15 Websites To Find Translation Jobs Online At Home

If you want a translation job, check out the Top 15 Websites for Freelance Translation Jobs below.

1. Your Own Website

If you want to build a strong personal brand, there's nothing better than starting with a personal website. There are tons of free or reasonably priced WordPress themes you can use to give your website a professional look. 

Remember that your site won't be self-promoting, so get ready to work on getting your site present on online groups and social media. Keep in mind that this approach primarily attracts direct customers – companies that don't really care how popular you are on social media.

2. Traditional Agencies

The next obvious way is to sign up with translation companies, aka LSPs. The process is usually more or less the same: You submit your CV, if the translation company is interested, they will send you a test, and if they like it, they will add you to their team of translators. You never know when you'll be offered the job, but the more professional the company you submit your CV to, the better your chances are. 

3. Go

Currently the most popular of all online companies, Gengo has established the look and feel of an online translation company for its clients. The company provides knowledge resources for translators, detailed style guides for several languages, and a practical online platform for you to perform translations. 

Some languages, especially Japanese, have a steady stream of orders, so if you translate from or into these languages, you'll have a steady job. On the other hand, there are fewer orders for other languages, so there will always be a "race" to grab them as the first person to apply gets the job. This ratio is quite modest, especially at the “Standard” level.

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4. Smartling.com

Next in terms of popularity, Smartling is an online company favored by software companies, which of course affects the type of content you want to translate. If you are a techie, you might enjoy such work. The company also boasts some of the big names in its client portfolio, including Slack, WeWork, and Intercom, which can give you a sense of cutting-edge technology. 

On the other hand, the platform provides little information to the translator and the fees are modest, so you can feel like a small, replaceable part of a large treadmill.

5. OneHourTranslation.com

OHT is probably the oldest of the successful companies and the most successful of the established online translation companies. Unfortunately, its age shows: The company's website has a "2000s" feel to it, and that's likely to drive "hipper" customers away. 

On the plus side, OHT works closely with its freelancers, has a system designed like a game, that makes development in it fun regardless of the financial rewards. Financially speaking, alas, the amount isn't great – although it does get better at the higher 'tiers'.

6. Unbabel.com

If there is a polarizing translation service, Unbabel is the choice. Built entirely on post-editing machine translation, it delights customers with its low price and leaves linguists shudder at the quality of the results. 

From the translator's point of view, working for Unbabel was an unusual experience, partly because of the simple content and partly because it was the only popular service that paid by the hour, not by the word - this it has its downsides. Fees vary from unbelievably low to pretty good, depending on the language pair and perhaps a number of other factors.

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7. TextMaster.com

TextMaster is probably the “smallest” on the list. Its website has “millennial-friendly” features like being people-centric and explaining complex things in simple words. Also, from a brief study of the web, it seems that TextMaster freelancers really enjoy working for it. 

The company also claims to focus on translation quality, detailing its selection process and boasting that only 25% of freelance applicants are accepted. This can be good or bad, depending on your experience and skills in the profession – especially if you combine that with the fact that jobs don't seem to be in abundance.

8. ProZ.com

If there is one place that can be considered “the home for all translators and translation agencies”, then ProZ is it. The site has no automation, basically translators just post their profiles, clients post their work and somehow the two are connected. 

There are also extras on ProZ such as forums and contests that help translators build their presence among colleagues and clients: “Star” translators – or rather, people Translations with star profiles can receive a steady stream of orders. Others will also see some, if for the sheer amount of traffic the site enjoys, but be prepared to decline (or accept) a lot of very small number of offers before you get anything. something worth considering.

9. TranslatorsCafe.com

TranslatorCafe is largely the same as ProZ but on a smaller scale. Cons: smaller community, fewer jobs. But more “family feeling” and less worthless work. There is no LinkedIn page that demonstrates the degree of automation.

10. TranslationDirectory.com

If you think the TranslatorsCafe website is outdated, you must check it out. To my surprise, the site attracts 130.000 visits per month, so if you set up a profile, there's a good chance someone will contact you about something. The site doesn't work the other way around – i.e. you can't find a job, which can be a blessing in disguise.

11. TheOpenMic.com

A breath of fresh air into the “traditional” stuff, TheOpenMic is actually a relatively new endeavor by celebrity translator and enthusiast Dmitry Kornyukhov. The site started as a talking point – facebook for translators. But has since tried to refocus on bringing real customers to the platform. Time will tell if that works, but you'll enjoy its community anyway.

12. Upwork.com

The ultimate veteran of all freelance work, Upwork dates back to 1998. Today, it's the default choice for anyone starting out as a freelancer in any industry. Given the popularity of the site and the number of translators already on the site, not getting projects is the norm and can frustrate even the most enthusiastic freelancer.

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13. Fiverr.com

Originally a place where anyone could get anything for as little as $5, Fiverr quickly became a versatile marketplace for all price ranges and a model of “gigonomy.” Most customers are individuals, unfortunately, they tend to underestimate translation efforts more than businesses. 

If you decide to use it, get ready for a discount. On the other hand, you don't have to scramble for projects here – it works the other way around. So, if you've pocketed a few projects at a low price, your listing is likely to rise high in search results, opening the door for more lucrative deals.

14. Freelancer.com

Another giant of multi-purpose freelance work, Freelancer executes a strategy of acquiring smaller markets. A top-of-the-line but unremarkable brand name that correlates well with the platform's overall lifeless feel. 

Also, there don't seem to be many translation jobs, only 70 jobs posted in 24 hours at the time of writing. Best of all, most jobs have over 20 bids, so get ready to master the price war if you decide to try your luck here.

15. Smartcat.com

It is not a company, although it is the main business engine of thousands of companies. It's not a general-purpose platform, and it's certainly not a computerized craigslist.

Of the many things Smartcat has to offer, the two most important to translators are the CAT tool (free!) and the freelancer marketplace. The logic of this platform is that you use the CAT engine to do your own daily tasks no matter where you start. And the more you do, the higher you rank in the market (there are other factors that determine your position, which are beyond the scope of this article.)

Once a client – ​​whether a direct client or an agent – ​​has a job and needs a linguist, they send requests to profiles of their choice. Then, depending on the settings they've chosen, the first translator to respond gets the job, or they collect a handful of applications and decide who they assign it to. Sometimes they will also split the work between several translators – all on the same web interface without having to send any files.

While price competition isn't possible here, they're less common: customers here know how the industry works and how translation costs. So no need to drop your price just for the sake of it!

Smartcat also allows you to bill customers anywhere in the world. Technically, the customer will pay Smartcat, but you will be able to withdraw the amount from your account as usual.

It was a long read, but hopefully it has made things clearer for you and will help you make a choice. 

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