Polytranslator API

The document translation API that keeps the layout.

Send a PDF, Word file, slide deck, spreadsheet, EPUB, scan, or photo and get the same file back in any of 475 languages, including ancient and low-resource languages other APIs don't offer. Text translation uses the same key and credits.

Get an API keyRead the docs

No subscription. Every document is quoted for free before you pay.

API=https://www.polytranslator.com/api/v1

# 1. Submit the file (quotes via /documents/quote are free)
curl $API/documents \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $POLYTRANSLATOR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
  -F file=@contract.pdf \
  -F tgt=spa_Latn \
  -F max_credits=500

# 2. Long-poll until the job completes
curl "$API/documents/$DOC_ID?wait=60" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $POLYTRANSLATOR_API_KEY"

# 3. Download the translated PDF, layout intact
curl -o contrato.pdf $API/documents/$DOC_ID/file \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $POLYTRANSLATOR_API_KEY"

Submit, wait, download: the translated PDF keeps the original layout. To see the price first, send the same file to POST /documents/quote; quotes are free.

Built for real documents.

Layout preserved, even in scans

Formatted output returns the same file type with tables, images, and layout intact. Text inside scans, photos, and images is translated and set back into the page.

475 languages, ancient ones included

Ancient Greek, Coptic, Old English, Aramaic, Akkadian, Sumerian, Old Norse, and hundreds more, many of which DeepL and Google don't offer. The source language is detected automatically.

Up to 1,000 PDF pages per document

Files up to 50 MB, PDFs up to 1,000 pages, and up to 1,000,000 extracted characters in a single document.

Know the price before you pay

Quotes are free and report pages, characters, and credits. Set max_credits on any request and it is rejected before work starts if it would cost more.

Async jobs that are safe to retry

Get a signed webhook when a job finishes, or long-poll with ?wait=60 instead of busy-looping. An Idempotency-Key returns the same job on a retry and never charges twice. Failed jobs refund their reserved credits.

Ready for AI agents

An agent can create an account, buy credits with an authorized Stripe Shared Payment Token, and start translating on its own, guided by api.md, an OpenAPI schema, and llms.txt.

Supported formats

Formatted output returns the same file type with its layout. Text output returns the translated text as HTML without the layout, and usually costs less.

Translated in their own format

PDF, native and scanned
PDF
Word
DOCX
PowerPoint
PPTX
Excel
XLSX
EPUB e-books
EPUB
Images and photos
PNG, JPG, WEBP, HEIC → PNG

Also accepted, converted on upload

  • DOC, ODT, RTF, TXT, MD, HTML, XML, SRT, VTT, TEX, Pages→ DOCX
  • XLS, ODS, CSV, TSV, Numbers→ XLSX
  • PPT, ODP, Key→ PPTX
  • MOBI, AZW3, FB2→ DOCX

Limits: 50 MB per file, 1,000 PDF pages, and 1,000,000 extracted characters per document.

How it works

  1. 1

    Quote

    Send the file to POST /documents/quote. You get its page and character counts and the exact price in credits. Quotes are free.

  2. 2

    Submit

    Send the same file to POST /documents with the quote ID or a max_credits cap, plus an Idempotency-Key. The job is created immediately.

  3. 3

    Download

    Long-poll GET /documents/{id}?wait=60 until the job completes, then fetch /file for the translated file or /pdf for a PDF copy.

Prepaid credits. No subscription.

One balance covers documents and text, on the website and through the API. Every document is quoted in credits before you pay.

What a credit buys

Documents
Priced per document from its length, the tier, and the output type. You see the quote before anything is charged.
Text, Fast tier
1 credit per 1,000 characters, rounded up.
Text, Advanced tier
3 credits per 1,000 characters, rounded up. Advanced is the most accurate translation engine on the market.

Choose the tier per request. Failed jobs refund their reserved credits. Free daily and subscription credits aren't used by the API.

Let your agent take it from here.

Agents can create an account, buy credits, check the balance, and translate documents and text through the API. Headless payment requires an authorized Stripe Shared Payment Token; card authentication may require the owner's participation.

Set up automatic refill with an authorized saved card and a monthly spending cap, or let your agent request another purchase when its balance runs low.

Frequently asked questions

Which file formats does the Document Translation API accept?
PDF (native and scanned), DOCX, PPTX, XLSX, and EPUB are translated in their own format; images (PNG, JPG, WEBP, HEIC) come back as PNG. DOC, ODT, RTF, TXT, Markdown, HTML, XML, SRT, VTT, TeX, and Pages files are converted to DOCX; XLS, ODS, CSV, TSV, and Numbers to XLSX; PPT, ODP, and Keynote to PPTX; MOBI, AZW3, and FB2 to DOCX.
How large can a document be?
Up to 50 MB per file, up to 1,000 PDF pages, and up to 1,000,000 extracted characters per document. Text requests accept up to 50,000 characters each, at up to 30 requests per minute.
Does it translate scanned PDFs and photos?
Yes. Text inside scans, photos, and embedded images is recognized, translated, and set back into the page, so you get a translated file rather than extracted text.
Which languages are supported?
475 languages, including Ancient Greek, Coptic, Old English, Aramaic, Akkadian, Sumerian, and Old Norse, many of which DeepL and Google don't offer. The source language is detected automatically.
How much does it cost?
Credits come in prepaid packs, starting at $9.99 for 300 credits. Each document is quoted in credits for free before you submit it. Text costs 1 credit per 1,000 characters on the Fast tier and 3 per 1,000 on Advanced. There is no subscription.
What happens if a job fails or I retry a request?
Failed jobs refund their reserved credits automatically, and canceling a job refunds the work that hasn't started. Resending a request with the same Idempotency-Key returns the original job instead of charging again.
How does it compare with DeepL, Google, Azure, and Amazon?

Translate your first document.

Create a key, add credits, and get a free quote with one request.

Get an API keyRead the docs