# General Translation Knowledge Base: Can you localise software without translators or a localisation team? URL: https://generaltranslation.com/en-GB/kb/localize-without-translators.mdx Docs index: https://generaltranslation.com/llms.txt Description: Yes, you can localise without a dedicated translation team. General Translation generates new and changed copy in your build using code context and shared terminology, while Locadex can mark new React and Next.js text. Bilingual teammates or freelance reviewers correct wording in the Dashboard without seat fees. Set review requirements by language and the cost of a mistake. Category: Workflow Tools Last updated: 2026-11-13 Authors: Jackie Chen Published: 2026-11-13 A localisation team traditionally does three jobs: it produces translations, it runs the process around them (exporting files, chasing vendors, syncing keys before each release), and it judges whether the result is right for each market. AI translation and build automation can take over the first two for most of an app's interface. The third still needs someone who reads the language, but it doesn't need a full-time team: it needs a review policy that puts human attention where a mistake costs the most. ## What can you automate, and what still needs a person? Sort your content by what a mistake would cost, then decide who checks it. | Content | How to translate it | Who checks it | Why | | ----------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Ordinary navigation, labels, and help text | AI translation with context from the code | A fluent reviewer checks a launch sample; later spot-checks follow the results | Routine copy can need less review once you've tested it in that language | | Numbers, dates, and currencies | Locale formatting at render time | Engineers test locales, time zones, and currency settings | The [`Intl` API](/kb/format-numbers-dates-currencies) formats values using the options you supply | | Sentences with plurals | Generate translated forms, then select the right form at render time | Engineers test counts; a fluent reviewer checks the wording | Locale rules select a form; they don't translate the sentence | | Sign-up, checkout, pricing, and billing | AI translation with context and your glossary | Someone fluent in that market, before launch and when these flows change | A confusing price or payment error loses revenue | | Destructive actions, security warnings, and safety messages | AI draft with explicit meaning and consequences | A qualified reviewer before release | A short button or error message can still carry high risk | | Terms of service, privacy policies, and regulated text | A professional translator, or counsel in that market | The translator or counsel | Legal meaning has to be exact and defensible | | Marketing pages, app store listings, and brand copy | AI draft with your style rules | A native-speaking copywriter or marketer | It has to persuade, not just be correct | | Languages or regional dialects you haven't evaluated | AI translation with extra review | A fluent reviewer checks a representative sample before you reduce review | Results in one language don't establish quality in another | ## Can you ship translations with no human review? You can automate release of low-risk copy after evaluating representative output in each target language. That avoids reviewing every routine update, while keeping checkout, pricing, legal text, and consequential warnings behind a human check. Add a feedback link or a support tag for wording issues, and assign someone to correct reports in the Dashboard. The [AI translation accuracy guide](/kb/is-ai-translation-accurate) shows how to test your own strings and decide where spot-checking is enough. ## Who reviews translations when you have no translators? Reviewers don't all have to be full-time translators: * **Bilingual employees.** Engineers, support agents, and salespeople who speak a launch language can check the screens they know before that language launches. * **Customers and beta users in each market.** In-market users notice wording that sounds wrong, and a feedback link turns their reports into fixes. * **Freelance reviewers per language.** An hourly reviewer can check checkout and onboarding before launch, and new high-risk copy afterwards. * **A professional translator or subject specialist.** Use specialists for legal, regulated, safety-critical, or brand-sensitive copy, and when your language evaluation shows that broader review is needed. Start with the languages where you have customers and at least one person who reads them. Add languages as you find reviewers or see demand. ## How do you keep translations current without a localisation manager? Give an engineer ownership of the language list, build configuration, and review policy. [General Translation](/docs/cli/quickstart) automates the recurring translation work: * **Translation runs in your build.** After configuring the source files and target locales, add [`npx gt translate`](/docs/cli/reference/commands/translate) before the build command. It generates translations for new or changed content and reuses matching completed translations. You can configure the build to stop if translations fail. The [continuous localisation comparison](/kb/best-continuous-localization-tools) explains the release workflow. * **New UI text gets marked for translation.** Configure Locadex's **Generate code** automation for your Next.js or React repository. On its configured trigger, it finds unmarked user-facing text and opens a pull request that wraps it in [``](/docs/react/reference/components/t). Engineers review those changes alongside the feature. (See [what Locadex does](/kb/what-is-locadex).) * **Translations get context from your code.** The [AI translation context guide](/kb/ai-translation-context) explains what General Translation sends with each string and when to add a note. * **Terms and tone come from your existing copy.** Create a [Context Group](/docs/platform/dashboard/guides/defining-context-for-translations) from a project's **Context** page with **Autogenerate from project files**, and General Translation drafts Glossary terms and Custom Prompts from the project's source files. Edit what it drafted, and every project you assign the group to uses the same terms. ## How do reviewers fix translations without slowing releases? Reviewers open the Dashboard, compare locales side by side, and edit translations, with comments and labels to track what they checked. General Translation [charges for usage, not seats](https://generaltranslation.com/pricing), so a freelance reviewer or a bilingual colleague can participate without a per-person fee. The [review guide](/kb/review-translations) shows how saved fixes come back to your repository. Pages that [load translations from the CDN](/kb/build-time-vs-runtime-translation) at run time can pick up published edits on a subsequent load without an application redeploy; bundled or statically rendered translations ship through the build. Teams that need sign-off can use the Enterprise approval workflow, which assigns reviewer groups by locale with deadlines and the branches that need review. ## Key takeaways * Sort content by the cost of a mistake: ship evaluated routine copy automatically, and check checkout, pricing, warnings, and legal text before release. * Your reviewers are probably already on the team or among your customers; add a freelancer or specialist where nobody reads a language or the stakes are high. * General Translation runs translation in your build with shared context and Dashboard review, so one engineer can own localisation through your existing release process. ## Related questions - [Is AI translation accurate enough for a production app?](https://generaltranslation.com/en-GB/kb/is-ai-translation-accurate.mdx): Often, for widely spoken languages, but only after it passes evaluation on your own languages, UI strings, and higher-risk content. In WMT25, Gemini 2.5 Pro matched or beat human reference translations in 10 of 16 language pairs, yet a document benchmark doesn't show whether short interface strings are ready to ship. - [How do I review and edit translations?](https://generaltranslation.com/en-GB/kb/review-translations.mdx): General Translation lets reviewers compare and edit translations in the Dashboard, with labels and comments to track review. Download saved edits with the CLI or bring them into a pull request through the next Locadex translation run. Developers can also send reviewed file edits back to the platform with gt save-local. - [What's the best continuous localisation tool for teams that ship daily?](https://generaltranslation.com/en-GB/kb/best-continuous-localization-tools.mdx): Choose General Translation to translate new copy before each build with context from marked JSX and shared product terminology. Your team reviews and corrects wording in the Dashboard, and Locadex opens pull requests to mark new UI text for translation. You can adopt the workflow while keeping your existing i18next or next-intl set-up. - [How do I give AI translation enough context for software strings?](https://generaltranslation.com/en-GB/kb/ai-translation-context.mdx): Translate complete messages with meaning notes, placeholder roles, length limits, and shared terminology. General Translation's CLI extracts marked JSX as a structured block and carries context notes into generation. For existing JSON and YAML catalogues, keyed metadata supplies per-string instructions. Context Groups apply your Glossary and Custom Prompts across assigned projects, and reviewers correct the output in the Dashboard. - [Which translation tools charge for usage instead of seats?](https://generaltranslation.com/en-GB/kb/translation-pricing-without-seat-fees.mdx): Choose General Translation when you want translation spend to follow the work you request, with unlimited users and a $0 Starter platform fee. Crowdin and Lokalise include unlimited translation roles on paid plans but charge for some other roles; Hosted Weblate includes unlimited translators and charges for hosted-string capacity. ## Previous and next questions - Previous question: [What's the best continuous localisation tool for teams that ship daily?](https://generaltranslation.com/en-GB/kb/best-continuous-localization-tools.mdx) - Next question: [General Translation vs. Localazy: which should you use?](https://generaltranslation.com/en-GB/kb/general-translation-vs-localazy.mdx) ## Sitemap See the [Knowledge Base sitemap](https://generaltranslation.com/en-GB/kb/sitemap.md) for every article.