Why Tolgee for translations

While rewriting RapidEE 10.0, I wanted to keep ordinary .resx files in the application while letting translators work with them in a browser. I needed a simple workflow: source strings go up from the project, translations are edited online, and then exported back into the resources.

For scale: RapidEE’s English resource currently has about 120 keys, and the interface is translated into more than 30 languages. When comparing services, a key and a translation are not the same thing: one key in 30 languages is still one key, even though it has 30 translations.

Crowdin

Crowdin is a mature and powerful service, especially for teams of professional translators. Unfortunately, it turned out too complex for the “open it and fix one line” scenario.

SimpleLocalize

SimpleLocalize won me over with its simple interface and neat string handling. Its free Community plan covers 250 keys and 10 languages. RapidEE’s 120 keys fit, but 30 languages don’t; for the project that would have meant a paid plan solely because of the locale count.

Localazy

At first I chose Localazy: it let me move translations from local files into the browser. The interface was clear, and the CLI, API and language count were no problem. Later it became clear that the pricing (the number of keys allowed in the free tier) wouldn’t work for the project’s long-term maintenance, so the search continued.

Tolgee

In the end I settled on Tolgee. Its free cloud plan gives 500 keys, and adding languages doesn’t multiply that count. RapidEE therefore fits comfortably within the limits. Tolgee works well with C#/.NET and .resx: the English resource remains the source, translators work in a browser, and CI uploads the source strings and exports verified translations back to the repository.

Thanks to the Tolgee developers for a convenient tool and for making it free to use in small projects.