Choosing a solution

How to decide which Lingo.dev product(s) to use.

Introduction

Lingo.dev offers several solutions, each designed to integrate with different translation pipelines, tech stacks, and workflows. You can use any solution on its own, or combine multiple solutions depending on your needs. Solutions are designed to work together. There's no mutual exclusivity.

This page introduces each solution and explains:

  • what it does
  • when to use it
  • when not to use it

TL;DR

If you're not sure where to begin, start with Lingo.dev CLI. It's our most versatile option, supporting the broadest range of file formats and the most familiar workflow. Most users pair it with Lingo.dev CI/CD for automation. To learn more, see the Quickstart guide.

Lingo.dev CLI

Lingo.dev CLI is a CLI that extracts and translates content from static files, such as JSON, YAML, and Markdown. It's designed to be a drop-in replacement for traditional translation management systems that rely on human translators.

This solution:

  • supports the broadest range of range of file formats
  • integrates seamlessly with existing, traditional workflows
  • is commonly paired with Lingo.dev CI/CD

To learn more, see Lingo.dev CLI.

Lingo.dev CI/CD

Lingo.dev CI/CD is built on top of Lingo.dev CLI. It automates the translation process as part of your CI/CD pipeline, running translations whenever you push code or merge pull requests.

We recommend this solution to all users of Lingo.dev CLI.

To learn more, see Lingo.dev CI/CD.

Lingo.dev Compiler

Lingo.dev Compiler is a compiler designed for React-based applications. It wraps around your app to make translation seamless. In many cases, you don't need to change your code at all.

To learn more, see Lingo.dev Compiler.

Lingo.dev SDK

Lingo.dev SDK is a suite of SDKs for translating content on demand at runtime. It's designed for content that can't be known at build time, such as user-generated content, dynamic API responses, or personalized messages.

Note: Unlike other solutions, Lingo.dev SDK is only compatible with Lingo.dev Engine.

To learn more, see Lingo.dev SDK.

Lingo.dev Engine

Lingo.dev Engine is our hosted localization engine. It provides convenient features like automatic model selection and is designed to be used instead of third-party LLM providers like OpenAI or [Anthropic.

We recommend starting with Lingo.dev Engine. It's easier and faster to set up than configuring third-party providers, and there's no lock-in. You can switch to another provider anytime.