Translation industry economics
Industry benchmarks
Donnée 01
$0.08-$0.30
per word for professional translation in 2026
Donnée 02
Domain expertise
top differentiator (legal, medical, technical)
Donnée 03
TMS integration
increasingly a selection criterion
Source · Translation industry benchmarks 2026Translation agency aggregate
Translation proposals are evaluated on language pair coverage, domain expertise, QA process (ISO 17100, LQA), and TMS integration. A localization manager reads language pairs. A procurement reviewer reads pricing and capacity. An IT reviewer reads TMS integration. Tracking tells you which one is blocking.
The translation proposal signal framework
Language pair dwell names the priority. TMS and QA signal integration readiness.
| Signal | Meaning | Move |
|---|---|---|
| Specific language pair re-read | That language is the priority | Offer a pilot on that language. |
| QA process dwelled 3+ min | Quality concern | Send ISO 17100 cert + LQA sample. |
| TMS integration page opened by IT | Integration feasibility review | Offer a 30-min TMS integration call. |
| Pricing re-read | Per-word rate comparison | Offer volume tiers or TM leverage discount. |
| Silence past 7 days | Competing LSP landed | Breakup with a specific linguistic insight. |
Translation proposals without vs with tracking
✕Without proposal tracking
- Language priority invisible
- QA process concerns late
- TMS integration surprises at kickoff
- Lost proposals give no feedback
- Follow-up blind
✓With Afterquoted
- Language dwell triggers pilot offer
- QA dwell triggers cert + LQA
- TMS open triggers integration call
- Every lost proposal is data
- Follow-up targeted
Five pain points translation agencies know
- Domain expertise = winning criterion. Legal, medical, technical.
- TMS integration increasingly required. Memsource, Phrase, MemoQ.
- Per-word rate pressure. MT post-editing changes economics.
- QA process scrutinized. ISO 17100 table-stakes.
- Capacity concerns on large projects. Scalability proof.
For translation agencies · proposal tracking
See which language pair the localization manager actually cares about
Afterquoted tracks language pair dwell, QA, TMS, pricing.
Start tracking free →What our cohort shows
Translation agencies in our 2026 cohort see the biggest lift on language-pilot offers triggered by specific pair re-reads. Our cohort average is +38%.
Integrations for a translation agency
- Memsource / Phrase / MemoQ. TMS integration walkthroughs tracked.
- Plunet / XTRF. Project management sync.
- HubSpot / Salesforce. Opportunity activities.
- Slack. Pings on language-pair or TMS opens.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Yes, both.
Keep reading