12 Free Fail-Proof English to Spanish Translation Tools
Good English-to-Spanish translation tools are helpful. Not only for those who don’t speak Spanish but for those who are learning the language. The fact is, they’re even useful for those who speak it proficiently!
In pursuit of the best English to Spanish translator, I checked websites, apps, software, voice, and document translators. Let me share with you my list of the absolute best translation tools on the web!
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Google Translate
- DeepL
- Flixier
- Language Reactor
- Pairaphrase
- Linguee
- Apple Translate
- WordReference
- Cambridge Translator
- Reverso Translator
- TripLingo
- Microsoft Translator
Best English to Spanish Translation Tools
Of course, “best” can mean something different to you, depending on what you want to use the translator for.
You might be looking simply for a free website that translates English to Spanish or perhaps you need a tool that will give you the most accurate Spanish translation. Other needs you might have include needing to translate sentences for beginners, to understand words in context, or to find an app that translates into Spanish while you speak in English.
That’s why I’ll try to give a bit of everything. And you decide what’s right for you!
1. Google Translate
Type: website, app
Price: free
Translates: websites, text, voice, pictures
Offline: Yes
Google Translator comes first as it’s probably the most well-known free online tool and website.
Sure, it’s not perfect—it struggles with context and slang words, but it’s so versatile that you’ll surely use it more often than any other.
With Google Translate, you can translate single words, sentences, Google docs, other documents, whole websites, live-voice, and even pictures into many different languages. My 8-year-old daughter used its picture-translation option on her iPad to read a comic book she bought in Paris, and she doesn’t speak French. It worked.
I have students at my international school in Portugal who speak no English or Portuguese and get by the first few weeks thanks to Google Translate. After that initial period of adjustment, they continue to use the translator tool to understand, read, write, and communicate with friends and peers.
I like that it can also read the translated text to you so that you can hear correct pronunciation. It also works offline on your phone if you download the languages you need.
While it’s definitely not the best online translator due to common translation errors, it’s still a tool you’ll benefit from using.
Don’t forget to check out 12 Amazing Ways to Use Google Translate to Practice Spanish.
2. DeepL
Type: website, Chrome extension, app, API software
Price: free, the paid version offers additional features
Translates: websites, text, voice, pictures
Offline: Yes
DeepL claims to be the world’s best translation machine system, with some grain of truth to it.
The free version translates up to 5,000 characters, and you can edit the translated text and opt for synonyms. You can also download its Chrome extension and translate on the go.
The mobile app works offline and includes all the features that Google Translate offers, and I think the translations are slightly better. It’s also on my ultimate resource list for beginners learning Spanish.
The paid version lets you choose the formality of the text and translate more words and whole documents.
In January 2020, DeepL made a comparison test and translated 119 paragraphs from English to Spanish using various systems. Again, DeepL turned out to be much better.
However, the site does not mention if the version used for the test was free or paid, which can make a difference.
Still, it could be your best Spanish translator website and app.
3. Flixier
Type: website
Price: free
Translates: videos and audio files
Offline: No
Flixier is one of the best online translators of English to Spanish for video and audio files.
All you need to do is to upload them. The system analyzes the audio and comes up with a transcript and synchronized subtitles. You can choose different voices and regional accents and edit the new voice clip.
Watch out as it needs a powerful computer.
4. Language Reactor
Type: website, Chrome extension
Price: free
Translates: text, videos, websites
Offline: No
Language Reactor is not a translator per se but a powerful toolbox for learning languages. It not only translates from native languages but also helps you learn by using it.
You can use it to translate videos on Netflix, YouTube, books, and any video files. On Netflix, you can, for example, add dual language subtitles, use a popup dictionary, slow down the audio, and save words you learned.
New content and features are constantly added.
5. Pairaphrase
Type: Software
Price: paid
Translates: documents
Offline: Yes
If you are looking for a professional English-to-Spanish translator, look at Pairaphrase. It’s a Web-Based Translation Management System compatible with different Spanish accents. In addition, it provides you with an excellent first machine translation draft that you can later edit and improve with your team.
This software also keeps the original layout, spacing, style, and image placement and provides total security.
It’s not cheap, as the least expensive plan comes at the cost of $ 3,399, but if you’re looking for a professional English-to-Spanish translation tool for your company, you might want to schedule a demo to consider this option.
6. Linguee
Type: website, app
Price: free
Translates: websites, text, voice, pictures
Offline: Yes
The Linguee creator launched DeepL to challenge existing market translators, so you can already expect exciting features in its first original product—the Linguee dictionary.
This tool is different because, apart from a typical translation from English to Spanish, it will also provide you with a Wikipedia definition and many external sources that use this word in different contexts. Then, you’ll get a translation of all these contexts.
Here, you can find translations from English to Spanish of sentences, phrases, and words you won’t find anywhere else. It works great for slang and idiomatic expressions. It’s also very useful if you don’t know how to use the new word you learned in a sentence.
7. Apple Translate
Type: app
Price: free
Translates: text, voice
Offline: Yes
This is a good translator for short texts and conversations if you use an iOS device; it won’t work on your Android phone.
The best feature is the possibility of dividing your phone screen into two so that each person can see their part during an English-Spanish conversation. It’s also convenient to save favorite translations to come back to them later.
8. WordReference
Type: website, app
Price: free
Translates: words
Offline: Yes
WordReference falls into a dictionary category rather than a translator. Still, it can help you when the translation you know for a specific word doesn’t seem to fit into a particular context.
WordReference gives you all the possible translations for the word you’re looking for and example sentences. It works excellently with slang words and can even tell you the country where it’s used.
The best feature is its forum. You can always ask there about a tricky word or for a grammar explanation. This feature makes the whole experience more human. It can also provide you with conjugations and synonyms.
9. Cambridge Translator
Type: website
Price: free
Translates: short texts
Offline: no
If you’re a fan of the Cambridge Dictionary, as I am, you may also try to use its translator feature. Although just to warn you, it’s not great.
The website only lets you put a text up to 160 characters, which is not impressive. However, the good thing is its integrated visual keyboard, handy if you need to type in letters with Spanish accent marks.
I can imagine you can use it if you’re already using the dictionary to translate single words from English to Spanish and the other way around, and then put the whole sentence to check if you were right.
10. Reverso Translator
Type: website, app, chrome extension
Price: free, premium paid
Translates: text, voice, documents (Word, pdf, powerpoint)
Offline: Yes
Reverso Translator is another great English Spanish Translator with useful features in the premium version. It will translate your documents of all kinds and even use a spell checker on the original text. After the translation is done, you can review it and use integrated dictionaries to replace some words with their synonyms. It also preserves the original layout and ensures the privacy of your data.
You can try it for free for up to 2,500 words and later buy extra words or choose one of the subscription plans.
11. TripLingo
Type: app
Price: free, premium paid
Translates: text, voice
Offline: Yes
TripLingo’s advertising slogan says, “helping international travelers stay safe, productive, and savvy during trips abroad.” Why?
Apart from an instant voice translator, it includes an interactive phrasebook, learning tools, culture notes, and travel tools such as tip calculators, weather, and currency calculator.
It’s free to download, but if you want to use all its features, you’ll need to pay for a one-month subscription that starts at $19.99.
Is it worth paying? If it’s your first trip to a Spanish-speaking country, it could be a good choice for its additional content.
12. Microsoft Translator
Type: website, app
Price: free
Translates:conversation, text, photos, screenshots
Offline: no
The app may seem very similar to others, but I love its conversation tool the most.
Microsoft Translator translates conversations across devices for one-on-one chats and larger group interactions with up to 100 participants.
All you need to do is to log in, enter your name and language and share the conversation code with other participants that can join in through the app or website. Then, you can speak or type.
Absolutely fabulous barrier-breaking online translation tool.
What’s Your Best English to Spanish Translation Tool?
Have you chosen your favorite?
If you’re still indecisive, have a look at Our Favorite Apps to Translate Spanish to English.
As you can see, English-to-Spanish translation tools vary significantly in their features. Therefore, it’s good to know what you will use it for to select the one you want to try and, of course, what your budget is.
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