What is the best alternative to Google Translate?

Question

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score 63 · Answer 1

Microsoft Translator

Top Pro

Can be used offline

12 languages are supported for offline use. You have to download them first over a connection, and can access them any time. See More

Top Con

Single direction translations only

The app doesn't support translating a conversation in two languages. Currently, the translations are unidirectional only. See More

Top Pro

Free

You can download and use this app for free. See More

Top Pro

Practical, clean user interface

The app design makes it very fast to use, with 3 options given when you open the app that will immediately let you start translating. See More

Top Pro

Supports Android Wear

63 7

score 36 · Answer 2

iTranslate

Top Con

Voice output requires internet connection

Voice output doesn't work offline. See More

Top Pro

Supports a large number of languages

Currently has full support for over 90 languages. See More

Top Pro

Customizable voice output

You can control the speed of the speech, and choose from various dialects (such as British or Australian English). See More

36 4

score 7 · Answer 3

BK Translate apps

Top Pro

Free

All of the BK Translate apps are free. See More

Top Con

Each app is limited to two languages

Each of the BK Translate apps covers only a single set of two languages. So, for example, if you need to translate both German and French to English, you'd need to install two apps: 'French English Translator' and 'English German Translator', and use them separately. See More

Top Pro

Simple

Due to their simplicity, the apps offer seamless user experience. All you need to do is to select the needed form of input - voice, typed text, or hand-written text and the app is ready. See More

Top Pro

Recognizes hand-written text

All of the BK Translate apps can recognize and translate the hand-written text. See More

7 0

score 6 · Answer 4

Klays-Development All language translator

Top Pro

Supports voice input

Alongsides with the typed text input, this translator app also supports voice input. See More

Top Con

Doesn't work well in the offline mode

When using it in the offline mode, you can only go through the history and the list of favorites. See More

Top Pro

A wide variety of languages

This app supports more than 100 languages. See More

Top Pro

Bilingual packs available for free

If all you need is a bilingual translator - an app that can translate between two languages only, you can get a free bilingual language app from Klays-Development. Though, keep in mind that the free bilingual language apps do contain ads. See More

Top Pro

Ads-free

The Klays-Development All language translator has no ads. See More

6 0

score 12 · Answer 5

CamScanner

Top Pro

PDF conversion

CamScanner scans documents directly into multi page PDF format. See More

Top Con

Pro features requires subscription

Either monthly or yearly subscriptions are available at either $4.99/month or $49.99/year. See More

Top Pro

Ad-less free version

Top Con

Free version has no OCR functionality

Top Pro

Batch scanning

CamScanner allows users to scan multiple documents at the same time. See More

Top Con

Buttons are not labeled

Top Pro

Scanned documents can be stored in cloud storage

Free CamScanner accounts have access to 200 MB of free storage space. 10 GB storage space is available for full version license (monthly subscription). See More

Top Pro

Secure

This app offers password protection for scanned documents. See More

Top Pro

Balance indicator

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12 1

score 37 · Answer 6

Coursera

Top Pro

High quality courses from well known universities

Many courses offered at Coursera are from well known universities (such as Stanford and Princeton) and instructed by their professors. Often the material taught in the Coursera courses is material from the actual university course. See More

Top Con

Courses are not always available

Courses are run on set dates, though some courses provide access to the material whether or not the course is running (however, there will be far less student activity in the forums when the course is not running). Some courses only make their material available when the course is running, so you may have to wait a long period (sometimes months) for your course to be offered. See More

Top Pro

You can audit courses for free

Top Con

You cannot take the full courses for free

While you used to be able to take courses for free and earn a statement of accomplishment, this is no longer the case. You can only audit the courses if you are not paying. Coursera makes it seem like you should also do the quizzes, but the submit button says "Upgrade to submit". See More

Top Pro

Wide selection of courses

Coursera offers over 1000 courses on a variety of different topics. Courses are offered on learning to code and specific languages, but there is also a large selection of courses that would be beneficial to someone wanting to learn more about computer science as well (algorithms, data science, computer security) and plenty others. See More

Top Pro

Courses offered in a variety of languages (with transcriptions available)

Coursera offers courses from all around the world, resulting in courses taught in English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Turkish and a long list of others. Transcriptions for a large number of languages are offered for each course. See More

Top Pro

Some courses offer a verified certificate for a fee

There is an option to earn a verified certificate as proof you completed the course (for use on LinkedIn, resumes etc.). The cost varies between courses, but is generally around $49-$60. See More

Specs

Languages:Spanish, Chinese, Korean

Features:Video tutorials, tests, forum

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37 4

score 119 · Answer 7

Duolingo

Top Pro

Motivates through creative gamification

Progress is measured gaming-like by gaining XP, and leveling up. They use other creative gamification techniques to keep you motivated such as making wagers and improving your position on the leaderboard. See More

Top Con

Mobile app is less beneficial because it's too easy

Some of the games available on the mobile app are different from that on the desktop version, and are oversimplified/make it very easy to guess. See More

Top Pro

Generous free plan

Duolingo is completely free to use, with no features limited to upgraded accounts. If you want to go ad-free, the cost is $12.99/month. See More

Top Con

The hype in the community creates false ideas about what level Duolingo gets you to

Duolingo is a good tool for a beginner, and a good supplement to other resources. But it cannot get you from zero to understanding natives, tv, and books; and their "do the reverse tree and just speak" is usually not the correct answer to "what should I do after finishing the tree". See More

Top Pro

Engaging learning method

Each lesson uses a variety of different learning methods to keep it interesting and fun. The lessons are short so you aren't forced to focus for long periods of time. See More

Top Con

Little production of target language

Duolingo focuses heavily on reading comprehension and translation into one's own language rather than encouraging production of text/speech in the target language. See More

Top Pro

Has a mobile app

Top Con

The health system on the IOS app disrupts learning

5 mistakes and you're out, unless you pay, wait several hours, or use a special review that currently doesn't let you choose what to review. Especially terrible if you're learning multiple or more difficult languages. See More

Top Pro

Friendly, active community

There is a discussion board available on the site, and a really active community on reddit in r/duolingo (30k + members). Everyone is friendly and happy to help or offer support. See More

Top Con

Available languages are predominately European

Duolingo teaches 23 languages from English at the moment: Latin American Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Irish, Turkish, Danish, Russian, Norwegian, Esperanto, Ukrainian, Polish, Welsh, Greek, Romanian, Hungarian, Hebrew, Swahili, Vietnamese and Japanese (the last currently only on the app). Popular non-European languages such as Mandarin and Arabic are not currently available (although Korean and Indonesian are in development). See More

Top Pro

Extensive

Duolingo is exceptionally thorough when it comes to teaching the nuances of language. It has plenty of audio material, articles to translate, and a cooperative development made by users. See More

Top Con

Doesn't take you to an advanced level

Top Pro

Frequently adding new languages

You can check out the courses page to see what languages are "hatching" (being developed) and what languages are in beta. See More

Top Con

Counting only on Duolingo is a waste of time

Top Con

Dangerously addictive

Specs

Platforms:iOS, Android, Windows phone, Web

Number of languages:~30 from English

In-app purchases:Yes

User generated:Partially (incubator)

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119 11

score 22 · Answer 8

AnkiDroid Flashcards

Top Pro

Sync with other computers and devices

Synchronize data with Windows/Mac/Linux/iOS and other Android devices. See More

Top Con

User-generated decks vary widely in quality and accuracy

Top Pro

Displays flash cards based on need

Each time a card is remembered, the user rates how well they remembered it on a scale of 1-3. Tougher words will be shown more frequently, and easier words will be showed less frequently. See More

Top Con

Dated interface

Top Pro

Huge selection

AnkiDroid offers more than 6000 topics to learn from (not all are languages). See More

Top Con

Syncing style takes getting used to

Top Pro

Unmatched customizability

You can design your own cards and adjust the spaced repetition algorithm to match your learning preferences. See More

Top Con

Wonky audio performance

With certain decks, the audio feature in this app won't work. See More

Top Pro

Free

Top Pro

Access to dialogues

Each language offers access to more than 150 dialogues between native speakers. These can help build a more natural understanding for the learner. See More

Specs

Number of languages:Unknown

22 4

score 3 · Answer 9

Transifex

Top Con

Mixed licences

Not much committed with free software. Main project is free, but mixed with paid plugins. See More

Top Pro

Integration with CI tools

Transifex supports CI tools like Jenkins or Bamboo. See More

Top Con

Outsources translation to other agencies

While not a bad thing, or something that the customer should care, but it may influence the quality of translations since Transifex themselves don't have direct control on the translation process. See More

Top Pro

CLI tool

Transifex has a CLI integration tool for managing large amounts of text. See More

Top Pro

Many supported document formats

Supports gettext, yaml, json, magento csv files, and many more formats. See More

3 1

score 318 · Answer 10

Microsoft OneNote

Top Pro

Text can be added anywhere like a whiteboard

OneNote allows you to arrange text freely on the digital paper mimicking the way it would be done with a real pen on real paper. See More

Top Con

Not available for Linux

There is no native Linux client for OneNote available, and most likely will never be created. Users can use the web based client, but a native app would be a better choice for those that use the app frequently. See More

Top Pro

Comprehensive organization methods

Can have multiple 'tabs' at the top like in a web browser with many notes within each 'tab'. See More

Top Con

Text editing is weird (poor UX)

When clicking in the middle of a note, it adds something like a text-box positioned in the middle. If you move that field to the bottom right, it gets weirder. You can end-up with an empty note, having an empty text-box 1km to the bottom-right of it. See More

Top Pro

Stylus and digitizer pen support

OneNote can be used on all touch capable devices via stylus or digitizer pen making for an intuitive and easy way to take notes by hand, which can often be faster or just preferred over typing. It has the best pen input out of any note taking app. See More

Top Con

Not open-source

This application is proprietary, and thus cannot be modified or freely distributed. See More

Top Pro

Sharing and collaboration

You can share your notes by inviting people with an e-mail, or by giving them a direct URL. You have control over what kind of access the user has on your note (read only, edit) and can revoke it at any time. OneNote will alert you when a chance in made on your shared note. See More

Top Con

Syncing issues

It tells you there are conflicts between a note on the PC and on the Android because of the timing of the synchronization but doesn't try to resolve itself. See More

Top Pro

Integrates with other Microsoft services

Integrates well with Outlook, Office, and OneDrive. See More

Top Con

Requires a Microsoft account

You need to have a Microsoft email to sign up for OneNote (Outlook, Hotmail, or Windows Live). See More

Top Pro

Powerful table editor

Adding and resizing rows and columns is easy and flexible. This makes for an easy way to adjust a note as it grows in content size. See More

Top Con

Sync isn't stable

Many users have reported synchronization issues. While not everyone will experience this, it can be difficult to troubleshoot, with some fixes resorting to editing registry keys in Windows when using the Windows client. See More

Top Pro

Supports hierarchical organization of information / notes

OneNote is designed to allow hierarchical organization of information. This is achieved with grouping into the following categories and UI elements (Notebooks, Sections, and Pages). Both Sections and Pages allow additional groupings that can be expanded / collapsed in list view. This can be incredibly helpful for quickly taking notes and organizing them for work or personal projects. For example, you could have a Notebook for "Cooking Recipes", with sections for "breakfast, dinner, desserts", where individual recipes would be page entries (i.e. the "Desserts" section would have pages for brownies, chocolate cheesecake etc). See More

Top Con

Platform dependent

The newer versions for Windows and Mac are converging, using the Windows style layout (with a more more consistent and usable UI). The original OneNote for Mac for example is very different from OneNote for Windows. Because Microsoft has a vested interest in making sure the Windows version is superior, the Mac version tends to lag behind in terms of functionality. Tutorials and other forms of documentation available online generally apply only to the Windows version, which implies non-Windows versions are undocumented. Even worse, because the documentation rarely, if ever, indicates it only applies to Windows, it's easy to waste hours trying to make non-existent features work. As such, the documentation is "negative documentation" (i.e. worse than no documentation at all). See More

Top Pro

Strong search features let you quickly find what you're looking for

If you don't want to search through all of your notes, you can narrow it down by specifying the page, section, group, or notebook. You're not limited to just searching through your text either. You can search for text in images, video recordings, and audio (this is off by default). See More

Top Con

No backup on Windows 10 free version

If you accidentally delete a section on the windows 10 free version of Onenote, there is no backup to fall back on. See More

Top Pro

All indented lines under the first can be expanded and hidden

Which makes it easy to quickly look at the high level of notes, and then drill deep into each point. See More

Top Con

Uninspired, bland user interface

Many of OneNote's competitors use Material Design and bold colors to create a minimal, clean looking interface. OneNote has a bit more of an outdated look and can feel over crowded at times. See More

Top Pro

Insert files into your notes

You can add a variety of different files into your notes including images, video, audio, and more. See More

Top Con

The added flexibility means your notes may feel cluttered

Since you can place elements anywhere you'd like on your note, you have to pay attention to how you structure it. For some this added flexibility is a huge selling point, but for others it could become distracting and makes notes feel difficult to digest. See More

Top Pro

Lots of options for customizing fonts

You can fully customize your default font (the color, type of font, and font size). You can override this styles with the same options (and more) in individual notes. See More

Top Con

You cannot use local OneNote files with the version of OneNote that is included with Windows

There is a difference between the OneNote that is included with Windows 10 and the OneNote that comes with Microsoft Office. The version included with Windows cannot use local OneNote files and requires you to be online to access your notes. See here for this and other differences. See More

Top Pro

Very similar design for those used to Microsoft programs

If you have experience with other Microsoft programs such as Microsoft Office, you'll feel right at home with the design of OneNote thanks to the similarity of the menus. See More

Top Con

Search function is lacking advanced features

e.g. Searching for "friend" will find "friendship" and "friendly" (because "friend" is at the beginning of the word); using this query will not find words such as "girlfriend" or "boyfriend." See More

Top Pro

Article Web Clipper available on desktop and mobile

Has a web clipper extension on Chrome and Edge that can be used for clipping whole articles and images. Web clipping of articles is also available on Chrome mobile through the "Share" option. See More

Top Con

Menu/ribbon can feel crammed

OneNote offers a lot of formatting options, which results in a lot of options being crammed into the ribbon. It can feel somewhat cluttered and takes a bit of time to get used to. See More

Top Pro

Cross-platform

Its available Windows Mobile, Windows Store, Android, a Desktop Version, and a Web app. Apple macOS and iOS are also supported. See More

Top Con

Doesn't automatically sort (by name, size, date)

You can't choose to sort automatically. Just do it manually. See More

Top Pro

Offers flexible encryption

Unlike most other apps, you can selectively password protect, and fully encrypt, individual documents or entire folders. This is especially important to many people with data stored in the cloud. As of early this year, even the free version supports encryption. Microsoft has also enhanced their internal security methods for storing data on OneDrive (where OneNote performs sync), which makes it more secure than most of their competitors (including Evernote). See More

Top Pro

Converts handwriting to text on Windows version

You can take handwritten notes on your mobile device with a stylus or digital pen and then convert the handwriting to text later on your Windows PC. See More

Top Pro

On Android, you can tap a badge to start a note

The badge on Android hovers over on your screen similar to Facebook Messenger's Chat Heads. You can tap it and instantly start jotting down your thoughts without having to flip to the app first. See More

Top Pro

Large variety of themes available

You have quite a few options for themes available with illustrated backgrounds. If you want something a bit more simple while still having personality, there are also several color themes. See More

Top Pro

Add notes through email

You can choose what notebook the notes will save to. E-mail notes to your special Onenote e-mail and it will be accessible across all devices. See More

Top Pro

Browser plugins allow easy saving of web pages

The ability to quickly file away web clippings is a key part of note taking. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows / OSX / iOS / Android / Web

Collaborative:Yes

See All Experiences

318 87

score 354 · Answer 11

Evernote

Top Pro

Consolidates all your information

Evernote is designed to store a lot of different types of information from a lot of different sources in one place. Using the Web Clipper, native integrations, or a service such as IFTTT (If This Then That) you can use Evernote to store all your ideas, notes (both handwritten and typed), tasks, reading lists, receipts, and more. See More

Top Con

Free version limited to 2 devices

The free version has become very limited as a cloud based note taking app as there is now only sharing between two devices allowed. See More

Top Pro

Powerful features for organising your notes

Evernote is designed to make it easy to keep your notes well organized, which aids in quickly finding/browsing old information. You can put notes into a single notebook and use search to access old notes, or if you're so inclined, organize notes extensively with hierarchical notebooks and tags. See More

Top Con

Pay for offline use, search, and other functions

The free version of Evernote is highly limited. You have to pay if you want to access your notes without internet connection, search your notes or documents, or upload large amounts of data. The free version allows you to upload 60 MB of data per month, which is about 20 to 30 iPhone camera pictures. At a certain point, they started charging you for "advanced" capability, which includes searching your own attachments. See More

Top Pro

Native and offline-capable apps on pretty much every platform

Evernote has apps for Windows 7 and 8, Windows 10, Mac, Android, iOS (both iPhone and iPad), Blackberry, and Windows Phone. It also has a fully functional web app and chrome plug-in. No matter what device or platform you're on, you will pretty much always be able to access Evernote. See More

Top Con

No official Linux app

Evernote does not offer an official Linux app, although there are some third party alternatives available. See More

Top Pro

Trustworthy to store data in the long term

With many utility tools being constantly shut down by their creators, it's really important to consider the long-term risks of picking a home for all your notes. Evernote is a $1 billion company with a track record of exceptional security and goals of becoming a "100 year old" company. See More

Top Con

Bloated and complex

Evernote is too big, has too many features. Note taking apps need absolutely clean interface to allow unobtrusive note taking and not a struggle to search for which buttons to click. It focuses on the search feature so much that it doesn't encourage or make it immediately easy to organize your notes and thoughts. It's essentially a sophisticated notes dump with good search. See More

Top Pro

Can include images, and snippets from the web or a whole webpage via web clipper

With one click you can clip part or all of any webpage, including text, images, and links. Especially for those who use Google Chrome, this web clipper is a very rich add-on. The “simplified article” mode strips all graphical overhead from the page before adding the information to Evernote. It's also possible to add highlighting, tags, etc. before storing the note. See More

Top Con

Security issues

Evernote had their entire database hacked and compromised including customer user passwords. They responded by locking valid users out of accounts and forcing password changes but are still vague about their own security policies. They do not have a good track record for data security. They also do not offer local personal encryption of entire Notebooks as Microsoft OneNote does. See More

Top Pro

Has OCR functionality to convert images to searchable text

A really cool and handy Evernote feature is the ability to automatically scan images for text. See More

Top Con

Poor text formatting abilities

Text formatting in Evernote is buggy and unreliable. Bullets (outlining) are getting stuck or disappearing, tables are very static and prone to breaking and everything beyond the most basic formatting might cause an issue. See More

Top Pro

Great selection for integrating with other apps

The Evernote app center page is nicely organized and has good quality integration of apps that can improve your productivity. See More

Top Con

Different features and functions per device

Desktop app has table creation. Android app lacks font color changes. Some functions can only be accessed on the desktop app. These include changing your default notebook. See More

Top Pro

"Reminders" are a great way to combine your to-dos and notes

One of the note types is a "reminder," which can act as a to-do list. You can add all the usual formatting to reminders, including audio. Evernote will provide alerts when they are due and house them in a special location within the app. See More

Top Con

Very heavyweight for a to-do list

Evernote is a powerhouse program with many features. It uses a correspondingly large amount of memory to run. See More

Top Pro

Powerful note formatting

Evernote has an extensive range of formatting options and note types. You can create checklists, reminder alerts, audio notes, or add images and attachments. It also has an awesome speech-to-text feature if you prefer to dictate aloud. See More

Top Con

Not distributed

One cannot run Evernote on own servers. This brings with it the risks normally associated with handing over critical applications to a large corporation. See More

Top Pro

Easy to use

Evernote is easy to dive into because it doesn’t overwhelm you with advanced functionality from the start. As you get more accustomed to the app, you might want to delve deeper to see what benefits the more advanced features will offer. See More

Top Con

No recurring and snooze reminders

Perhaps because it is not truly a to-do list app, there is currently no support for recurring events or snooze reminders. The company claims to be working on this functionality. See More

Top Pro

Focused, uncluttered user interface

Evernote has a very clean and intuitive interface that's simple to understand at a glance. See More

Top Con

Constantly directs you to upgrading your account

The frequent reminders to upgrade your account can quickly become disruptive. You get notifications when using the app, and many of the features that show as available in the app are actually for paid accounts only (which, when you try to use them, will remind you to upgrade). See More

Top Pro

Multipurpose

In addition to general note taking and to-do list management, Evernote lets you search through scanned documents, handwritten text, and images; collaborate with others through shared notebooks; record audio notes; and more. See More

Top Con

Buggy

A program with more features is always prone to more bugs. Evernote is definitely not the most stable note-taking program available. See More

Top Pro

Premium allows search in attached files and documents

With a premium account you are able to search through PDFs and Office Docs. See More

Top Con

Rather poor user interface

Slow, not user friendly experience, complex, and somehow limited. See More

Top Pro

Evernote is synchronized

Top Con

Lacks right-to-left writing support

When you write in a right-to-left language (Arabic, for example), everything looks fine in the editor but the direction changes to the left again after saving the note. See More

Top Pro

Flexible image manipulation

Permits photos that are taken, to be processed when in automatic mode and saved as a photo, black and white document, colour document, post it note or business card. The automated mode is also good at cropping the document effectively. See More

Top Con

Steep learning curve

Since Evernote has so many features built in, it's hard to know where to find everything until reasonable amount of time has been spent with it. See More

Top Pro

Innovative hacks

To save emails, just forward them to your Evernote email address generated on account creation. It is of course one of many such hacks. See More

Top Con

Easy to accidentally hit the wrong button on the mobile apps

The mobile apps have fairly small touch targets, making it easy to miss the button or accidentally press the wrong one. See More

Top Pro

Effective with pictures or snapshot of boards

Take a picture of your white board/paper board and you have it instantly in evernote everywhere, ready for additional notes and classification Scannable friend app is rather efficient to keep hand written note as well. See More

Top Con

Missing some basic functions

Top Pro

Best web clipper

Can clip to the web from desktop or mobile, using simplified format or original formatting. Very quick and flexible, and enables you to highlight, take notes, tag, etc. See More

Top Con

No ability to re-order notes other than sorting

Evernote has no way to re-order notes, nor even to change their display order. Sorting is the only option, and the "official" workaround (for years now) is to prefix note titles with line numbers manually so notes will sort and display as desired. See More

Top Pro

Skitch integration

If you're on iOS and have Skitch installed, you can quickly annotate your notes using Skitch. See More

Top Con

Lacks search and replace capability

Top Pro

Has conflict management and undo

Allows undo/redo when editing (i.e. all changes are finalized upon saving). If conflicts between synchronized versions arise, both copies are saved in Evernote. See More

Top Pro

Can choose from a few themes

You can pick from a green theme, light, or dark theme. All are very clear and visually appealing. See More

Specs

Platforms:Android / iOS / WP / OSX / Windows / WebOS

API:yes

Collaborative:yes

See All Experiences

354 96

score 16 · Answer 12

OCR Quickly - Text Scanner

Top Pro

Filter can invert colors

Filter to invert colors is very important when the image has a black background with white letters. See More

Top Pro

Filter that optimizes the image for the PCR detects the text without problems

Filter optimizer does it all with one click. See More

Top Pro

Manual editing of the image with the default mobile app

Top Pro

Works completely offline and there is no need to register

You do not need to be connected to the internet, and you won't be asked to register. See More

Top Pro

You can take pictures directly or select the image of the picture gallery

Take pictures with the camera default without internal interfaces or default gallery. See More

Top Pro

Simple and modern interface

It is always nice when one thing is simple to use and modern design. See More

Top Pro

Editing the result with multiple options and direct links using "Clipper Floating Clipboard"

Top Pro

Supports almost all languages of the world

Top Pro

Based on "Tesseract-OCR" engine, developed by Google

Tesseract is an optical character recognition engine is considered one of the most accurate open source OCR engines currently available. See More

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16 8