{"id":60109,"date":"2022-08-17T10:53:57","date_gmt":"2022-08-17T08:53:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phrase.com\/?p=60109"},"modified":"2023-11-07T09:00:14","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T08:00:14","slug":"deepl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/deepl\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring DeepL for Machine Translation: How It Works, and How Accurate It Is"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div id=\"acf\/text-block_b6e5b3dcbafe9d8afde6d23b6fd5ccdd\" class=\"pxblock pxblock--text spacing--default bg--white\">\n\n\t\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wysiwyg animate-in\">\n\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The promise to enable efficient and accurate communication across languages has been a driving force behind the development of <a href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/machine-translation\/\">machine translation<\/a> (MT). What began as an experimental endeavor back in the 1950s\u2014translation was one of the first applications of computing power\u2014became a viable productivity tool in the 21st century.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, AI-driven machine translation tools are revolutionizing global business operations. One of the leading MT providers is DeepL, a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">neural machine translation<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (NMT) technology provider based in Germany. In this guide, we will explore how DeepL works, its pros and cons, and best practices for utilizing it in professional translation projects.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_69_1 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Overview<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/deepl\/#what-is-deepl-a-short-overview\" title=\"What is DeepL? A short overview\">What is DeepL? A short overview<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/deepl\/#how-does-deepl-work\" title=\"How does DeepL work?\">How does DeepL work?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/deepl\/#analyzing-deepls-features\" title=\"Analyzing DeepL\u2019s features\">Analyzing DeepL\u2019s features<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/deepl\/#what-are-deepls-major-competitors\" title=\"What are DeepL\u2019s major competitors?\">What are DeepL\u2019s major competitors?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/deepl\/#google-translate\" title=\"Google Translate\">Google Translate<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/deepl\/#systran-translate\" title=\"Systran Translate\">Systran Translate<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/deepl\/#microsoft-translator\" title=\"Microsoft Translator\">Microsoft Translator<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/deepl\/#amazon-translate\" title=\"Amazon Translate\">Amazon Translate<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/deepl\/#tencent-machine-translation\" title=\"Tencent Machine Translation\">Tencent Machine Translation<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/deepl\/#deepl-vs-google-translate-which-is-better\" title=\"DeepL vs Google Translate: Which is better?\">DeepL vs Google Translate: Which is better?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/deepl\/#evaluating-deepls-accuracy-and-performance\" title=\"Evaluating DeepL\u2019s accuracy and performance\">Evaluating DeepL\u2019s accuracy and performance<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/deepl\/#the-pros-and-cons-of-deepl\" title=\"The pros and cons of DeepL\">The pros and cons of DeepL<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/deepl\/#utilizing-deepl-for-professional-translation-best-practices\" title=\"Utilizing DeepL for professional translation: best practices\">Utilizing DeepL for professional translation: best practices<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/deepl\/#how-to-make-the-most-of-deepl-with-translation-technology\" title=\"How to make the most of DeepL with translation technology\">How to make the most of DeepL with translation technology<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-15\" href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/deepl\/#deepl-is-as-good-as-how-you-use-it\" title=\"DeepL is as good as how you use it\">DeepL is as good as how you use it<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"what-is-deepl-a-short-overview\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is DeepL? A short overview<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DeepL was founded in 2009 in Germany as Linguee, an online dictionary, which\u00a0set out to create a neural machine translation system that could produce translations of a much higher quality than traditional statistical machine translation (SMT).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The engineers at DeepL applied the newest deep learning technique\u2014hence the company\u2019s name\u2014to train the models on the existing data on Linguee\u2019s database.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since 2017, DeepL has become extremely popular\u2014<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/static.deepl.com\/files\/press\/companyProfile_EN.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">more than a billion people<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have used its services to date. It provides<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.deepl.com\/en\/press-release#:~:text=COLOGNE%2C%20GERMANY%2C%20May%2025%2C%202022&amp;text=Already%20the%20translator%20of%20choice,with%20650%20possible%20translation%20combinations.\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">support for 28 languages<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with 650 possible translation combinations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Users can choose between the free and paid versions of DeepL, and between the web interface and the standalone translator. The free version is suitable for personal use, while the paid version offers more features for businesses.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>DeepL is no longer just a translation service, though. It has now also had a go at <a href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/artificial-intelligence\/\">artificial intelligence<\/a> with a focus on text generation. Its newest offering, DeepL Write, launched in early 2023, seeks to become an English writing assistant and outperform rivals like Grammarly.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"acf\/blog-cta-block_e676001add787b870bb08d63347a1487\" class=\"pxblock pxblock--blog-cta bg--grey image--orientation-portrait\">\n\t<div class=\"block-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"image image--align-middle\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1811\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/present-future-machine-translation-study-cover-scaled.jpg\" class=\"attachment-original size-original\" alt=\"The present and future of machine translation study cover.jpg | Phrase\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/present-future-machine-translation-study-cover-scaled.jpg 1811w, https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/present-future-machine-translation-study-cover-212x300.jpg 212w, https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/present-future-machine-translation-study-cover-724x1024.jpg 724w, https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/present-future-machine-translation-study-cover-768x1086.jpg 768w, https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/present-future-machine-translation-study-cover-1086x1536.jpg 1086w, https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/present-future-machine-translation-study-cover-1448x2048.jpg 1448w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1811px) 100vw, 1811px\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content\">\n\t\t\t<p class=\"subhead\">Download for free<\/p>\n<p class=\"h6\">Your up-to-the-minute guide to machine translation<\/p>\n<p class=\"small\">Learn about new technologies to improve machine translation output quality, the latest on MT post-editing pricing models, and how to best shop for machine translation.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn--outline\" href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/resources\/the-present-and-future-of-machine-translation\/\">Download guide<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"acf\/text-block_cc313e54705f5d384843da34e5bc7d5d\" class=\"pxblock pxblock--text spacing--default bg--white\">\n\n\t\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wysiwyg animate-in\">\n\t\t\t<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"how-does-deepl-work\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How does DeepL work?<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not all machine translation is created equal, and over time, systems have become more and more sophisticated. Until 2016, MT systems were either rule-based\u2014which relied on numerous manually crafted rules\u2014or statistical\u2014which translated based on multilingual corpora (large bodies of parallel texts), in a word-based or phrase-based fashion, looking for statistical patterns.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nowadays, most mainstream MT systems use neural networks. This is called<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/neural-machine-translation\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">neural machine translation<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a form of end-to-end learning where the program\u2019s neural network takes into account the whole input sentence at each step when generating the output sentence, rather than a few words on either side of the translated term.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DeepL is an example of an NMT system\u2014thanks to deep learning algorithms, it produces translations that are more human-like than those generated by statistical MT engines. Its network architecture also enables it to learn from vast amounts of data and adapt to new contexts.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"analyzing-deepls-features\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Analyzing DeepL\u2019s features<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As mentioned previously, DeepL&#8217;s core strength lies in its NMT system, enabling it to produce more accurate and natural-sounding translations compared to traditional statistical MT methods. Let\u2019s take a look at some of its most prominent capabilities:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Multiple language support:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> DeepL supports translations between a wide range of languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, and many more. Users can seamlessly translate text between different language pairs without the need for separate tools.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Context awareness:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The AI engine employed by DeepL can understand the context of the input text, aiming to ensure that the translations are more contextually accurate and maintain the intended meaning. This can be beneficial when dealing with idiomatic expressions and complex sentences.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Translation quality: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DeepL is known for its translation quality for certain language pairs, which is regarded highly by users. Its ability to grasp context and provide precise translations is valued by professionals and language enthusiasts alike.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Translator plugin and desktop apps: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DeepL offers browser plugins that can integrate with various applications, including Microsoft Office, facilitating direct text translation without leaving the program being used, or you can download its desktop app in the most popular operating systems.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Document translation functionality: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In addition to text translation, DeepL allows users to upload entire documents for translation, providing a useful feature for individuals and businesses working with multilingual content.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Data privacy: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Based in Germany, DeepL is subject to European Union data protection laws. While the company doesn\u2019t say much about how data is handled in DeepL\u2019s free machine translation tool, it makes it clear that all DeepL Pro subscribers can enjoy a secure and encrypted connection for all translations and that the data is not stored on their servers once the translation is completed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>API Integration:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> DeepL offers an API that enables developers to integrate its translation services into their applications, websites, or services, providing a seamless translation experience for end-users.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"what-are-deepls-major-competitors\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What are DeepL\u2019s major competitors?<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The universe of <a href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/machine-translation-tools\/\">machine translation tools<\/a> is vast and varied. Aside from DeepL, some of the most well-known MT providers include:<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"google-translate\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google Translate<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Launched in 2006, Google Translate switched from a statistical model to an NMT one in 2016\u2014a few months before DeepL launched.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It supports over<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/translate.google.com\/intl\/en-GB\/about\/languages\/#:~:text=Explore%20the%20world%20in%20over%20100%20languages.\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">133 languages<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and is free to use (except for API usage to translate your own website or if you<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/cloud.google.com\/translate\/pricing#:~:text=The%20first%20500%2C000%20characters%20are,detection%2C%20translation%2C%20or%20both.\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">go over 500,000 characters<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> per month). Its highly accessible interface and intuitive design make it a popular choice for casual users. Moreover, it can translate entire websites, images, and speech.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"systran-translate\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Systran Translate<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Founded in 1968, Systran was the first commercial MT software on the market. Systran is also the only company with an open-source ecosystem for neural machine translation and neural sequence learning:<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/opennmt.net\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> OpenNMT<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Systran Translate supports<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.systransoft.com\/download\/product-datasheets\/systran-languages-datasheet-0120.pdf\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">over 50 languages<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and users can add their own glossaries, dictionaries, and corpora to personalize the output.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"microsoft-translator\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Microsoft Translator<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Integrated into Bing (Microsoft\u2019s search engine) and as a built-in function in Microsoft Office applications, Microsoft Translator launched in 2009 and is based on the newest neural network technology with an attention-based model.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nowadays, it\u2019s also available as a standalone mobile app for both iPhones and Android devices. It supports<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/blog\/microsoft-translator-now-translating-100-languages-and-counting\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">over 100 languages<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and enables speech and text translation.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"amazon-translate\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Amazon Translate<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the youngest players in the field, Amazon Translate was released in 2017. It uses a neural machine translation engine and has achieved impressive performance levels in its short lifetime.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Users need an AWS account to access the range of functionalities that Amazon translate offers\u2014customization (terminology and parallel data), encoding terminology, and batch translation (Amazon S3), to mention but a few.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"tencent-machine-translation\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tencent Machine Translation<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tencent Machine Translation (TMT) is one of the newest entrants to the market. It currently supports 10 languages and combines both neural and statistical machine translation models.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tencent Machine Translation is particularly notable for its Chinese-language capabilities, having obtained the<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/aclanthology.org\/W18-6429\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">highest recorded human evaluation scores<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for English-to-Chinese translation and the highest automated scores for Chinese-to-English translation.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"deepl-vs-google-translate-which-is-better\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DeepL vs Google Translate: Which is better?<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Is DeepL better than Google Translate? The answer to this question, like anything else, depends on the context and the specific needs of the user. Generally speaking, DeepL is often seen as a more accurate MT engine than Google Translate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That said, it does come with some limitations: DeepL\u2019s language selection is more limited than Google\u2019s, and to access its full range of features\u2014like full document translation that retains the original formatting or the ability to choose between formal and informal register\u2014you\u2019ll need a premium account.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A feature that DeepL offers that users can\u2019t get from Google Translate is the ability to click on any translated word in the output box to quickly view alternative translations. If you select a different translation from the one that DeepL has suggested, the rest of the text will automatically update to reflect your choice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Security-wise, in the case of their free versions, both Google Translate and DeepL retain the history of the text you translate. DeepL Pro, by contrast, offers world-leading data protection standards and deletion of your texts immediately after translation. This makes it particularly suitable for sensitive content.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Overall, both providers offer useful solutions for machine translation. If you\u2019re just looking for a cheap, easy-to-use translation tool with a wide range of language options that you don\u2019t need to customize, then Google Translate may be the better option. On the other hand, if you need highly accurate translations that you can customize and need to be sure your data is protected, then DeepL is likely to be the better choice.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"evaluating-deepls-accuracy-and-performance\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Evaluating DeepL\u2019s accuracy and performance<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Establishing the accuracy of a machine translation engine can be notoriously challenging. The results vary depending on the language pairs involved, the types of texts you\u2019re translating\u2014a highly technical financial document isn\u2019t the same as a blog post\u2014and the level of customization that you need.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moreover, because language is dynamic and factors like the author\u2019s intended meaning can\u2019t be measured, accuracy takes on a relative definition. For example, the expectations of grammar and punctuation accuracy for a novel will differ from those for a social media post.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That said, based on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.getapp.com\/website-ecommerce-software\/a\/deepl-pro\/reviews\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">general sentiment around the web<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, users report that DeepL tends to be quite accurate, especially when it comes to European language pairs.<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.deepl.com\/en\/quality.html\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DeepL\u2019s own experiments<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> back this up. However, because the way the company presents the data could potentially be seen as biased, a more reliable indicator of accuracy is user feedback\u2014which tends to be positive, mainly in terms of:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Idioms and slang interpretation and equivalence<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Naturalness<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Register-sensitive translations<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the end of the day, each user will need to make their own decision after trying how DeepL performs in their use cases. The good news is that the free version allows you to do just that without incurring any cost.<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"acf\/blog-cta-block_4376a94de330e9ad7b13bb909d9a78fa\" class=\"pxblock pxblock--blog-cta bg--grey image--orientation-square\">\n\t<div class=\"block-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"image image--align-middle\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1204\" height=\"1204\" src=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/machine-transtion-report-key-visual.png\" class=\"attachment-original size-original\" alt=\"Machine transtion report key visual | Phrase\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/machine-transtion-report-key-visual.png 1204w, https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/machine-transtion-report-key-visual-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/machine-transtion-report-key-visual-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/machine-transtion-report-key-visual-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/machine-transtion-report-key-visual-768x768.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1204px) 100vw, 1204px\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content\">\n\t\t\t<p class=\"h4\">Interactive MT report: Uncover top performers<\/p>\n<p class=\"small\">Find out how leading machine translation engines perform for different content types using the latest data in our quarterly machine translation report.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn--outline\" href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/resources\/machine-translation-report\/\">Get MT insights<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"acf\/text-block_c62bf95f37fa9ba5d4521a302caae8e2\" class=\"pxblock pxblock--text spacing--default bg--white\">\n\n\t\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wysiwyg animate-in\">\n\t\t\t<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"the-pros-and-cons-of-deepl\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The pros and cons of DeepL<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Neural machine translation systems such as DeepL open up a whole world of possibilities. As one of the leading NMT technology vendors, DeepL can be:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Fairly accurate: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It can understand the broader context of words and phrases to produce more accurate and fluent translations and improve over time.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Fast to learn:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> You can train neural networks quickly through automated processes, unlike the costly and largely manual methods required for conventional MT.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Flexible and simple to integrate: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Via APIs, extensions, and plugins, you can integrate it into most browsers or software, and apply it to many content file formats.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Customizable: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019re usually able to customize DeepL\u2018s output through terminology databases, brand-specific glossaries, and other data sources to improve results.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Cost-efficient:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Like any other NMT engine, DeepL enables highly accurate and fast translations at a fraction of the cost.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Scalable:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> When your translation needs to scale up, DeepL can help you meet increased demand easily.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That being said, even though DeepL\u2019s development has reached great heights, hardly any machine translation engine will likely ever be perfect\u2014and DeepL still has some way to go before catching up with human-level accuracy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How much DeepL will continue to improve in the coming years remains to be seen and is difficult to predict. For now, it still falls short of human-level skills such as:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Asking questions<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Understanding context<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Identifying errors in the source text<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Catching irony<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Translating creatively<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Making considered choices<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doing research<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Observing consistency<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Guaranteeing completeness<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deliberately leaving out or including information<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adding glosses or notes<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the ability of machine translation engines to handle these types of tasks remains limited, manual post-editing is still likely to remain an essential part of any translation workflow in the near future.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"utilizing-deepl-for-professional-translation-best-practices\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Utilizing DeepL for professional translation: best practices<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When using DeepL for machine translation, it\u2019s important to stick to the use cases where you can get the most out of it without compromising on quality. These include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Low-visibility or low-traffic content<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, such as internal memos, website footers, emails, social media posts for sentiment analysis, etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Repetitive technical content<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that only needs to be actionable, like instruction manuals\u2014if possible, have a human translator post-edit this content to avoid any user experience issues.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Low-risk content<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that doesn\u2019t need to be completely accurate or follow complex regulations\u2014a good example is user-generated content like product reviews, for which consumers generally don\u2019t expect high quality.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Quickly perishable content<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, like chat or email support messages, customer enquiries, etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Large bulks of content<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with a short turn-around, such as hundreds of product descriptions that need to go live quickly.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Frequently amended content<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014think feature and information updates.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most of these use cases will require light<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/machine-translation-post-editing-best-practices\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">machine translation post-editing<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (MTPE) to ensure accuracy and clarity, and you may even get away with using the raw output if the content is not mission-critical.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some other types of content that require a higher level of accuracy will require more time-intensive post-editing. Among them, we find:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Product titles:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> They are highly informative and concise, they tend to contain proper names and polysemous words, and their word order is usually relatively free, which can cause ambiguity.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Translations between language pairs of dissimilar syntax: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Japanese and Spanish, for example, involve a reordering of words and phrases that makes well-formed sentences more challenging for machine translation engines.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Medium-visibility content that impacts customer experience:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Knowledge bases, FAQs, alerts, etc. need to be as accurate as possible to fulfill the goal of efficient customer support.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Back-end SEO meta information:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Some SEO elements, such as image alt texts and captions, have low visibility but need technical optimization, e.g., target-language keywords, for improved search rankings.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"how-to-make-the-most-of-deepl-with-translation-technology\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to make the most of DeepL with translation technology<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Modern translation technology, such as localization platforms, has become an enabler of efficient global expansion efforts by revolutionizing the way enterprises manage, translate, and deliver multilingual content. These tools streamline the entire process from end to end.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most of these solutions also integrate machine translation engines, allowing users to quickly convert large amounts of text into the target language within the same interface they already use to pull in, translate, review, and export content back to the system of origin. The gains in productivity alone are significant and, when combined with the cost savings associated with leveraging MT in the first place, the resulting ROI can be spectacular.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By contrast, when you use MT as a standalone engine that doesn&#8217;t live in the same system as your content, you&#8217;re effectively adding an extra layer of complexity to the translation process\u2014just think of the hassle of manually uploading files or downloading results. The resulting bottlenecks, disjointed workflows, and lack of visibility into the entire process inevitably affect the delivery time and accuracy of your translations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take the case of DeepL as a fully managed MT engine in an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/platform\/tms\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">enterprise translation management system<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> such as Phrase TMS. The system automatically uses the best machine translation engine for each job, and its AI-based solution filters out content that shouldn\u2019t be translated:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>There\u2019s no need to worry about the technical setup:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Simply toggling the switch to \u201con\u201d will automatically enable the engine for your languages and allow you to start leveraging its power right away.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Use DeepL only for the best-suited content:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Although DeepL is a very powerful engine, there\u2019s no guarantee\u2014not all domains and language pairs will benefit from it in the same way. Phrase\u2019s Autoselect feature allows you to enable multiple MT engines at once and assign them automatically to the content that best matches their capabilities.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Leverage glossaries:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> You can manage all your <a href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/blog\/posts\/machine-translation-glossaries\/\">machine translation glossaries<\/a> and terminology directly in the TMS, and DeepL will use them to make sure all your translations are aligned with your company\u2019s style. This works for other integrated MT engines too.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Enjoy unlimited MT for post-editing across engines:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Although DeepL offers unlimited MT as a standalone solution, with Phrase TMS, you can enjoy the same benefit for all fully managed engines.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"deepl-is-as-good-as-how-you-use-it\"><\/span>DeepL is as good as how you use it<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s clear that DeepL has come a long way since its humble beginnings, and today it can be used to quickly generate high-quality translations for a variety of use cases.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, to unlock its true potential, you need to use it for the right kind of content, with differing levels of post-editing according to the use case, and of course, within the right technology. A translation management system such as Phrase TMS is the perfect context for this purpose, allowing you to access all the features that make DeepL shine.<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"acf\/blog-cta-block_640cf203ca17b\" class=\"pxblock pxblock--blog-cta bg--green image--orientation-square\">\n\t<div class=\"block-container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content\">\n\t\t\t<p class=\"h4\" style=\"text-align: center;\">Unlock the power of machine translation<\/p>\n<p class=\"small\" style=\"text-align: center;\">Discover advanced machine translation management features within our enterprise-ready TMS <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and create new business opportunities worldwide more quickly and efficiently.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a class=\"btn btn--outline\" href=\"https:\/\/phrase.com\/solutions\/machine-translation\/\">Explore solutions<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DeepL is one of the leading machine translation providers worldwide. Explore how it works, its pros and cons, and how to use it for maximum performance and efficiency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2602,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"class_list":["post-60109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-machine-translation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60109"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60109"}],"version-history":[{"count":53,"href":"https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69345,"href":"https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60109\/revisions\/69345"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phrase.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}