We cut translation costs by 98% (quality actually improved)
Switch to Gemini 2.5 Pro for translations. Right now. Open Google AI Studio, type "Translate to Polish for business audience", then paste your content. Watch it deliver translations that native speakers actually use for €0.13 vs €1,500 (agency rate) per 10,000 words. We discovered this after translating over 50 million words for several companies, including Dormeo and Big Bang (over €127M yearly revenue).
Proof: €4.5 Million Quote, €988 Solution (Yes, Really)
We had over 30 million words (375 books) to translate for a client in under 10 days. Agency quote: €4.5 million. Our cost with AI: €988. Result: Over 1,000 native speakers read these translations daily. Zero complaints.
Who are we? A team of ambitious students collaborating with Stanford and researching AI since before ChatGPT. We spent the last year testing every single model under the sun - all configurations, systems on top, multi-step processes. Everything. Google Translate failed. DeepL disappointed. ChatGPT inconsistent. Then we found what actually works.
What Actually Works
Step 1: Pick Your Model
| Use Case | Model | Price (10,000 words) |
|---|---|---|
| High volume | Gemini 2.5 Flash | €0.03 |
| Marketing | Claude Sonnet 4 | €0.21 |
| Legal/Technical | Gemini 2.5 Pro | €0.13 |
| General Recommendation | Gemini 2.5 Pro | €0.13 |
Want to know which AI delivers native speaker level translations for other tasks? Read "Best AI for Each Task" based on data from 10,000+ businesses.
Step 2: Use 100+ Trusted Translations
We gave the AI 1,000 verified translations in the same language pairs. It learned our client's specific terminology and style. This let us switch from expensive to budget models - like going from GPT-4o to GPT-4o-mini (10x cheaper) without losing quality.
Step 3: Add Rules
Give your 10 hardest translations to a Fiverr proofreader for €50. They'll find the mistakes. Add their feedback to your prompt. Rules can be surprisingly simple - one client just needed "Always translate 'memory foam' as [specific term]" to fix translations across 508,300 words.
Step 4: Set Your Tone
Traditional translation: One size fits nobody. AI translation: Infinite customization.
Example prompt: "Translate for Polish women, age 28-40, shopping for home decor online. They live in Warsaw or Krakow, have university education, browse Instagram for inspiration, and typically shop between 8-10pm. They value quality over price but love finding deals. Use warm, sophisticated language like a stylish friend recommending products. Make product descriptions feel like discoveries, not sales pitches."
This level of targeting? Impossible with traditional agencies.
The Numbers That Matter
| Translation Method | Cost per 10,000 words | Speed | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agencies | €1,500-3,000 | 5-15 days | Professional |
| Google Translate | €1 | 5 minutes | Basic |
| Gemini 2.5 Flash (Budget) | €0.03 | 5 minutes | Good enough |
| Gemini 2.5 Pro (Best) | €0.13 | 5 minutes | Near-human accuracy |
Is AI translation perfect? No. Is it at least 98% cheaper and good enough for thousands of native speakers to use daily? Absolutely.
77% of companies are using or exploring AI. The €72 billion translation industry is transforming now.
Reality Check: What We Haven't Told You Yet
The method above works perfectly for small-scale translations. But translating more than 10,000 words total? Here's what we discovered during the last year:
Technical maze you'll face at scale:
- Model temperature (0.3? 0.7? Wrong choice = gibberish)
- Context windows (Your 100k word catalog won't fit. Now what?)
- Structured outputs vs streaming (One preserves formatting, one doesn't)
- HTML/XML preservation (One tag breaks, entire page corrupted)
- Database integration (Import/export without losing special characters)
- API rate limits (Crash at 50,000 words? Welcome to timeout hell)
- RAG retrieval systems (Integrating over 10,000 trusted translation examples)
We spent the last year figuring this out. Made every mistake. Fixed every edge case. You probably don't have a year.
Need the complete system without the headaches? Let's talk.
Start Today or Lose Tomorrow
Your competitor launches in Poland, Czech Republic, Romania. Translation cost? €500. You're still waiting for quotes.
Your move (5 minutes): Copy your content. Open Google AI Studio. Type "Translate to Polish for professionals." Paste. Compare to your last €750 invoice for 5,000 words.
That 98% cost saving? It's not a one-time deal. It's your new reality. Every document. Every market. Every language.
Thousands of native speakers read our AI translations daily. Zero complaints.
Next: "Still Writing with ChatGPT?" – Your competitor already moved to stage 3