# Lara Translate API vs TranslatePlus

> Lara Translate scores 62.2 (B) to TranslatePlus's 39.7 (E) for translation. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lara-translate-vs-translateplus
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lara-translate-vs-translateplus.md (~4,500 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-07

Lara Translate API scores 62.2 (B) on agent readiness against TranslatePlus's 39.7 (E), and leads in every scored category. Both do translation.

- Lara Translate API: grade B, 62.2/100, rank #569 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/lara-translate.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/lara-translate.json
- TranslatePlus: grade E, 39.7/100, rank #1335 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/translateplus.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/translateplus.json
- Best machine translation APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/translation/index.md
- All 105 translation comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/translation/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Lara Translate API (B)

Good 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 45
- Schema & documentation, 74 against 52
- Agent ergonomics, 77 against 61
- Security & auth, 40 against 35
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 30
- Maintenance & community, 83 against 10
- Transparency & trust, 62 against 52

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- Runs on your own machine
- Free to start without a card

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

### TranslatePlus (E)

Good for: Low-cost per-request translation of short strings, HTML, emails, subtitles and i18n files for small projects.

Watch for: llms.txt claims a 99.9% uptime SLA and SOC 2 Type II, while the terms disclaim any uptime guarantee and no audit is named


## Why the edge

### Maintenance & community: Lara Translate API +73

- 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.
- TranslatePlus (10): The newest dated change found is translateplus-python 2.0.7 and translateplus-js 2.0.1 on 11 January 2026, about ten months before this check, and the API changelog stops at 9 December 2024 (0). No release or dated change in the last 90 days (0). Support by email and a support portal; the status page hasn't updated since January (3). SDKs exist for four languages but haven't changed since January (5). Weekly downloads of 4 (PyPI) and 6 (npm) (2). 0+0+3+5+2 = 10.

### Reliability: Lara Translate API +35

- 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.
- TranslatePlus (45): Hosted lines. status.translateplus.io is the vendor's own page; on 6 November 2026 it showed 'All systems unknown' and a last update of 22 January 2026, with data loading by script (5). No incident history to read (5). The rate-limits guide gives 100,000 requests a minute and 100,000,000 an hour per key, while llms.txt gives 50 requests a second on the Free plan, so limits are published but inconsistent (10). 429 returns a JSON detail message, responses carry X-RateLimit-Limit, -Remaining and -Reset, and the guide shows waiting for the reset with capped retries (15). No SLA. The terms say TranslatePlus strives for 99.9% uptime 'but do not guarantee uninterrupted service' (0). API v2 is the current, non-beta version (10). 5+5+10+15+0+10 = 45.

### Schema & documentation: Lara Translate API +22

- 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).
- TranslatePlus (52): No OpenAPI or other machine-readable contract found in the docs or either llms.txt (0). llms.txt on the site and on docs.translateplus.io (10). Endpoint pages say what each call does, with little on when to choose HTML, email or i18n jobs over plain text (10). Required fields and per-plan character limits per request are documented, without enums for language codes beyond a supported-languages call (10). Code examples in several languages and an error-handling guide with status codes (12). Versioned /v1 and /v2 paths and a changelog, whose newest entry is 2.0.0 on 9 December 2024 (10). 0+10+10+10+12+10 = 52.

### Agent ergonomics: Lara Translate API +16

- 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).
- TranslatePlus (61): API reading. Batch translation of up to 100 texts a call and separate HTML, email, subtitle and i18n job endpoints (16). Few output controls or filters (10). Errors are a `detail` string with HTTP status codes (12). No idempotency key for i18n jobs, though text translation is stateless (8). Official SDKs listed for Python, JavaScript and TypeScript, Java and PHP, with few required fields (15). 16+10+12+8+15 = 61.

### Payments & pricing: Lara Translate API +10

- 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).
- TranslatePlus (30): No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Per-request prices public, $0.001 a request after the free tier and $0.0001 to $0.0002 on the $49, $99 and $299 monthly plans (20). Free plan of 5,000 requests a month with 500 characters each; whether a card is needed isn't stated (10). A person signs up in a browser or with Google OAuth (0). 0+20+10+0 = 30.

### Transparency & trust: Lara Translate API +10

- 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).
- TranslatePlus (52): Editorial half only. Closed service under terms last updated 18 December 2024 that name PetaBytes, Inc. as a US corporation but give no address, governing law or courts (10). The terms say translation requests aren't permanently stored 'unless required by law', the privacy policy says 'unless required for caching or service improvement purposes', and the terms allow using anonymised usage data to improve the service (8). API v1 is kept as legacy, with no dated deprecation notice (5). No subprocessor list or data location found (0). 10+8+5+0 = 23.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Lara Translate API | TranslatePlus | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 80 | 45 | Lara Translate API +35 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 74 | 52 | Lara Translate API +22 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 77 | 61 | Lara Translate API +16 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 40 | 35 | Lara Translate API +5 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 30 | Lara Translate API +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 83 | 10 | Lara Translate API +73 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 62 | 52 | Lara Translate API +10 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **62.2 · B** | **39.7 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Lara Translate API | TranslatePlus |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Translated | PetaBytes, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://mcp.laratranslate.com/v1` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT (MCP server and SDKs) | none |
| Tools exposed | 22 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-28 | 2026-01-11 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | 2024-12-18 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | yes, with an opt-out | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 97 stars, 29k npm/wk, 1.7k PyPI/wk | 6 npm/wk, 4 PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | none |

## How the scores have moved

### Lara Translate API

- +0.7 on 2 November 2026 (C to B): new evidence, negative event
- +0.1 on 28 October 2026: new evidence
- +0.1 on 27 October 2026: checklist

### TranslatePlus

No score change since it was listed.

## 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.

**TranslatePlus.** TranslatePlus has a simple key-in-header REST API with per-request prices from $0.0001, a 5,000-request free plan, batch, HTML, subtitle and i18n endpoints and documented 429 handling. Its changelog and SDKs haven't changed since January 2026 or earlier, the status page is stale, and llms.txt promises an SLA the terms disclaim.

## 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

### TranslatePlus

1. Send the key as X-API-KEY; there is no read-only or scoped key
2. Use /v2/translate/batch for up to 100 texts instead of looping single calls
3. Keep each text under the plan's per-request character limit (500 on Free, up to 2,000 on Mega)
4. On 429 wait until X-RateLimit-Reset, then retry a few times at most
5. Don't rely on an SLA; the terms don't guarantee uptime

## Questions

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

Lara Translate API scores 62.2 (B) on agent readiness against TranslatePlus's 39.7 (E), and leads in every scored category.

### Do Lara Translate API and TranslatePlus need an API key?

Lara Translate API takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. TranslatePlus needs an API key.

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

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


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lara-translate-vs-translateplus.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lara-translate-vs-translateplus.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "lara-translate", "b": "translateplus"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare lara-translate translateplus`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/lara-translate.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/translateplus.json

## Other comparisons with Lara Translate API or TranslatePlus

- [Amazon Translate vs Lara Translate API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-translate-vs-lara-translate.md)
- [Amazon Translate vs TranslatePlus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-translate-vs-translateplus.md)
- [Azure Translator vs Lara Translate API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-translator-vs-lara-translate.md)
- [Azure Translator vs TranslatePlus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-translator-vs-translateplus.md)
- [Crowdin vs Lara Translate API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crowdin-vs-lara-translate.md)
- [Crowdin vs TranslatePlus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crowdin-vs-translateplus.md)
- [DeepL API vs Lara Translate API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepl-api-vs-lara-translate.md)
- [DeepL API vs TranslatePlus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepl-api-vs-translateplus.md)
- [Google Cloud Translation vs Lara Translate API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-cloud-translation-vs-lara-translate.md)
- [Google Cloud Translation vs TranslatePlus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-cloud-translation-vs-translateplus.md)
- [Lara Translate API vs LibreTranslate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lara-translate-vs-libretranslate.md)
- [Lara Translate API vs Lingo.dev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lara-translate-vs-lingo-dev.md)
- [Lara Translate API vs Lingvanex Translation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lara-translate-vs-lingvanex.md)
- [Lara Translate API vs Localazy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lara-translate-vs-localazy.md)
- [Lara Translate API vs Lokalise](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lara-translate-vs-lokalise.md)
- [Lara Translate API vs Phrase](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lara-translate-vs-phrase.md)
- [Lara Translate API vs Smartcat](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lara-translate-vs-smartcat.md)
- [Lara Translate API vs SYSTRAN Translate API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lara-translate-vs-systran.md)
- [LibreTranslate vs TranslatePlus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/libretranslate-vs-translateplus.md)
- [Lingo.dev vs TranslatePlus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lingo-dev-vs-translateplus.md)
- [Lingvanex Translation API vs TranslatePlus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lingvanex-vs-translateplus.md)
- [Localazy vs TranslatePlus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/localazy-vs-translateplus.md)
- [Lokalise vs TranslatePlus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lokalise-vs-translateplus.md)
- [Phrase vs TranslatePlus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/phrase-vs-translateplus.md)
- [Smartcat vs TranslatePlus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smartcat-vs-translateplus.md)
- [SYSTRAN Translate API vs TranslatePlus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/systran-vs-translateplus.md)

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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp