Best browser extensions for translation

DeepL is the browser extension from the German company behind the DeepL translator. Select text on a page and a small popup shows the translation, with alternatives and a dictionary. You can also translate whole pages, with unlimited use and automatic translation on a DeepL Pro plan. DeepL says it supports over 30 languages for translation and a handful for writing help.

It does more than translate. It adds translation and writing suggestions inside Gmail, Google Docs and Google Slides, and works on sites such as YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and X. That makes it useful if you write in a second language as well as read in one. Glossaries and automated page translation need Pro, and the free version has character limits.

The data terms differ by plan, and this matters. DeepL's own listing says the free version may use submitted text to improve its algorithms, so keep confidential or personal data out of it. DeepL says Pro plans do not store or reuse your content unless you agree. The extension is closed source. We did not benchmark translation quality, so any accuracy claim is the vendor's, not ours. It suits anyone who wants one polished translator, ideally on Pro for sensitive text.

Immersive Translate is the most capable pick for reading a lot in another language. Its main mode shows the translation beneath each paragraph, so the original stays visible. You can hover over a paragraph to translate just that one, translate selected text, or type in an input box and have it translated.

It also translates PDFs, EPUB ebooks, subtitle files, images and video subtitles on sites such as YouTube and Netflix. It works with many engines, and the Chrome listing names DeepL, OpenAI, Gemini and Claude. Page text goes to whichever engine you pick. Some features need a paid plan, and it runs in Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari.

The price is trust. The operator is Funstory.ai Limited in Hong Kong, and the extension is closed source. Its policy says it does not sell personal information, but it collects your email, usage statistics, error logs and device information, and stores submitted files, images and PDFs temporarily to improve translation quality. Subscriber PDFs go to a separate service, Mathpix. The Chrome privacy tab says no data is collected, which does not match the policy. Read the policy before using it on sensitive text.

Linguist is an open-source translator for Chrome and Firefox, and the best pick if you do not want your text to leave your computer. It translates entire pages in place, selected text and text you type, and can show subtitles on Netflix. A personal dictionary and history let you save translations, and text-to-speech reads them aloud. It lists support for over 130 languages.

Its main difference is the offline translator. It embeds the Bergamot engine, the same one Firefox uses for local translation, so you can translate on your device without sending text anywhere. You turn it on in the options. Otherwise Linguist can connect to services such as Google, Yandex, Bing, DeepL or Reverso, or to a custom translator you write yourself, and then your text goes to that service.

The project says it collects no personal data, and the Chrome listing declares the same. The code is on GitHub, though the licence file says BSD 3-Clause while the Firefox listing says GPL 3.0 only. It has far fewer users than the big names, a single named developer and no Safari version. It is free, with donations requested. Choose it if privacy or offline translation matters most.

Simple Translate does one thing and stays out of the way. It is a lightweight extension from the developer sienori: select text on a page and a small button appears, click it and the translation shows in a popup. You can also open the toolbar popup and type or paste text, and it can switch automatically between two languages you choose.

By default it uses Google Translate, and you can switch to the DeepL API with your own key. A context menu offers translate this page, selected text and selected link, but page translation is basic. The code is on GitHub under MPL-2.0, and it is on the Chrome Web Store, Firefox Add-ons and Edge Add-ons. Version 3.0.0 moved it to Manifest V3, and version 3.1.0 arrived in August 2026.

The privacy policy says the extension sends the input or selected text and the page URL to Google's API, or to DeepL if you change the engine, and that the developer does not access or collect this data. The text still goes to those companies, so their policies apply. It has no paid plan, though the developer takes sponsors, and support depends on one person. For reading whole sites, look at Linguist or Immersive Translate instead.

TWP, short for Translate Web Pages, is a Firefox add-on made by the developer Filipe Dev. Click once and the page you are reading is translated in place, without opening a new tab. It can also translate selected text and PDF documents, and it supports several translation services. It is the one to try on Firefox if its built-in translation does not cover your language.

It is free and open source under MPL-2.0, and the project shows steady commits on GitHub. The Firefox listing has about 566,000 users and a 4.7 rating from over 3,700 reviews. There is also a separate TWP build for Firefox for Android. Some browser pages, such as the Firefox add-ons site, cannot be translated by any extension.

The catch is where your text goes. The README says TWP sends the page contents to Google or Yandex servers, and the Firefox listing adds that those services may collect data. The developer's own statement is that TWP does not collect any data, but your text still goes to a third party, so it is not a private option. It needs access to all sites. On Chrome, Edge and Brave there is no official store release, only a manual install, with a store version planned.

The official Google Translate extension is fine for translating a highlighted word or sentence. Highlight text, or right-click it, and a Translate icon shows the translation. You can change the options so it appears every time you select text. For non-Latin scripts it shows a romanised version, and it supports Cantonese with a listen button. It is published by Google Ireland and has about 39 million Chrome users.

It is narrower than it used to be. The listing says page translation is now built into Chrome and is no longer supported in the extension, so for a full page you use Chrome's own tool, which relies on Google Translate. This extension is now a selection-only lookup tool, and anyone who wants more should look at the other picks.

Your text is sent to Google, and by installing it you agree to Google's Terms and Privacy Policy. The listing says the developer handles location, user activity and website content, and declares that the data is not sold to third parties outside approved use cases. The store rating is a low 3.0 from roughly 44,900 ratings. It is closed source and free, with a short permission list. We found no Firefox listing. Good enough for quick lookups in Chrome.