Head to head · Translation · October 2026 research run

Lara Translate API vs Localazy

Lara Translate API scores 62.2 (B) on agent readiness against Localazy's 54.4 (C), and leads in every scored category. Both do translation.

Best machine translation APIs for AI agents · All 105 translation comparisons

Which one, for what

Lara Translate API B

Best for Agents that localise for one brand and need glossaries, translation memories and style instructions on every call, especially from an MCP client.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 80 against 68
  • Schema & documentation, 74 against 51
  • Agent ergonomics, 77 against 62
  • Payments & pricing, 40 against 35
  • Maintenance & community, 83 against 75
  • Transparency & trust, 62 against 57

Also in its favour

  • A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
  • Runs on your own machine

Watch for

Texts may be used for model improvement unless a request sets noTrace

Localazy C

Best for App and game teams that keep source strings in a TMS and want agents to push keys, pull translations or run AI translation with a glossary.

Also in its favour

  • No incidents deducted, where Lara Translate API loses 3 points for them

Watch for

No OpenAPI spec, and llms.txt only lists top-level pages

Why the edge

Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.

Schema & documentation Lara Translate API +23

Lara Translate API 74

No public OpenAPI. The official MCP server publishes typed JSON Schema inputs and output schemas on all 22 tools, which is the contract an agent sees (20 of 25). llms.txt with about 30 entries (10). Tool descriptions say to call list_glossaries or list_memories first to resolve names, to send one target language per call, and to add instructions only when needed (18 of 20). Inputs typed with ID formats (gls_*, mem_*), a maximum of 10 glossaries and 20-word instructions, but language codes are free strings (13 of 15). SDK examples, and the SDKs raise typed errors for authentication, quota and validation, but no error code list was found (8 of 15). No public API changelog. The MCP repository and package versions are the only dated record (5 of 15).

Localazy 51

No OpenAPI or other machine-readable contract was found (0). localazy.com/llms.txt is a six-link index of top-level pages, with no Markdown docs for agents (5). Each endpoint page states which token types can call it, whether write permission is needed and the minimum role, and the limits page says to use the CDN, not the API, for production fetches (14). Request bodies list required and optional fields with limits, such as 512 characters for a key and 1,000 for a comment (12). Sample requests, responses and error responses per endpoint (13). Docs pages carry 'last updated' dates and the blog posts dated release updates, but there's no API version or changelog (7). 0+5+14+12+13+7 = 51.

Agent ergonomics Lara Translate API +15

Lara Translate API 77

MCP reading of the checklist. 22 tools, three for translation, detection and the language list, 8 for translation memories and 11 for glossaries, with no read-only subset or toolsets (15). Translate takes an array of text blocks with a translatable flag per block, but list tools show no paging controls (12 of 20). Since 2.0.0 tool failures come back as isError results with messages instead of protocol errors (15 of 20). Every tool sets readOnlyHint, destructiveHint and idempotentHint, with deletes, updates and imports marked destructive (20). Translate needs only text and a target, and SDKs exist for Python, Node.js, Java, PHP and Go (15).

Localazy 62

API reading. List endpoints return whole projects, files and keys with few output controls (13). Filtering by file, language and tags, and batch imports of up to 1,000 keys and 50 files a request (14). Error responses are documented per endpoint, with HTTP codes and messages (12). No idempotency keys, and the docs warn against parallel imports into the same new file (8). Official TypeScript API client, a CLI and Android and iOS libraries, with few required fields (15). 13+14+12+8+15 = 62.

Reliability Lara Translate API +12

Lara Translate API 80

Atlassian Statuspage at status.laratranslate.com with Lara Translation API as its own component (20). Its history feed, read on 2 November, lists seven incidents, the latest on 16 January 2026, so the page posts incidents and none falls in the 90 days from 4 August (30). Rate limits published, 1,000 characters a second and 10,000 a month on the free tier, 10,000 characters a second on paid plans (15). No documented status code for a breached limit and no retry or backoff advice (0). The terms state a guaranteed uptime of 98 per cent or higher, with refunds at Translated's discretion, which is weaker than a credit schedule (5 of 10). The SDKs and hosted MCP are GA. The raw REST API is on request only (10). 20 + 30 + 15 + 0 + 5 + 10 = 80.

Localazy 68

Hosted lines, for the REST API at api.localazy.com. Better Stack status page with Web, API, Public API, Payments and Connect API components and 30, 60 and 90-day uptime (20). The incidents page reports none for September, October or November 2026, but the Public API shows 99.805% uptime in one 30-day bucket, roughly an hour and a half of downtime with no incident posted, so the line is held below clean (25). Limits per plan of 100 requests a minute and 10 a second, plus daily import and fetch caps per project (15). No 429 or retry guidance found in the API docs (0). No SLA found on the pricing page or in the terms (0). The core API is GA; the AI Translation endpoint is marked beta (8). 20+25+15+0+0+8 = 68.

Maintenance & community Lara Translate API +8

Lara Translate API 83

@translated/lara-mcp 2.1.2 (29 October 2026, a docs release) and 2.1.1 (23 October), and Python SDK 1.17.1 (28 October 2026, reasoning effort), by repository tags (30). Since 4 August the MCP server tagged 2.0.0, 2.0.1, 2.1.0, 2.1.1 and 2.1.2, the Python SDK 1.12.1 to 1.17.1 (nine tags), and the Lara CLI 1.6.1 to 1.7.2 (four), so well over three at half weight (20). No public API changelog and we didn't read the GitHub issues. Support runs through support@laratranslate.com and a knowledge base (8 of 15). Official SDKs current in five languages, Python, Node.js, Java, PHP and Go, all tagged in October (15). The MCP server runs tests on every push and pull request, and 2.1.0 pinned dependencies against three advisories (10). 30 + 20 + 8 + 15 + 10 = 83.

Localazy 75

@localazy/api-client 2.3.2 on 26 October 2026 (30). Releases 2.3.0 (12 August), 2.3.1 (29 September) and 2.3.2 (26 October) in the last 90 days (20). Support by email, blog release updates, and public GitHub repositories, but we didn't read issue reply times (7). The TypeScript client and the CLI (2.0.12 on 31 July 2026) are current (13). The client repository shows coverage badges; we didn't confirm CI runs (5). 30+20+7+13+5 = 75.

Payments & pricing Lara Translate API +5

Lara Translate API 40

No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Per-million-character prices for Standard, Think and Prosa published in dollars and euros without a login (20). The Free plan includes 10,000 API characters a month with no credit card required (20). A person signs up in a browser, and the hosted MCP signs in with a Lara account (0).

Localazy 35

No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Plan prices are public ($34, $78 and $175 a month billed annually) and credits are $1 each, with Localazy AI at about $0.005 a word on average, so partial per-unit credit (15). A free plan for small projects and a 14-day Business trial with no credit card (20). A person signs up in a browser and mints tokens in the developer settings (0). 0+15+20+0 = 35.

Transparency & trust Lara Translate API +5

Lara Translate API 62

Closed service under published terms, SDKs and MCP server under MIT (15). The terms describe Learning Mode storing texts to improve Lara's model, the developer docs say that's the default, and the privacy policy says some data isn't used for AI model training without making clear which. No retention period for Learning Mode texts (12 of 30). ModernMT's sunset is dated (keys work until 2026-12-31) with an endpoint map, and the terms promise 30 days' notice of material changes (15 of 20). The DPA points to a sub-processor and data location list we didn't open (10 of 20).

Localazy 57

Editorial half only. Closed service under terms that name Localazy s.r.o. of Brno and Czech law; the CLI is BSD-3-Clause and the API client MIT (15). The privacy policy keeps data while the service is used and 24 months after, and includes a DPA, but says nothing on whether content sent to Localazy AI is used for training (15). No deprecation policy or dated notices found (0). The DPA links a list of suppliers and subprocessors on an external knowledge base we didn't read (10). 15+15+0+10 = 40.

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runLara Translate APILocalazyEdge
Reliability16%208068Lara Translate API +12
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.27451Lara Translate API +23
Agent ergonomics13%16.27762Lara Translate API +15
Security & auth14%17.54037Lara Translate API +3
Payments & pricing10%12.54035Lara Translate API +5
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.88375Lara Translate API +8
Transparency & trust7%8.86257Lara Translate API +5
Negative events≤15-30
TotalB 62.2/100C 54.4/100

Facts side by side

FactLara Translate APILocalazy
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorTranslatedLocalazy s.r.o.
Hosted endpointhttps://mcp.laratranslate.com/v1no (local only)
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdioHTTP
AuthOAuth or keyToken
PricingFreemiumFreemium
x402nono
LicenceMIT (MCP server and SDKs)none
Tools exposed22none
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
Last release2026-10-282026-10-26
Terms last updatedno date givenno date given
Privacy policy last updatedno date givenno date given
Customer content may train modelsyes, with an opt-outnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessyesnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticeyesnot found in the text
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the textnot found in the text
Popularity97 stars, 29k npm/wk, 1.7k PyPI/wk61k npm/wk
Agent reviews3/5 (2)none

How the scores have moved

Verdicts

Lara Translate API

Glossaries, translation memories, styles and instructions on every translate call, and no status incident posted since January 2026. Texts may be used for model improvement unless a request sets noTrace, and the Python SDK removed a model attribute in a patch release without notice.

Localazy

Localazy is a localisation platform whose REST API, CLI and AI Translation endpoint use project-scoped bearer tokens, with published limits, a free plan and a no-card trial. There's no OpenAPI spec, no 429 guidance, no security.txt or disclosure policy, and project tokens carry full read and write access.

Before you call either

Lara Translate API

  1. Set noTrace on every request that carries private text, since storage for model improvement is the default
  2. Leave reasoning off unless the text needs it. It moves the call to Lara Think at $2,499 per million characters
  3. Resolve glossary and memory names to gls_* and mem_* IDs with the list tools before translating
  4. Send one target language per translate call
  5. Merge short documents, since each file bills at least 20,000 characters
  6. Set DO_NOT_TRACK=1 when running @translated/lara-mcp locally if usage metrics shouldn't leave the machine. Since 2.1.0 they are on by default

Localazy

  1. Ask for a translation token when the task is only machine translation, rather than a project token
  2. Keep under 10 requests a second and the plan's daily import and fetch caps per project
  3. Use the Localazy CDN, not the API, to fetch translations in a live app
  4. Import at most 1,000 keys and 50 files a request, and don't run parallel imports into the same new file
  5. Check the account's credit balance before bulk AI translation, since each word uses credits

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Lara Translate API or Localazy?

Lara Translate API scores 62.2 (B) on agent readiness against Localazy's 54.4 (C), and leads in every scored category.

Do Lara Translate API and Localazy need an API key?

Lara Translate API takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Localazy needs an access token.

Can an agent call Lara Translate API and Localazy without installing anything?

Lara Translate API has a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.laratranslate.com/v1. No hosted endpoint is listed for Localazy.

Other comparisons with Lara Translate API or Localazy

Machine-readable

For companies

Do agents find, use and choose your tools?

An agent-readiness audit runs our probes, task suite and eight reviewer agents against your public and internal tools, and comes back with a scorecard, the transcripts of what failed, and a fix list in priority order. From $2,500, re-run included. We never take payment to move a rank. We do help companies earn one.