TranslateDesk vs Locize: Help Center Translation vs App Localization

Two Different Problems

When teams search for translation solutions, they sometimes confuse app localization (translating your software's UI) with help center translation (translating your support documentation).

Locize solves the first problem. TranslateDesk solves the second.

Here's how to know which you need (or whether you need both).

What Locize Does

Locize is a developer localization platform built by the creators of i18next, the popular JavaScript internationalization framework.

It's designed for:

• Translating UI strings in your codebase (welcome_message, button_submit, error_invalid_email)
• Syncing translations via CLI/CI pipelines
• Delivering translations via CDN so your app fetches them at runtime
• Managing translation keys across React, Vue, Angular, Next.js, Node, and mobile apps

How it works:

1. Developers push translation keys from code to Locize
2. Translators work on strings in Locize's UI
3. Updates publish to Locize CDN
4. Your app fetches updated translations without redeploying

This is software localization. Your product's buttons, labels, menus, and error messages.

What TranslateDesk Does

TranslateDesk is a help center translation tool built specifically for Intercom.

It's designed for:

• Translating help center articles, collections, and sections
• One-click translation of existing content
• Automatic syncing with Intercom's multilingual help center
• Preserving formatting, images, and article structure

How it works:

1. Connect your Intercom workspace
2. Select articles to translate
3. Choose target languages
4. TranslateDesk translates and publishes directly to Intercom

This is content translation. Your tutorials, guides, FAQs, and troubleshooting articles.

Why They Don't Overlap

Aspect	Locize	TranslateDesk
Content type	Code strings	Help center articles
Storage	Your codebase/repos	Intercom CMS
Integration	i18next, CLI, APIs	Intercom native
Update flow	CI/CD pipeline	One-click publish
Format	Key-value pairs	Rich text with images
User	Developers	Support teams

Locize can't translate Intercom articles because:

• Intercom articles aren't code strings
• There's no i18next integration point
• Articles have rich formatting that key-value systems don't handle

TranslateDesk can't translate your app UI because:

• It connects to Intercom, not code repositories
• It handles documents, not translation keys
• It publishes to Intercom, not your app bundle

When You Need Both

If you're building a multilingual product with Intercom support, you likely need both types of tools:

For your app:

• Locize, Lokalise, Crowdin, or similar
• Handles your React/Vue/mobile UI strings
• Integrates with your CI/CD pipeline

For your help center:

• TranslateDesk
• Handles your Intercom articles
• Publishes directly to your help center

The two workflows are separate because the content types are fundamentally different.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Locize	TranslateDesk
Intercom articles	❌	✅
App UI strings	✅	❌
i18next integration	✅	❌
CDN delivery	✅	N/A
Rich text formatting	❌ (key-value only)	✅
One-click translate	❌ (workflow-based)	✅
CI/CD sync	✅	N/A
Setup time	Hours (dev setup)	Minutes

Pricing

Locize:

• Free tier available
• Paid plans based on translation volume and features
• Developer-oriented pricing model

TranslateDesk:

• Pay-as-you-go credits (~$0.01/word)
• No monthly subscription required
• Start free, pay only for translations used

The Bottom Line

Choose Locize if: You're localizing a software product and need to manage UI strings, connect to i18n frameworks, and sync translations via CI/CD.

Choose TranslateDesk if: You're translating Intercom help center articles and need one-click translation with direct publishing.

Choose both if: You have a multilingual software product with an Intercom-powered help center. This is increasingly common as companies expand globally.

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