. You can choose from among various subscription periods* via in-app purchase. You will then receive your desired dictionary completely ad-free, even when you use the dictionary online. If you are interested in ad-free use, but do not wish to download a dictionary, additional subscriptions are available. PLEASE NOTE: You can use the Online Translator at all times and completely free of charge even without an in-app purchase. Visit our website at www.pons.com for more information about the free Online-Dictionary, the PONS Vocabulary Trainer and our apps. About PONS: PONS Publishing looks back on 40 years of experience in developing language-learning materials in the brand’s characteristic green color. The range covers traditional dictionaries and grammars, audio and electronic language courses, and free online services. * A variety of dictionaries can be subscribed to for 1 month or 1 year. Subscriptions are automatically renewed unless cancelled at least 24 hours prior to the end of the current subscription term. Your account will be debited within 24 hours of the end of the current subscription term. Payment will be billed to your Apple account. Subsequent to purchase, subscriptions can be managed or cancelled in your user account settings. Any unused part of a free trial subscription that may have been offered, will expire if the user purchases a subscription for the current release. www.pons.com Terms of Use: https://en.pons.com/p/conditions-of-use Privacy Declaration: https://en.pons.com/p/privacy-policy

Screenshots

Google Translate4 screens
PONS Translate & Dictionary4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Google Translate at none against PONS Translate & Dictionary's 15. Google Translate also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (weekly vs every 6 weeks). PONS Translate & Dictionary's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.3) and review sentiment (57% vs 41%). On price, 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. PONS Translate & Dictionary sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Google Translate asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PONS Translate & Dictionary holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Google Translate has 84K ratings behind it against 1K, 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 57% of PONS Translate & Dictionary's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Google Translate ships an update weekly, PONS Translate & Dictionary every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Google Translate versus PONS Translate & Dictionary: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGoogle TranslatePONS Translate & Dictionary
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (84K ratings)4.7 (1K ratings) — better
Positive reviews41.1% of reviews57.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings84K — better1K
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#1 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size295 MB165 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGooglePONS Langenscheidt GmbH

Customer experience

Google Translate

All ratings83,720 ratings
Positive81.2%
Neutral5.3%
Negative13.4%
Written reviews1,466 reviews
Positive41.1%
Neutral11.1%
Negative47.7%

PONS Translate & Dictionary

All ratings1,043 ratings
Positive94.4%
Neutral2.4%
Negative3.2%
Written reviews644 reviews
Positive57.0%
Neutral8.1%
Negative34.9%

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

PONS Translate & Dictionary

From 1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Accurate translations
  • 💡 Comprehensive dictionary with examples
  • 🚀 Fast and responsive
  • 👍 Helpful for language learning

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and freezes
  • 💸 Aggressive ads even in paid version
  • 🔍 Limited functionality compared to previous versions
  • 🔍 Fails to recognize some words and phrases
  • 👎 Unreliable pronunciation feature

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

PONS Translate & Dictionary

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Search function not working reliably
  • Purchased ad-free version still showing ads
  • Inconsistent behavior across devices
  • Frequent crashes and freezes

Requested features

5 requests
  • Offline mode
  • Improved text translation capabilities
  • More language options
  • Better handling of handwritten scripts
  • Customizable font sizes

In-app purchases

None

Google Translate

No in-app purchases

14 purchases

PONS Translate & Dictionary

Subscriptions13
  • No ads for 1 month$1.991 Month
  • 1 month English-Spanish3 Days trial$2.491 Month
  • 1 month English-French3 Days trial$2.491 Month
Show 10 more
  • 1 month English-German3 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • 3 months English-German3 Days trial$7.493 Months
  • 3 months Spanish-German3 Days trial$7.493 Months
  • No ads for 1 year$8.991 Year
  • Premium version 1 month3 Days trial$8.991 Month
  • 1 year Spanish-German3 Days trial$18.491 Year
  • 1 year English-Spanish3 Days trial$18.491 Year
  • 1 year English-German3 Days trial$18.491 Year
  • 1 year English-French3 Days trial$18.491 Year
  • Premium version for 1 year3 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • This app without ads for 1 year$2.99

Questions

Is Google Translate free?
Google Translate is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is PONS Translate & Dictionary free?
PONS Translate & Dictionary is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Google Translate or PONS Translate & Dictionary?
PONS Translate & Dictionary is rated higher. Google Translate averages 4.3 out of 5 from 84K ratings, while PONS Translate & Dictionary averages 4.7 from 1K ratings.
Do Google Translate or PONS Translate & Dictionary have ads?
PONS Translate & Dictionary shows ads; Google Translate does not.
Which is updated more often, Google Translate or PONS Translate & Dictionary?
Google Translate ships an update weekly, and PONS Translate & Dictionary every 6 weeks. Most recently, Google Translate was updated on September 26, 2026 and PONS Translate & Dictionary on September 24, 2026.

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