How to Price Translation Projects and Quote Profitably

To price a translation project profitably, start from your cost, not from a competitor's rate card: work out what the vendors, the review and your own project management time will cost, add the margin you need, and only then compare the result with the market. Most agencies that lose money on jobs do it in the first step, by quoting from a per-word price without counting everything that happens around the words.

This guide walks through how translation quotes are built, how translation memory and machine translation change the maths, and the checks that stop a profitable-looking quote from turning into a loss.

The four ways translation work is priced

Most quotes use one of four models. Which one fits depends on the content and on how predictable the work is.

• Per source word. The standard for text translation. It is easy for clients to compare, and it rewards you when files are clean and repetitive.
• Per hour. Used for review, post-editing of unpredictable machine output, desktop publishing, testing and anything where the effort cannot be estimated from word count.
• Per page or per document. Common for certified or standard documents such as certificates, where the length is predictable.
• Per project or flat fee. Useful for fixed-scope work such as a website or a product launch, as long as the scope is written down.

Build the quote from cost upwards

A reliable quote has the same building blocks every time:

1. Vendor cost: the translator and the reviser, at the rates you have agreed with them for that language pair.
2. Specialist work: terminology work, formatting or desktop publishing, certified stamps, urgent surcharges you pay vendors.
3. Project management time: every project takes coordination, and small projects take proportionally more.
4. Tools and overhead: software, payment fees and anything else you pay per job.
5. Margin: the share of the price you need to keep.

Here is a deliberately simple example. A client sends 10,000 words for translation and revision. If the vendors cost 0.07 per word for translation and 0.02 per word for revision, vendor cost is 900. Add 100 of project management time and the cost is 1,000. If you need a 35% margin, the price must be 1,000 divided by 0.65, which is about 1,538, or roughly 0.154 per word. Quoting 0.12 per word would feel competitive but would leave you with a 17% margin before any rework.

Note that margin is calculated on the price, not added on top of the cost. Adding 35% to a cost of 1,000 gives 1,350, which is only a 26% margin. This is one of the most common spreadsheet mistakes in agency quoting.

How translation memory changes the price

When a file is analysed against a translation memory, each segment falls into a match band. Segments that repeat inside the document, segments that already exist in the memory (100% matches) and segments that partly match (fuzzy matches, commonly counted from about 75% upwards) need less work than new text. Many agencies therefore calculate a weighted word count, where each band is charged at a percentage of the full rate. For background on how weighted words work, see Smartcat's cost calculation guide.

There is no universal discount grid. Discussions among translators, such as this ProZ thread, show that agencies use very different schemes, and that freelancers can and do negotiate them. Three practical rules follow:

• Agree the match grid with your vendors before the first job, in writing.
• Use the same analysis for what you charge the client and what you pay the vendor, so the difference is visible. If you give the client a 100% match discount but pay the vendor a different grid, the gap is your margin or your loss.
• Remember that a translation memory is an asset. The more of your clients' work you keep in memory, the more repetitions you can price in your favour. See how translation memory works in Awtomated.

Pricing machine translation post-editing

Post-editing machine output is priced differently from human translation, but the right discount depends on the engine, the language pair and the content. Sources commonly cite light post-editing at roughly 40 to 50% of the human per-word rate and full post-editing at about 50 to 70%, while also warning that these are rules of thumb. The consultancy Nimdzi makes the same point in its article on what post-editing really costs, and ICS Translate gives a similar range in its 2026 overview. If the machine output is poor, full post-editing can take nearly as long as translating from scratch.

Before you quote post-editing, define three things with the client: the quality level expected (light or full), the engine and content type, and whether you will bill by word or by hour if the output turns out worse than a sample suggested. A short test on a sample of the real file takes minutes and prevents most disputes.

Surcharges, minimums and rush work

Small jobs cost more per word to run, so most agencies set a minimum fee per project. Urgent work usually carries a surcharge because it needs vendors to drop other work. Formatting-heavy files such as InDesign, PowerPoint or scanned PDFs need extra handling, and that effort should appear as its own line. Writing these as separate lines on the quote makes the price easy to defend and easy to repeat.

Checks before you send a quote

• Is the word count from an analysis of the real file, not an estimate from the page count?
• Does the price still leave your target margin after project management time?
• Have you confirmed vendor availability and rate for this language pair and deadline?
• Are file formats, the review step and the delivery format stated?
• Is the validity period of the quote written on it, so a six-month-old price is not accepted at today's volumes?

How Awtomated helps with quoting

In Awtomated an estimate lives in the same record as the client, the project and the invoice. You can turn a request into an estimate, convert the approved estimate to a project and later to an invoice without retyping it, and vendor price lists sit next to the work so cost and price are in one place. See finance management and vendor management, or book a demo to see a quote built on your own rates.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much should a translation agency charge per word?

There is no single right rate. It depends on the language pair, the subject, the quality level and, most importantly, your own costs. Work out your vendor cost, project management time and target margin first, then check the result against the market. A rate copied from a competitor tells you nothing about your own margin.

What margin should a translation agency aim for?

Targets vary by agency size, client mix and specialisation, and published benchmarks are rare. What matters more than a headline figure is that you measure margin per project on the same basis every time. Our guide on translation agency KPIs explains how.

Should I charge by word or by hour?

Charge by word for translation where the volume is known. Charge by hour for work where the effort is unpredictable, such as reviewing poor machine output, formatting or testing. State clearly on the quote which model applies to which line.

Do I give clients a discount for repetitions and translation memory matches?

Many agencies do, because repeated and matched segments need less work. Decide the grid in advance, apply it consistently, and make sure you pay vendors on a grid that protects your margin.