OmniFeed Search

Argos Translate

An offline Python translation library, command line, and separate GUI

Visit argosopentech.com

Our verdict

#3 of 4 in Self-hosted machine translation · For code that imports a library

Pros

  • MIT or CC0 on the library
  • The README names a long language list and says there are more
  • LibreTranslate is the API already built on top of it

Cons

  • The window is a second install, pip3 install argostranslategui
  • Pivoted pairs lose some quality, which the README states
  • Custom models are $1,000 a language, and the README says that price is negotiable

Who should skip:Anyone who does not want to install Python packages.

Read the full review →

Rankings and alternatives

Self-hosted machine translation scores

Evaluated Nov 8, 2026 Evidence ↓
  • Time to first translation 2

    2/5 means: A programming library, with the desktop window in a separate package

    It is a Python library. The README says the GUI lives in a separate repository, which installs with pip3 install argostranslategui.

  • Stays on your machine 5

    5/5 means: A desktop or library the project describes as translating on your own machine

    The README calls it an offline translation library. Models are files you install, with a .argosmodel extension.

  • Languages 4

    4/5 means: A long named list, or every model in the project's index, including pairs that pivot through another language

    The README names a long list of languages and ends with "and more". Missing direct pairs can pivot through an installed intermediate language, and the README says that costs some translation quality.

  • Calling it from software 4

    4/5 means: A programming library and a command line

    The README says it can be used as a Python library or a command line, and that LibreTranslate is the API and web app built on top of it.

  • What keeps running 3

    3/5 means: A language runtime, model files, and a separate interface package

    PyPI requires Python 3.5 or newer. You install .argosmodel packages, and the window is a second package. No database is listed.

Pricing

  • Library Free The README does not put a price on the library. Custom models are priced separately.
  • Custom model $1,000.00 one-time Per language, and the README says the price is negotiable.

From the vendor’s pricing page, checked Nov 8, 2026. That page is authoritative.

Evidence and sources

Self-hosted machine translation scores

Time to first translation 3 quotes
  • “The GUI code is in a separate repository.”
    github.com/argosopentech/argos-translate · checked
  • “Argos Translate uses OpenNMT for translations and can be used as either a Python library, command-line, or GUI application. Argos Translate supports installing language model packages which are zip archives with a ".argosmodel" extension containing the data needed for translation. LibreTranslate is an API and web-app built on top of Argos Translate.”
    github.com/argosopentech/argos-translate · checked
  • “pip3 install argostranslategui”
    github.com/argosopentech/argos-translate-gui · checked
Stays on your machine 2 quotes
Languages 2 quotes
  • “Arabic, Azerbaijani, Basque, Catalan, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Kyrgyz, Korean, Malay, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, and more”
    github.com/argosopentech/argos-translate · checked
  • “Argos Translate also manages automatically pivoting through intermediate languages to translate between languages that don't have a direct translation between them installed. For example, if you have a es → en and en → fr translation installed you are able to translate from es → fr as if you had that translation installed. This allows for translating between a wide variety of languages at the cost of some loss of translation quality.”
    github.com/argosopentech/argos-translate · checked
Calling it from software 1 quote
  • “Argos Translate uses OpenNMT for translations and can be used as either a Python library, command-line, or GUI application. Argos Translate supports installing language model packages which are zip archives with a ".argosmodel" extension containing the data needed for translation. LibreTranslate is an API and web-app built on top of Argos Translate.”
    github.com/argosopentech/argos-translate · checked
What keeps running 3 quotes

Facts

License 1 quote
Runs on 2 quotes
Needs 1 quote
  • “Argos Translate supports installing language model packages which are zip archives with a ".argosmodel" extension containing the data needed for translation.”
    github.com/argosopentech/argos-translate · checked

Other quotes

Not cited by a score or fact 2 quotes

Pricing

github.com/argosopentech/argos-translate · checked