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Looking for the best Phrase app alternative for business use? You’re not alone. Many enterprise teams are now searching for an alternative to Phrase app’s suite of tools (formerly Memsource) that better fit their internal workflows and offer a more intuitive approach to AI translations.
While Phrase is a popular CAT tool, there are several reasons you might be searching for Phrase app alternatives. However, consider this. Premium CAT software is a significant investment, no matter the platform.
Therefore, it’s important to be clear on the exact reasons you want a better alternative to the Phrase localization platform.
That being said, we’ll use our decades of translation industry experience to help you explore potential Phrase drawbacks and user-specific needs you might identify with. As a result, you can conclude whether an alternative to Phrase could fill these gaps. This will equip you to find the best tool for your needs.
What you’ll learn
In this post, we’ll help you:
- Identify the gaps in the Phrase platform that could impact your organization
- Understand why you might need an alternative to Phrase app tools
- Discover the best Phrase app alternative for enterprise use
While Phrase (formerly Memsource) remains popular, it’s not always the best solution for every enterprise team—especially those seeking streamlined document translation, fast onboarding, or AI-enhanced workflows that balance automation with quality control.
In fact, the Digital.gov’s guidance underscores that Machine Translation is improving, but human review and customization remain essential. This especially applies when accuracy, confidentiality, and compliance matter.
Therefore you’ll also see a recommendation for the best alternative to Phrase app for enterprises at the bottom of this page.
Note
Memsource is now part of the Phrase Localization Suite.
In this post, we’ll refer to “Phrase app” as the entire localization platform, which now includes the features previously offered by Memsource.
12 reasons to adopt a Phrase app alternative
1. You want a translation tool designed specifically with enterprise standards (even if you’re not a large enterprise)
Would you prefer to use translation software with features designed specifically for enterprise users? If your answer is yes and you don’t work for a translation agency/LSP company, you might want an alternative to Phrase for this reason alone.
Phrase is a good translation tool for professional translators and translation companies. While they offer an enterprise version, many features are geared toward client project management and working with professional translators (e.g. client project submittal, white labeling, price quote tool, etc.)
If you want something more focused on internal collaboration and real-time file translation, it’s worth exploring an alternative to the Phrase app that’s built with your use case in mind.
2. Alternatives to Phrase app might have a shorter learning curve
One of the top reasons you might seek alternatives to Phrase app is the learning curve. If your team needs to quickly get up and running on a translation platform, the key is ease-of-use and easy onboarding.
Fast user adoption isn’t possible when your team needs to learn a lot about how to use the software.
Therefore, if the Phrase solution is underutilized at your organization from the get go, this is a possible indication of a learning barrier. If this is the case, find an alternative to Phrase that’s easier to learn. In the end, your organization could realize a faster ROI.
3. You prefer an intuitive user experience
Phrase offers some fantastic features. However, if you prefer less buttons and a less complex user experience than Phrase offers, this could indicate its Translation Management System isn’t the best fit for your organization.
While a button-heavy translation application can appear to offer additional value for the price, it could mean you are spending more time than necessary to complete a single action.
An alternative to Phrase app tools could offer fewer buttons, fewer tabs, and a more streamlined experience overall. And that translates into time saved on translation. Your software should help you to be more productive with less distractions.
4. You won’t use 30 different translation engines
The Phrase app comes with 30+ Machine Translation engines to accommodate a wide variety of users. This is a selling point for translation agencies and freelance translators who want to invest in one translation system that covers a wide variety of preferences for their clients.
However, if your organization doesn’t want to spend money on unused features and just wants to access the top few most popular and well-suited translation engines, consider an alternative to Phrase.
5. Your projects don’t or won’t include UI localization
Phrase has many happy customers with large-scale localization (websites, software, apps) projects managed in-house. Some of their localization features offered include connections for version control systems, UI (user interface) design tools, and open source Content Management Systems (CMS).
If these localization features sound unnecessary for your organization, you might want to find a better alternative to Phrase.
6. You don’t have time for a bunch of different workflows in translation software
Phrase includes customizable workflow automations. But some teams already use other project management tools—or don’t need another layer of process.
If your goal is to collaborate on translations quickly and cleanly, without configuring complex workflows and automations, you might want a simpler, best Phrase app alternative that lets your team focus on the translation work itself.
7. An alternative to Phrase app might be more secure
Phrase has robust security features, but it isn’t publicly clear whether it offers advanced compliance measures like HIPAA, “No Return” MT configurations, or detailed cloud architecture audits (e.g. AWS Well-Architected Reviews).
However, there are additional security measures you might want to look for as an enterprise user.
If your organization requires additional enterprise-level security measures including any of the following, you might want to clarify with Phrase or consider an alternative to Phrase Localization Suite.
The following is a non-exhaustive list.*
- HIPAA & PHI compliance
- “No Return” to Machine Translation providers
- Well-Architected Review
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
*It isn’t made clear if Phrase currently employs these security precautions.
8. You’re looking for enterprise security you can actually verify
Phrase conducts regular vulnerability scans and offers good baseline protections. But for some enterprise teams, that’s just the start.
If your organization handles sensitive documents, legal agreements, healthcare records, or employee data, you need more: HIPAA, FERPA or GDPR compliance, “no return” policies for Machine Translation engines, multi-factor authentication, encrypted cloud storage and guaranteed data isolation.
And you shouldn’t have to dig through fine print to find out what’s really protected.
A strong alternative to the Phrase app will make these protections clear—and show you exactly how your data is kept confidential.
9. You need better support for scanned PDFs and PowerPoint formatting
Not every document you translate is a block of code or a string file. Some of them are scanned PDFs or images. Others are PowerPoint decks for executives, training presentations, or client-facing reports.
If that sounds like the kind of content your team works with, you may run into challenges with Phrase. It’s built more for developers managing software strings than for professionals who regularly translate formatted documents.
A better alternative to the Phrase app will also support translation of scanned documents, preserve layouts, and even handle batch file translation for formatted PowerPoint or InDesign files—without hours of manual cleanup afterward.
10. You want to translate snippets and emails—not just software strings
Sometimes, all you need is to translate a quick email, message, or short paragraph of text from a client. You’re not launching an app in 12 languages. You just need a gist—fast.
Phrase wasn’t really designed for that. It shines in structured localization pipelines, not spontaneous, real-world requests.
If you’re looking for a simple way to copy and paste small amounts of text into a translator, it might be time to consider an alternative to the Phrase app. The right alternative gives you the flexibility to translate big projects and small requests—all in one place.
11. Most of your team relies on Google Drive, not GitHub
Phrase integrates beautifully with tools like GitHub, Bitbucket, and Figma. That’s great—if you’re a developer managing code strings and interface labels.
But if your organization works out of Google Drive, you won’t find much support there.
An alternative to the Phrase app should integrate directly with the tools your team actually uses every day—like Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. That way, you don’t have to keep downloading, uploading, or converting files just to get your translations done.
Related reading: Learn how to integrate your translation process with Google Docs.
12. You want real help—from a real person
When your team is on a deadline, the last thing you need is to send a support ticket and wait two days for a reply. Unfortunately, that’s a common experience with tools designed for language service providers.
Many Phrase alternatives offer a live human support option—with real people who can actually help, not just route you to a help article.
If your team values white-glove onboarding, same-day troubleshooting, and clear guidance from someone who speaks your language (literally and metaphorically), you’ll want to consider other options such as Pairaphrase.
Reasons to stick with Phrase (fmr. Memsource)
Despite what you see here, you should do additional research on forums (such as ProZ and Quora) as well as independent review websites, to see if a Phrase app alternative is truly right for your organization.
In some cases, you very well might want to stick with using the Phrase platform for your translation needs.
After all…
- Phrase has the core functionality offered by many CAT tools
- It can be integrated with a variety of 3rd party apps
- It offers a wide variety of Machine Translation engines
Why enterprises are seeking Phrase app alternatives
Despite its popularity with Localization professionals, many enterprise teams find the Phrase app’s complexity, developer focus, and cost structure don’t align with their needs.
These organizations often need a simpler, faster, and more secure alternative to the Phrase app that fits into broader enterprise workflows without a steep learning curve.
Best Alternative to Phrase app
Do any or all of the reasons above resonate with you? Explore Pairaphrase. It’s the AI Translation Management System for teams that value faster, smarter and safer translation. It’s a top Phrase app alternative that’s easy to use with quick onboarding
Pairaphrase supports 140+ languages and 20,000+ language pairs. Translate a file into Spanish, English, French, German, Arabic, Hindi, Chinese, Japanese and more. Not to mention, Pairaphrase performs translation for 25 file types.
Just one translation with Pairaphrase can cover your annual subscription!
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