Knowledge Base Translation: The Complete Guide for Support Teams (2026)

Your customers shouldn't have to struggle through English documentation when their native language is French, German, or Japanese. Translating your knowledge base reduces support tickets, improves customer satisfaction, and opens doors to new markets.

But how do you actually do it? Which tools work best? And how do you keep translations up to date as your content changes?

This guide covers everything: the business case, the best translation tools compared, platform-specific workflows, and a step-by-step process you can follow today.

Why Translate Your Knowledge Base?

The numbers make the case clearly:

• 72% of consumers spend most or all of their time on websites in their own language (CSA Research)
• Self-service in native language reduces ticket volume by 20–40% for multilingual customer bases
• Knowledge base articles are the highest-ROI content to translate — one article serves thousands of customers

If your help center only exists in English, you're forcing non-English speakers to either struggle through it or contact support directly. Both outcomes cost you money.

When Translation Makes Sense

Knowledge base translation pays off when:

• 10%+ of your users speak a language other than your default
• Support tickets arrive in languages your team doesn't cover
• You're expanding into new markets (EU, LATAM, APAC)
• Competitors offer multilingual help centers and you don't

You don't need to translate everything at once. Start with your top 10–20 articles by traffic, in 2–3 languages where demand is highest.

3 Approaches to Knowledge Base Translation

1. Dedicated Translation Tools (Recommended)

Purpose-built tools that integrate directly with your help desk platform. They pull articles, translate them via AI or human translators, and push translations back — preserving formatting, links, and structure.

Best for: Teams using Intercom, Zendesk, Freshdesk, or Help Scout who want automated workflows.

Pros:

• Direct integration with your help desk
• Automatic change detection and re-translation
• Formatting and structure preserved
• Glossaries for consistent terminology

Cons:

• Monthly or per-article cost
• Limited to supported platforms

2. General Localization Platforms

Enterprise platforms like Crowdin, Phrase, or Lokalise designed for software localization but adaptable to knowledge base content.

Best for: Companies already using a localization platform for their product/app.

Pros:

• Handle any content type (UI strings, docs, marketing)
• Advanced translation memory and workflows
• Large translator marketplace

Cons:

• Complex setup for help desk content
• Overkill for knowledge base-only translation
• Higher learning curve

3. Manual Translation

Copy content into Google Translate, DeepL, or hire freelancers. Paste translations back manually.

Best for: Small knowledge bases (<10 articles) or one-time projects.

Pros:

• No tool cost
• Full control

Cons:

• Extremely time-consuming
• Formatting breaks constantly
• No automatic updates when source content changes
• Doesn't scale

Best Knowledge Base Translation Tools Compared

Tool	Best For	Platform Support	Pricing	AI Translation	Change Detection
TranslateDesk	Intercom teams	Intercom	From $0.49/article (credit packs)	✅ DeepL-powered	✅ Automatic
Crowdin	Dev teams with apps + docs	Zendesk, custom	Free tier; from $33/mo	✅ Multiple AI providers	✅
Lingpad	Multi-platform support teams	Intercom, Zendesk, Freshdesk, Front	Word-based pricing	✅	✅
Localize	Website + help center	Web-based (any)	Custom pricing	✅	✅
Phrase	Enterprise localization	Any (via connectors)	From $25/mo	✅	✅

TranslateDesk

Built specifically for translating help center articles. Connects directly to Intercom, translates articles with one click, and preserves all formatting — headings, lists, code blocks, links. Pay-as-you-go with credit packs ($0.49–$0.79 per article translation). No subscription required.

Strengths: Dead-simple Intercom integration, formatting preservation, one-click bulk translation, glossary support.

Try TranslateDesk free →

Crowdin

Full localization platform with Zendesk Guide integration and a broad connector ecosystem. Free tier for open-source projects. Strong AI translation options with 10+ providers. Better suited for teams that also need to localize their app or website.

Strengths: Broad platform support, translation memory, large marketplace of human translators.

Lingpad

Focused on customer support translation across multiple platforms. Offers both help center translation and live ticket translation. Word-based pricing model. Supports Intercom, Zendesk, Freshdesk, and Front.

Strengths: Multi-platform support, combined ticket + knowledge base translation.

Localize

Web-based translation that works on any website by detecting content automatically. Good for translating help centers hosted on custom domains. Less focused on help desk integrations, more on website localization.

Strengths: Works on any web-based help center, visual editor, no-code setup.

Phrase (formerly Memsource)

Enterprise-grade translation management. Connects to almost anything via APIs and connectors. Best for large organizations with complex localization needs spanning product, marketing, and support content.

Strengths: Enterprise features, 50+ integrations, advanced workflow automation.

Platform-Specific Guides

Translating Intercom Articles

Intercom supports multilingual help centers natively, but the built-in translation workflow is manual — you copy each article, switch languages, and paste translations one by one. For knowledge bases with 50+ articles across multiple languages, this doesn't scale.

Tools like TranslateDesk connect directly to your Intercom workspace, pull all articles, translate them in bulk, and push translations back with formatting intact.

→ Read the full guide: Translating Intercom Articles: A Complete Guide

→ Does Intercom support translation? What you need to know

Translating Zendesk Guide Articles

Zendesk Guide has built-in multilingual support with language variants for each article. The workflow is more structured than Intercom's, but still requires manual translation or a third-party tool for automation.

Crowdin offers a native Zendesk Guide integration. TranslateDesk is expanding Zendesk support.

→ Read the full guide: How to Translate Your Zendesk Help Center

Translating Freshdesk Knowledge Base

Freshdesk supports multilingual knowledge bases through its portal settings. You can add language variants manually or use tools like Lingpad or Crowdin for automation.

→ Read the full guide: Freshdesk Multilingual Knowledge Base: Complete Translation Guide

Translating Help Scout Docs

Help Scout doesn't have native multilingual support for Docs. The workaround is creating separate collections per language and using a translation tool to keep them in sync.

→ Read the full guide: Help Scout Translation: How to Build a Multilingual Help Center (coming soon)

Step-by-Step: Translate Your Knowledge Base

Step 1: Audit Your Content

Before translating anything, know what you have:

1. List all articles in your knowledge base
2. Pull traffic data — which articles get the most views?
3. Check support tickets — which topics generate the most questions from non-English speakers?
4. Prioritize — your top 10–20 articles by traffic and support impact go first

Step 2: Choose Your Languages

Don't guess. Use data:

• Customer language distribution from your help desk or analytics
• Geographic traffic data from Google Analytics
• Support ticket languages — where are tickets coming in non-English?

Start with 2–3 languages. You can always add more later.

Step 3: Set Up Your Glossary

A glossary ensures consistent translation of:

• Product names (e.g., "TranslateDesk" stays untranslated)
• Feature names (e.g., "Help Center" → "Centre d'aide" in French)
• Technical terms specific to your domain
• Brand voice terms you want handled consistently

Most translation tools support custom glossaries. Set this up before your first translation run.

Step 4: Translate Your Priority Articles

Using your chosen tool:

1. Connect your knowledge base platform
2. Select articles to translate
3. Choose target languages
4. Review translations (spot-check at minimum)
5. Publish

With TranslateDesk, this takes about 5 minutes for a batch of 20 articles into one language.

Step 5: Set Up Change Detection

Your knowledge base isn't static. Articles get updated, new ones get added. Your translation workflow needs to handle this.

Most dedicated tools (TranslateDesk, Crowdin, Lingpad) detect when source articles change and flag translations that need updating. Set this up from day one.

Step 6: Monitor and Iterate

After publishing translations:

• Track knowledge base usage by language in your analytics
• Monitor support ticket volume — are tickets decreasing for translated languages?
• Collect feedback — are customers finding the translated content helpful?
• Expand — add more articles and languages based on data

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Translating everything at once. Start with high-traffic articles. You'll learn what works before committing resources to your entire knowledge base.

Ignoring formatting. Copy-paste translation breaks headings, lists, links, and code blocks. Use a tool that preserves structure.

Skipping glossaries. Without a glossary, your product name might get translated differently across articles. Set it up once, save yourself headaches forever.

Set and forget. Knowledge base content changes. If you don't have a process for updating translations, they'll drift out of sync with your source content.

Translating word-for-word. Good translation captures meaning, not just words. AI translation tools have gotten much better at this, but review is still important for critical content.

Getting Started

The fastest path to a translated knowledge base:

1. Sign up for TranslateDesk (5 free translations, no credit card)
2. Connect your Intercom workspace (one click)
3. Select your top articles and target languages
4. Translate — review and publish

For teams on Zendesk, Freshdesk, or other platforms, check the tool comparison table above to find the best fit.

---

Related Guides

• Translating Intercom Articles: Complete Guide
• Does Intercom Support Translation?
• How to Translate Your Zendesk Help Center
• Freshdesk Multilingual Knowledge Base Guide
• Best Practices for Managing Translated Content