When localizing your app, you face a fundamental decision: AI translation or human translators. The answer isn't always clear-cut – each approach has its own advantages.
AI translation: Limitations
Cultural nuances: Can miss regional expressions
Edge cases: Unusual terminology requires review
Marketing texts: Creative taglines often need a human touch
AI translation: Benefits
Availability: Translate on Sunday at 3:00 AM
Consistency: 'Settings' is always translated the same way
Cost efficiency: Typical app under €50 instead of €5,000+
Translation memory: Saves costs on updates
Speed: Translate 10,000 strings in minutes
Quick comparison
Consistency: AI is very high, humans variable
Costs: AI €19 per month + €10 per million tokens, human €0.10–€0.30 per word
Cultural nuances: AI is good, humans excellent
Scalability: AI is limitless, human capacity is limited by availability
Speed: AI minutes, humans days to weeks
Technical accuracy: AI excellent for apps, humans depend on the translator
Limitations of human translation
Availability: Qualified translators for rare languages are hard to find
Consistency: Different translators translate differently
Costs: 10,000-word app = €1,000–€3,000 per language
Speed: days to weeks, slows release cycles
Benefits of human translation
Creative adaptation: can creatively adjust marketing messages
Cultural expertise: native speakers understand context and humor
Quality assurance: catch subtle errors
The hybrid approach
The best results often come from a combination
Hybrid: €500–€1,000, 1–2 weeks
Pure AI: €19 subscription + a few euros in tokens, 1 day
Purely human: €10,000–€30,000, 4–8 weeks
AI for the first pass: translate all strings
Human review for key content: App Store descriptions, marketing, legal, onboarding
AI for updates: for ongoing string changes
When to use AI translation
UI strings and buttons
Error messages
Settings
Help documentation
Frequent updates
Budget constraints
Tight deadlines
When to use human translation
App Store descriptions
Marketing campaigns
Legal notices
Culturally sensitive content
Brand taglines
Regulated industries
Fazit
AI translation has reached a quality level suitable for most app localization needs. The question isn't 'AI or human?' – but 'How much human involvement do I need?'