Standard content is priced by the source word. Official documents are quoted per document or per page, and most of them arrive with a date already fixed, which changes how the price is worked out. This guide covers all three.
How a job is priced depends on what kind of job it is. Standard content, meaning websites, marketing, business and technical material, is priced by the source word, because the original word count is objective whatever the target language.
Official documents are not. A birth certificate, a diploma, a company extract, or a court filing is quoted per document or per page. The work in a certificate is not in its word count.
Most of what we handle now falls in the second group, alongside web content. The multi-thousand-word file billed by the word is no longer the shape of most of the book.
The figures below give a realistic range for each content type, but the only accurate price for your project is a quote based on your actual document. We provide free quotes promptly, with no obligation to proceed.
Volume discounts are available on larger projects, generally from around 5,000 words, and repeat clients benefit from translation memory reuse, which reduces the billable word count on updated documents.
Common European pairs such as English to French, Spanish, or German attract lower rates because there is a large pool of qualified specialists. Less common combinations such as English to Finnish, Korean, or Swahili require rarer expertise and carry higher rates.
Pairs involving a less resourced language with limited translation memory data also take longer and cost more.
General business correspondence and marketing copy sit at the lower end of the range. Legal contracts, pharmaceutical documents, and technical manuals require credentialed specialists, longer review cycles, and verified terminology, all of which are reflected in the rate.
Patent translation and financial reporting typically sit at the high end due to the specialist knowledge required.
Our volume discounts begin at around 5,000 words and increase at higher thresholds. When you send us updated versions of previously translated documents, our translation memory identifies segments already translated and charges only for new or changed content.
Full matches are billed at a reduced rate, while fuzzy matches, segments that are similar but not identical, are billed at 30% to 60% of the full price depending on the similarity score. Long-running relationships with consistent documentation reduce cost over time.
On standard per-word work, a professional translator generally covers 1,500 to 2,000 words per business day, and expedited delivery that needs overtime, weekend work, or parallel assignment carries a surcharge.
On certified and sworn work the deadline does more than add a surcharge. It decides which credentialed translators can take the job at all, and the price follows from that. Tell us the date when you ask for a quote and we will confirm whether it is achievable.
A standard translation has no certification requirement. An official certified translation adds a signed statement of accuracy and translator credentials, which is required for immigration, academic, and government submissions.
A sworn or notarized translation adds legal attestation and is required for court documents and official legal proceedings. Neither is a per-word surcharge on a standard job. Both are quoted per document, and the level the receiving authority asks for decides which translators are eligible to sign.
Documents that require active professional expertise, such as pharmaceutical clinical trials, financial audits, or patent specifications, are assigned to translators with verifiable credentials in that field.
The specialist rate reflects their qualification and the additional review steps applied to technically sensitive content.
This is the part most rate pages leave out. Sworn and certified requests rarely start with a budget question. They start with a date: a consulate appointment, a registration deadline, a hearing, a signature that cannot move.
Clients in this position are not shopping for a rate per word. They need the document in hand before a fixed date, correctly certified for whoever is receiving it.
So we work backwards from the date, and the first thing we establish is whether it is possible at all.
A sworn translation cannot go to whoever happens to be available. It has to go to someone holding the right authorization for the destination country, in the right language pair, who can also deliver inside your window.
When the window is short, that is a small group of people. The price follows from which of them can take the work, not from the length of the text.
A Canadian federal police certificate, already apostilled, sworn-translated into Spanish the same day. A Spanish document apostilled and then sworn-translated into French for use in Saudi Arabia inside one week.
An urgent work-history document so an employer would recognize prior experience. A Dutch commercial contract into French ahead of a signature deadline, in the quote format French corporate rules require.
Two requests in this set were declined purely on timing. One was a multi-language job on a same-week deadline, the other could not be done properly inside 48 hours.
Telling you no is better than taking the money and missing the date, because a document that arrives after the appointment is worth nothing.
The date, and what it is for. Then the destination country and the receiving office, because those decide which authorization the translator needs.
With those three we can usually say yes or no quickly, and price it properly rather than guess.
Every figure below is an amount we actually quoted or invoiced in 2026, anonymized. They are not a rate card and we are not offering them as one. They are here because the spread is the honest answer to "how much does a certified translation cost": two single personal documents in this list came to 70 EUR and 360 EUR.
These bands are how we charge for standard, non-certified translation: business, marketing, technical, web and general content, priced by the source word.
They are a planning guide rather than a live rate card, because the figure for your project depends on the variables above.
| Content Type | Indicative Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Business and General | from EUR 0.08 per word | Marketing copy, general correspondence, websites. Most European language pairs. |
| Technical and Engineering | from EUR 0.10 per word | Manuals, specifications, software documentation. Specialist vocabulary required. |
| Legal and Contracts | from EUR 0.12 per word | Agreements, court documents, regulatory filings. Legal background required. |
| Medical and Pharmaceutical | from EUR 0.13 per word | Clinical, regulatory, and patient-facing content. Life sciences specialist required. |
| Certified Translation | quoted per document | Priced per document or per certificate, not per word. Includes the signed certification for official submission. See the real 2026 figures above. |
| Sworn or Notarized Translation | quoted per document | Priced per document, not per word. Legal attestation for courts, embassies, and official proceedings. See the real 2026 figures above. |
| Marketing and Transcreation | project rate (per 1,000 words) | Creative adaptation for advertising, brand content, and campaigns. Bespoke pricing. |
Bands apply to standard non-certified translation and vary by language pair and project. Certified and sworn work is quoted per document instead, see the real figures above. Request a free quote for your own.
Most business translation is priced per source word. Official document work usually is not. A birth certificate is a page of boxes and stamps, and its word count is a poor proxy for the work involved, so certified and sworn translations are normally quoted per document or per certificate.
The translation itself, the translator's signed certification, and the formatting work that makes the translation mirror the original's layout so the receiving office can read them side by side.
Where the destination requires a wet signature rather than a signed PDF, the printed copy and the postage are part of the price too.
A Belgian family with dual-national children sent five birth certificates for a British passport application. That is five line items, not one combined word count.
The same applies to a diploma and its transcript, or a marriage certificate filed alongside a divorce decree. Each carries its own certification.
A UK family relocating to the Costa Blanca sent three children's birth certificates and a marriage certificate, and told us which pages to include and which apostille pages to leave out.
That instruction changes the quote. It is worth confirming with the receiving authority before you ask us to price it.
One file turned out to carry the same content in both languages. We translated it once and billed it once.
If your set has overlapping documents, say so. It is cheaper for you and it stops us quoting work that does not exist.
An apostille or a consular legalization is charged by the issuing authority, not by us. Those fees sit outside the translation quote.
We will tell you when a step is needed and in what order, but the fee is paid to the body that performs it.
Two documents of the same length and subject can price differently, and the reason is usually who can legally do the work rather than how hard the text is. Anonymized from recent assignments.
Two personal documents into Uzbek ahead of a wedding, or a Finnish civil document into Dutch, take longer to staff than English into Spanish. Staffing time is part of the cost.
We had no Latvian to Dutch sworn translator in the network. The alternative was a relay through a bridge language, which is a different piece of work with a different price, so we put the choice to the client rather than quote around it.
A UK company registering for a Spanish tax ID needed a translator authorized by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A document bound for the Dominican Republic needed a translator authorized in that jurisdiction. Both narrow the pool of people who can sign.
A signed PDF and a posted hard copy are not the same job. Postage and lead time apply to the second.
A due-diligence firm running company-register extracts across several jurisdictions works on a standing arrangement, not a fresh quote each time.
“We are extremely satisfied with the translation services provided. The translations were accurate, professional, and delivered on time. The attention to detail and +”
Google review (INTL) , a year ago
“They offer great and reasonable prices for sworn translations. Thank you for your help in translating my documents for my legal process.”
Google review (SL) , 6 months ago
“Excellent service and good value translation company! Efficient, accurate, and fast turnaround at competitive rates. Highly recommended for their outstanding +”
Google review (SL) , 2 years ago
Translation quality and rates are directly linked to who is doing the work. Automated machine translation is cheap but produces output that requires significant human editing and carries real risk for professional or regulated content. Agencies using unvetted freelancers can undercut the market, but with no quality assurance or accountability.
Professional agencies like BeTranslated charge for qualified specialist translators, multi-stage quality review, and project management. The cost of a rejected regulatory submission or a legal dispute caused by a mistranslation far exceeds any savings made on a lower initial rate.
Yes. Most professional translation providers apply a minimum charge to cover project management, file handling, and quality review costs on small jobs. Our minimum is typically equivalent to around 250 words of standard translation.
Short certified documents such as birth certificates and diplomas are priced as complete jobs rather than per word, because the specialist handling time is the same regardless of length.
Send us the document and tell us the target language, the deadline, and whether certification is required. We will return a fixed price quote promptly, with no obligation. The quote will specify the per-word rate, any certification or rush fees, and the delivery timeline.
For recurring work, we also propose a retainer or volume structure that reduces the unit cost.
Professional human translation into major European languages typically starts from around EUR 0.08 per word for standard business content and rises to EUR 0.12 to 0.15 per word for legal and medical work, where credentialed specialists and additional review are required.
Certified and sworn translation is the exception: it is quoted per document rather than per word. Real 2026 examples on this page range from 60 EUR for a single corporate document to 386 EUR for a four-document visa file.
The exact figure depends on the language pair, subject matter, volume, and deadline, so a quote on your actual document is the only precise answer.
A professional translation agency rate covers more than the translation itself: a qualified specialist translator, an independent reviewer, project management, terminology and quality control, and accountability for the result. That is why agency rates sit above raw freelance or machine-translation pricing.
At BeTranslated the per-word rate includes multi-stage review and a named project manager, with volume discounts from around 5,000 words and translation memory reuse that lowers the cost of updated documents over time.
Rush surcharges at BeTranslated typically range from 25% to 50% above the standard per-word rate. The exact surcharge depends on how far the deadline falls below standard turnaround, the language pair, and whether weekend or overnight hours are involved, because compressed deadlines mean assigning multiple translators under a shared glossary.
We always disclose the total fixed price upfront before starting, so there are no surprises on delivery.
For high-volume, repetitive content such as product data feeds and e-commerce listings, AI-generated first drafts let the human editor work faster, which lowers the per-word rate.
For content where accuracy, legal standing, or brand voice is non-negotiable, including contracts, sworn translations, and marketing copy, the specialist still does the real work and the rate reflects that expertise.
Be cautious with any quote promising AI translation at human quality for half the price, and ask exactly which quality-assurance steps are included.
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