Software Localization That Ships When You Ship
Your product is live in 8 languages. AI handled the translation.
Six months later, your Italian users are complaining about truncated menus. Your Dutch documentation references deprecated features. Your support team can’t read the Portuguese tickets.
The AI worked. Until your users told you it didn’t.
Software Localization Is a Product Quality Problem
Your users don’t think about translation. They think about whether your product works.
Truncated labels, inconsistent terminology, help articles that don’t match the UI. These don’t register as language issues. They register as poor quality. Users get frustrated. They file tickets. They churn.
AI translation ships fast. It doesn’t ship clarity. That’s the gap professional localization fills.
What Users Actually See
Most SaaS companies discover this the same way: scale. You had 3 languages and 500 users. AI was fine. Now you have 12 languages and 50,000 users, and your support inbox is full of complaints you need Google Translate to read.
That’s usually when the search for a localization partner starts. Native works with product teams who’ve already built their localization infrastructure. You have a TMS. You have AI. What you need is a partner who makes it actually work.
When Software Localization Fails, Users File Bug Reports
Software UIs are rigid. Unlike websites with flexible layouts, your settings panel has exactly 180 pixels for that label. Your navigation menu has room for 12 characters. Your modal buttons were designed for “Save” and “Cancel,” not “Salva modifiche” and “Annulla.”
UI that doesn’t fit: Italian runs 15-25% longer than English. “Settings” becomes “Impostazioni.” Your carefully designed interface starts truncating, wrapping, or just breaking. Users see “Impostaz…” and wonder what they’re clicking.
Context-free strings that confuse: “Save” in your codebase could mean saving a document, saving preferences, or saving a draft. Without context, translators guess. Sometimes they guess wrong. Your Spanish users see “Guardar” when they should see “Ahorrar.” Or vice versa.
Help content that falls behind: Your English documentation updates with every release. Your localized versions? They’re two sprints behind because no one flagged the changes. Users in France are following instructions for features that no longer exist.
Plurals that break logic: English has two plural forms: one and many. Polish has four. Arabic has six. Your “You have 1 item / You have 2 items” logic doesn’t account for languages where “2 items,” “5 items,” and “21 items” all need different forms.
What Gets Localized
These aren’t translation errors. They’re localization gaps. Your TMS can’t catch them. Your AI can’t fix them. You need people who understand both languages AND software.
When Not to Localize Your Software?
AI translation is a tool. A good one. We use it too. If you’re reading this page, you’ve probably already wired it into your TMS. You’re not looking for someone to tell you AI exists. You’re trying to figure out why it’s not working as well as it used to and where to go from here.
When Does AI Localization Work?
The pattern we see: Companies start with AI. It works. They add languages. Still works. They hit 8-10 languages, or 20,000+ users, or expansion into markets where no one on staff speaks the language. That’s when users typically start complaining.
That’s usually when we get involved. We’re not here to replace your AI. We’re here to make it work at scale.
The Honest Take: When Not to Invest in Software Localization
You don’t need us yet if:
- You’re still finding product-market fit (localize after you know what you’re building)
- You have 3 languages and can QA them internally
- AI output is working and no one’s complaining
- You’re testing a new market with a landing page, not launching a full product
Localization is a multiplier. It makes a working product work in more places. It doesn’t fix a broken product or create demand where none exists.
When to invest:
- Users are complaining about language quality
- You’re expanding to markets where no one on staff speaks the language
- Your internal review process is becoming a bottleneck
- A major client needs your product in languages you don’t support
- AI output is creating more work than it saves
Reputation landed Peugeot as a client. Peugeot needed their platform in 16 languages. Reputation had two. Two months and 220,000 words later, they had 16 actively maintained languages with bi-monthly updates synced to their release cycles.
How We Work with Product Teams
Your engineering team has enough on their plate. They shouldn’t be managing translation files, chasing deliveries, or debugging locale issues before every release. We integrate with your existing workflow. Your devs stay focused on the product. We handle the language side.
Connect Repo
GitHub, GitLab, or your TMS. String changes trigger automatic notifications.
Context Review
Staging access or Figma files. Translators see strings where they appear.
Translate + QA
In-context testing catches truncation and UI issues before users do.
Ship Together
Localized builds ready when your English build ships. No delays.
This workflow scales. Whether you’re shipping to 3 languages or 30, the process stays the same. Your team’s workload doesn’t grow with your language count. We’ve run this workflow for products shipping weekly updates across 16 languages. It works because it’s designed around how product teams actually operate, not how translation vendors wish they did.
The best way to explain what we do is to show it. Here’s what software localization looks like when it goes beyond translating strings.
Software Localization Beyond Text
Vault Platform builds workplace misconduct reporting software. Sensitive product, sensitive content. They came to us with a partially localized platform that needed to scale to new markets.
The content: A call-in option where users phone a synthetic voice operator to file reports. The voice needed to work in 14 languages.
The problem: We localized the scripts. Then our language teams heard the output: grammatically correct, but robotically timed. Natural speech has rhythm. The AI voice didn't.
Our linguists went into transcript files and manually inserted pause markers. Where would a human breathe? How long should each pause be? French flows differently than Japanese. Spanish differently than Dutch.
#.<break strength="x-weak" time="700ms"/>
Users filing sensitive reports now hear a voice that sounds human. More trustworthy. Which matters when you're reporting workplace misconduct.
product languages
188 000 Words in Four Weeks
Intertrust builds secure content and data platforms for media and technology companies. When they decided to pilot in Japan and Germany, they needed 94 000 words per language shipped in four weeks.
The content: UI strings in .json files and documentation in markdown.
The problem: This kind of complexity doesn't scale with freelancers. File formats, terminology consistency, markdown syntax that breaks in translation tools. An agency can implement these requirements once and apply them across a dedicated resource pool. Freelancers can't.
Markdown doesn't play nicely with most translation tools. We built a dual-platform setup (Trados + Crowdin), developed custom Python scripts to parse markdown without breaking syntax, and automated QA to catch broken code blocks before delivery.
- Three translator teams per language competed
- In-country reviewers picked the winners
- Backup teams absorbed overflow without delays
"In our business, no news is good news. The silence after each drop told me we'd cracked it."
Is Your Software Ready for Localization?
Before we start translating, we check whether your codebase is ready. Not because we need everything perfect, but because knowing what we’re working with helps us plan better and avoid surprises mid-project.
Most products built on modern frameworks are already set up for localization. But even well-architected codebases have quirks. We’d rather find them early.
Internationalization (i18n) Basics
When we see problems: Startups that bootstrapped fast and hardcoded strings. Legacy codebases with years of accumulated shortcuts. Products that work perfectly in English because no one tested anything else.
We don’t ask you to fix everything before we start. We assess what’s there, work around what we can, and flag what will cause problems. If there’s a quick fix that saves hours of manual work later, we’ll tell you.
Whether your stack is ready or needs work, we’ll figure it out together. That’s what project managers are for.
Why Native for Software Localization
You’ve built the infrastructure. You have a TMS, a repo, a release cadence. What you need isn’t another tool. It’s a partner who fits into what you’ve already built and makes it work across languages.
Repo Integration, Not File Ping-Pong
Connect us to GitHub, GitLab, or your TMS. Changes sync automatically. Your devs don’t manage translation files manually.
In-Context QA
Our teams test in your staging environment. They find what automated checks miss: truncation, context errors, broken flows.
Managed Teams, Not Freelancer Chaos
3-5 linguists per language, coordinated by project managers. Consistent terminology across your product. Not 30 freelancer inboxes.
Release Cycle Alignment
We ship when you ship. Weekly, bi-weekly, monthly. Localization doesn’t become a blocker. Your localized builds are ready when yours are.
Platform Expertise
Named experts by Crowdin and Bureau Works. We don’t just use these tools. We consult on workflows and optimize configurations for software teams.
Source Bug Detection
Our linguists read your product in languages your team can’t. They catch broken links, missing states, and inconsistencies that slipped past English-only QA.
Software Localization Pricing
Every product is different. Pricing depends on string count, content type, and release frequency. A mobile app with 2 000 strings costs less than a SaaS platform with help center and in-app messaging. We quote based on what you actually need.
iOS/Android App
Web App + Help Center
Full Product Suite
Ongoing Maintenance
Syncs with your release cycles. Updates under 500 words fall under maintenance retainers with 24–48 hour turnaround. Larger releases quoted per batch. You're billed for changed content only.
Most clients start with 3–5 priority languages, prove the workflow, then expand. Volume discounts apply for large string counts and multi-language projects.
Ready to Localize Your Software?
Software localization works when it doesn’t slow you down. Integrate with your repo, sync with your sprints, ship localized builds alongside English.
Already have a TMS? We integrate with it.
Managing strings through GitHub? We connect there directly.
Starting from scratch? We’ll consult on what fits your stack.
Contact us: hello@nativelocalization.com
Call us: +371 29 148 870
Schedule a consultation: Get in touch
FAQ
Software localization depends on your stack, your release cycles, and your scale. If you don’t find your answers here, we’re happy to talk through your setup.
Scope and workflow. Website localization focuses on public-facing pages: marketing content, product descriptions, landing pages. Software localization covers everything inside your product: UI strings, settings panels, help centers, error messages, in-app flows.
Website updates are often batch projects. Software localization is continuous. We sync with your release cycles and deliver localized builds alongside your English releases.
No. We integrate with your existing tools. If you’re using Crowdin, Phrase, Lokalise, or any major TMS, we work within that. If you’re managing strings through GitHub or GitLab, we connect there directly. We consult on platform fit if you’re evaluating options, but we don’t require you to switch.
We see if we can get access to your staging environment or Figma files. Our translators see strings in context: where they appear, what actions they trigger, what screens surround them. For ambiguous strings, we flag them for clarification rather than guessing. Your product team answers once, we document it in the glossary, and the same interpretation applies across all languages.
With continuous localization: you push to your repo, our system detects changed strings, translation teams localize them, QA verifies in staging, and localized builds are ready when your English build ships. For small updates (under 500 words), turnaround is typically 24-48 hours. Larger releases sync with your sprint schedule.
Yes. If you grant access, our linguistic QA teams test directly in your product. They navigate flows, check UI fit, verify functionality in each language. This catches truncation, context errors, and layout breaks that automated tools miss.
We’ve also found source bugs this way. Broken links, missing error states, UI inconsistencies your team didn’t catch because they don’t read Spanish.
We assess before we start. If strings are hardcoded, date formats are fixed, or plural logic doesn’t exist, we’ll tell you. Then we work around what we can and flag what needs fixing. Quick fixes that save hours of manual work? We recommend them. Major refactors? That’s your call. We adapt to what you have.
Yes. iOS and Android strings work the same as web UI strings. We localize .strings files, XML resources, JSON, ARB, whatever your app uses. Mobile has tighter space constraints than web, so UI QA matters even more. We test on actual devices when possible.
All of them. Our primary network covers 89+ languages with native speakers, less frequent language requests are available with short notice. For high-volume languages (for example, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese), we have multiple translators and dedicated QA per language. For lower-volume languages, we source and vet specialists as needed.
Same model as website localization: per word for new content, with volume discounts for large projects. Ongoing maintenance is billed for changed content only.
Updates under 500 words typically fall under maintenance retainers. Larger projects are quoted per batch.
Yes. Most clients start with 3-5 priority languages, prove the workflow, then expand. We recommend starting with languages where you already have users or market demand, not localizing “just in case.”
For critical fixes under 500 words, same-day is possible with advance notice. Standard turnaround is 24-48 hours for small updates, sprint-aligned for larger releases.
Rush fees may apply for truly urgent same-day work.
Yes. Technical documentation for developers typically uses AI + human review. The content is technical, terminology is consistent, and the audience tolerates less polish than end users expect. We maintain developer glossaries separately from user-facing glossaries to keep terminology appropriate for each audience.