Free shipping
` becomes `Gratis envío
`. - **Clear status per text.** Texts already in the target language, empty texts and numbers are not translated and not billed by characters. #### Good fit - Bulk translation of short and medium texts: product data, reviews, tickets, survey answers. - Pipelines that need translation without managing an API key or quota. - Teams that do not want to send texts to Google, DeepL or another translation API. #### Not a fit - Legal, medical or marketing copy that needs human quality. Open-source models are less accurate than Google or DeepL on difficult texts. - Translating whole web pages or documents (PDF, DOCX). The input is plain text or simple HTML strings. - More than one target language in one run. Start one run per target language. ### Quick start 1. Open the **Input** tab. 2. In **Texts to translate** (`texts`), add one text per line item, for example `Hello world`. 3. Keep **Target language** (`targetLanguage`) at the prefilled `es` (Spanish) or choose another language. 4. Click **Start**. 5. Open the **Output** tab, view **Translations**, and check the `translation` column. Expected result: one row with `"translation": "Hola mundo"` and `"status": "translated"`. ### Input #### Input fields | Field | Plain name | Type | Required | Default / prefill | Allowed values | Effect | Example | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `texts` | Texts to translate | array of strings | yes | prefill `["Hello world"]` | up to 5,000 texts, 50,000 characters per text, 1,000,000 characters in total | each text becomes one output row, in the same order | `["Hello world", "Ce produit est arrivé cassé."]` | | `targetLanguage` | Target language | string (select) | yes | default and prefill `es` | 50 language codes, for example `es`, `de`, `fr`, `ja`, `pb` (Portuguese, Brazil), `zt` (Chinese, traditional) | language of every translation | `"de"` | | `sourceLanguage` | Source language | string (select) | no | default `auto` | `auto` or one of the 50 codes | `auto` detects the language of each text; a code skips detection | `"auto"` | - A single string in `texts` is also accepted and treated as one text. - Duplicate texts are translated and billed one by one; each gets its own row. - An empty string gives an `empty` row. - Set `sourceLanguage` when all texts share one language, especially for texts of one or two words. Detection is less reliable on very short texts. - A text longer than 50,000 characters, more than 5,000 texts or more than 1,000,000 characters in total makes the run fail at once with `INVALID_INPUT`, before any charge for characters. #### Input examples ##### Translate product reviews into Spanish ```json { "texts": [ "Hello world", "Free shipping on orders over $50.
", "Ce produit est arrivé cassé. Remboursement SVP !" ], "targetLanguage": "es" } ``` Expected behavior: the Actor detects English, English and French, translates each text into Spanish and keeps the HTML tags. Expected output: three rows with `translation`, `sourceLanguage`, `status`. ### Output Each text gives one Dataset item. The **Translations** view shows the main columns. A `RUN_SUMMARY` record in the default key-value store has the counts for the whole run. #### Output example Real rows from test run `V3LaVICidbmrTE8mr` with these three texts among others (trimmed to the main fields, `index` renumbered to match the example): ```json [ { "index": 0, "text": "Hello world", "translation": "Hola mundo", "sourceLanguage": "en", "targetLanguage": "es", "pivot": null, "chars": 11, "status": "translated", "error": null }, { "index": 1, "text": "Free shipping on orders over $50.
", "translation": "Gratis envío por órdenes de más de $50.
", "sourceLanguage": "en", "targetLanguage": "es", "pivot": null, "chars": 47, "status": "translated", "error": null }, { "index": 2, "text": "Ce produit est arrivé cassé. Remboursement SVP !", "translation": "Este producto se rompió. ¡Reembolso por favor!", "sourceLanguage": "fr", "targetLanguage": "es", "pivot": "en", "chars": 48, "status": "translated", "error": null } ] ``` #### Output fields | Field | Meaning | Type | Can be empty? | Example | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `index` | Position of the text in your input, from 0 | integer | no | `0` | | `text` | Original text | string | no | `"Hello world"` | | `translation` | Translated text with the original line breaks. For `unchanged` and `empty` rows it is the original text | string | `null` when the text was not translated (`error`, `skipped`, `unsupported_language`) | `"Hola mundo"` | | `sourceLanguage` | Language code used for the source, given or detected | string | `null` when no language was found | `"en"` | | `detectedLanguage` | Language found by detection | string | `null` when you set `sourceLanguage` | `"en"` | | `detectionConfidence` | Detection confidence from 0 to 1; low for texts of a few words, even when the language is right | number | `null` when detection did not run | `0.19` for "Hello world" | | `targetLanguage` | Target language code | string | no | `"es"` | | `engine` | Always `argos-translate` | string | no | `"argos-translate"` | | `model` | Model or models used, with versions | string | `null` when no model was used | `"en→es 1.0"` | | `pivot` | `en` when the text went through English | string | `null` for direct pairs | `"en"` | | `chars` | Characters in the original text; `translated` rows are billed by these characters | integer | no | `11` | | `status` | `translated`, `unchanged`, `empty`, `unsupported_language`, `skipped` or `error` | string | no | `"translated"` | | `error` | `{code, message}` when the text was not translated | object | `null` on success | `{"code": "CHARGE_LIMIT", ...}` | | `translatedAt` | Time the row was finished, ISO 8601 UTC | string | `null` for `skipped` and `error` rows | `"2026-10-17T08:01:12Z"` | #### Status values | Status | What it means | Characters billed? | Text fee? | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `translated` | The model translated the text | yes | yes | | `unchanged` | The text is already in the target language or has no letters (numbers, symbols) | no | yes | | `empty` | The text was an empty string | no | yes | | `unsupported_language` | The language was not recognised, or no model covers the pair | no | yes | | `skipped` | Not started: the run reached your maximum cost, its timeout, or was aborted | no | no | | `error` | The model for this pair could not be loaded | no | no | #### Output surfaces | Situation | Where to look | What you see | | --- | --- | --- | | Normal run | Dataset, **Translations** view | one row per text, `status: "translated"` | | Some texts not translated | Dataset and `RUN_SUMMARY` | rows with `status` and `error.code`; `RUN_SUMMARY.status` is `PARTIAL` | | Cost limit or timeout reached | Dataset and `RUN_SUMMARY` | finished rows plus `skipped` rows with `CHARGE_LIMIT` or `RUN_TIME_LIMIT`; the run still ends as SUCCEEDED | | Invalid input | Run status and `RUN_SUMMARY` | run FAILED, `RUN_SUMMARY.status` is `INVALID_INPUT`, no rows | ### Pricing and limits #### Pricing unit This Actor uses pay per event. You pay for: | Event | Price | When | | --- | --- | --- | | Actor start | $0.005 per GB of memory, so $0.01 at the default 2,048 MB | once per run | | 1,000 translated characters | Free plan $0.003, Bronze $0.0027, Silver $0.0024, Gold $0.0021 | for the characters of `translated` rows, added up over the whole run and rounded up to the next 1,000 | | Text processed | $0.00002 | once for each row with a result (`translated`, `unchanged`, `empty`, `unsupported_language`) | | Model downloaded | $0.005 | once per run for each language model that is not built in and has translated at least one saved row. Pairs between English and Spanish, French, German or Portuguese are built in and never pay it | Platform usage (compute, storage) is included in these prices. - A run where every text is already in the target language pays the start and the text fee only, with no character charge. - `skipped` and `error` rows are free. A model that failed to download or translated nothing is free. - Rows are saved first and charged after. When the run reaches your **Maximum cost per run**, it stops, marks the remaining texts `skipped` with `CHARGE_LIMIT` and ends as SUCCEEDED. #### Cost examples Free plan prices, default memory 2,048 MB. | Scenario | Input | Characters charged | Price | | --- | --- | ---: | ---: | | One short text | `["Hello world"]` | 1,000 (11 rounded up) | $0.01 + $0.003 + $0.00002 = **$0.01302** | | 100 reviews of 500 characters | 50,000 characters | 50,000 | $0.01 + $0.15 + $0.002 = **$0.162** | | Maximum run | 5,000 texts, 1,000,000 characters | 1,000,000 | $0.01 + $3.00 + $0.10 = **$3.11** | | All texts already in the target language | 3,400 texts | 0 | $0.01 + $0.068 = **$0.078** | | Japanese and Russian reviews into English | 3 short texts | 1,000 | $0.01 + $0.003 + $0.00006 + 2 models × $0.005 = **$0.02306** | #### Speed and limits - Up to 5,000 texts, 50,000 characters per text and 1,000,000 characters per run. - Speed at 2,048 MB: about 550 characters per second for English into another language and about 300 characters per second for some sources such as Spanish into English. A run of about one million characters takes 30 to 55 minutes. Set the run **Timeout** high enough for big batches; the default timeout is 7,200 seconds. - Pairs between English and Spanish, French, German or Portuguese are ready at start. Other languages download their model during the run (usually under 30 seconds) and add the model fee. - More memory (4,096 MB) is about 1.4 times faster but uses more compute; the default 2,048 MB is the cheapest per character. Less than 2,048 MB is not allowed. ### Use cases | Buyer job | Input | Output | Key fields | Next step | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Translate product descriptions for a new market | `texts`, `targetLanguage` | one row per description | `translation`, `status` | export CSV or JSON, import into your shop | | Read customer reviews in one language | `texts`, `sourceLanguage: "auto"` | one row per review | `sourceLanguage`, `translation` | sentiment or keyword analysis | | Translate support tickets for an agent team | `texts` from your helpdesk export | one row per ticket | `index`, `translation` | match rows back by `index` | ### API, export and integrations - **API:** start the Actor with the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2) and read the default Dataset. Rows keep the input order, so `index` matches your list. - **Export:** download the Dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel or XML from the **Output** tab or the API. - **Scheduling and webhooks:** use Apify [schedules](https://docs.apify.com/platform/schedules) and [integrations](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations) to run it on a timer or pass results to other tools. #### Use with AI agents (MCP) - MCP server URL with only this Actor: `https://mcp.apify.com?tools=cliqtomedia/text-translator`. - Smallest useful input: ```json { "texts": ["Hello world"], "targetLanguage": "es" } ``` - Key output fields: `translation` (the result), `status` (`translated`, `unchanged`, `empty`, `unsupported_language`, `skipped`, `error`), `sourceLanguage`, `pivot`, `error.code`. - A one-text run takes about 20 seconds and costs about $0.013. Limits: 5,000 texts, 1,000,000 characters per run, one target language per run. ### Limits and partial results - Quality is lower than Google Translate or DeepL on long or difficult sentences. Check important texts. - Single words and very short texts can be detected as the wrong language. Set `sourceLanguage` if you know it. - A single Japanese word can get a wrong translation. Short sentences work better than single words. - Repeated symbols can change, for example `★★★★★` can come back with a different number of stars. - Inline HTML fragments are translated one by one, so word order around tags can be less natural. - Pairs that go through English (`pivot: "en"`) are slower and can lose some meaning. ### Troubleshooting #### Some rows are `skipped` with `CHARGE_LIMIT` Symptom: the run SUCCEEDED, but the last rows have no translation. Likely reason: the run reached your **Maximum cost per run**. Action: raise the maximum cost and run only the skipped texts again. #### Some rows are `skipped` with `RUN_TIME_LIMIT` Symptom: the run SUCCEEDED, but the last rows have no translation. Likely reason: the run timeout was too short for the number of characters. Action: raise **Timeout** in the run options (see the speed above) and run the skipped texts again. #### A text came back `unchanged` but it is not in the target language Likely reason: detection thought the text was already in the target language. This happens with very short texts. Action: set `sourceLanguage` to the real language. #### A row has `unsupported_language` Likely reason: the text is in a language that the models do not cover, or it has no clear language. Action: check the text. If you know the language and it is in the list, set `sourceLanguage`. #### The run FAILED with `INVALID_INPUT` Likely reason: too many texts, a text over 50,000 characters, or more than 1,000,000 characters in total. Action: split the input into smaller runs. ### FAQ #### Do I need an API key or a login? No. The Actor uses open-source models inside the run. You only need an Apify account to start it. #### Are my texts sent to Google, DeepL or another service? No. Texts are translated on the Apify server. The Actor only downloads model files from the public Argos Translate package server when a pair is not ready at start. #### What do I pay for a text that is already in the target language? Only the text fee of $0.00002. It is not billed by characters. #### Can I translate into several languages at once? Not in one run. Start one run for each target language. #### How good is the quality? It is good for everyday sentences and short product texts. It is lower than paid services on complex texts. Try a small sample first. ### Support For bugs, questions or feature requests, open an issue on the **Issues** tab of this Actor. Add the run ID, the target language and a short sample text that shows the problem. Do not share tokens or private customer data. # Changelog This Actor's version history is a separate document: https://apify.com/cliqtomedia/text-translator/changelog.md # Actor input Schema ## `texts` (type: `array`): One item per text, up to 5,000 items, 50,000 characters each and 1,000,000 in total. Line breaks are kept. Large batches need a longer run timeout (30 to 55 minutes per million characters; the default timeout is 2 hours). Each text becomes one output row in the same order. ## `targetLanguage` (type: `string`): Language to translate into. Pairs without a direct model go through English (shown in the pivot field). ## `sourceLanguage` (type: `string`): Language of the texts. Keep auto to detect it for each text; set it when all texts share one language, especially for very short texts where detection is less reliable. ## Actor input object example ```json { "texts": [ "Hello world" ], "targetLanguage": "es", "sourceLanguage": "auto" } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `translations` (type: `string`): One row per input text: translation, languages, model, status. ## `runSummary` (type: `string`): Status, counts, characters translated and charged, error codes. # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '