# Lingo.dev vs Lingvanex Translation API

> Lingo.dev scores 62.3 (B) on agent readiness against Lingvanex Translation API's 37 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do translate text. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lingo-dev-vs-lingvanex
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lingo-dev-vs-lingvanex.md (~2,300 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lingo-dev-vs-lingvanex.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lingo-dev-vs-lingvanex.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-08

Lingo.dev scores 62.3 (B) on agent readiness against Lingvanex Translation API's 37 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do translate text.

- Lingo.dev: grade B, 62.3/100, rank #341 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/lingo-dev.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/lingo-dev.json
- Lingvanex Translation API: grade F, 37/100, rank #702 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/lingvanex.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/lingvanex.json

## Which one, for what

### Lingo.dev (B)

Good for: Product teams that translate interface strings and content into many locales and want glossary, tone and rule control held in one place, driven from code, CI or a coding assistant.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 71 against 40
- Schema & documentation, 54 against 48
- Agent ergonomics, 75 against 50
- Security & auth, 62 against 37
- Payments & pricing, 20 against 15
- Maintenance & community, 87 against 6
- Transparency & trust, 71 against 48

Watch for: No public OpenAPI file was found, `llms.txt` holds one title line and docs pages have no Markdown version

### Lingvanex Translation API (F)

Good for: Bulk translation of non-sensitive text where price per character matters most, or buyers who want an on-premise server later.

Watch for: Product pages disagree on bulk and on-premise prices


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Lingo.dev | Lingvanex Translation API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 71 | 40 | Lingo.dev +31 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 54 | 48 | Lingo.dev +6 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 75 | 50 | Lingo.dev +25 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 62 | 37 | Lingo.dev +25 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 15 | Lingo.dev +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 87 | 6 | Lingo.dev +81 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 71 | 48 | Lingo.dev +23 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **62.3 · B** | **37 · F** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Lingo.dev | Lingvanex Translation API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Replexica, Inc. | Lingvanex |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://mcp.lingo.dev/account` | `https://api-b2b.backenster.com/b1/api/v3` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary hosted service under Lingo.dev's terms of service. The lingodotdev/lingo.dev repository (legacy CLI, JavaScript SDK, compiler) and the Python SDK are Apache-2.0. The `@lingo.dev/cli` package states no licence on npm | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| MCP registry | `dev.lingo/main` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-10-07 | none |
| Terms last updated | 2026-05-07 | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-05-07 | 2026-05-01 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | 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 | 5.4k stars, 92k npm/wk, 2k PyPI/wk | 3 PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 2.5/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**Lingo.dev.** Lingo.dev suits teams that want glossary and tone control on every translation call, with a published fee of $2 per million output tokens and model costs passed through. It has no public OpenAPI file, its `llms.txt` is one line, and scoped keys, roles and audit logs are limited to the Enterprise plan.

**Lingvanex Translation API.** $5 per million characters list price. Product pages disagree on bulk and on-premise prices.

## Before you call either

### Lingo.dev

1. Send `X-API-Key` to https://api.lingo.dev and keep the key server-side. On non-Enterprise plans a personal key reaches every engine its creator can
2. Use `POST /process/localize` for one language pair and `POST /jobs/localization` with an `idempotencyKey` for several. Pipeline stages run on async jobs only
3. Treat 402 (credit limit) and 429 (daily token quota) as limits to report, not to retry. Retry 500 with backoff
4. Read `usage.cost` on each sync response to track spend. Sandbox stops at 100,000 tokens a day
5. Connect MCP clients to https://mcp.lingo.dev/account. Its tools can create and revoke API keys and invite members, so ask before those calls

### Lingvanex Translation API

1. Call the https:// server, not the http:// one the spec also lists
2. Send `platform` as api on every call, since the spec marks it required
3. Use locale codes such as en_GB and de_DE, not two-letter codes
4. Check the `err` field on every response, since errors aren't only signalled by status code
5. Send an array in `data` to translate several strings in one call

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Lingo.dev or Lingvanex Translation API?

Lingo.dev scores 62.3 (B) on agent readiness against Lingvanex Translation API's 37 (F), and leads in every scored category.

### Do Lingo.dev and Lingvanex Translation API need an API key?

Lingo.dev takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Lingvanex Translation API needs an API key.

### Can an agent call Lingo.dev and Lingvanex Translation API without installing anything?

Yes. Lingo.dev has a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.lingo.dev/account and Lingvanex Translation API at https://api-b2b.backenster.com/b1/api/v3.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Lingo.dev or Lingvanex Translation API

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- [Amazon Translate vs Lingvanex Translation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-translate-vs-lingvanex.md)
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- [LibreTranslate vs Lingo.dev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/libretranslate-vs-lingo-dev.md)
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- [Lingo.dev vs Lokalise](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lingo-dev-vs-lokalise.md)
- [Lingo.dev vs Phrase](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lingo-dev-vs-phrase.md)
- [Lingo.dev vs SYSTRAN Translate API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lingo-dev-vs-systran.md)
- [Lingvanex Translation API vs Lokalise](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lingvanex-vs-lokalise.md)
- [Lingvanex Translation API vs Phrase](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lingvanex-vs-phrase.md)
- [Lingvanex Translation API vs SYSTRAN Translate API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lingvanex-vs-systran.md)