The best PDF translators in 2026
Maxim Enis · co-creator of Polytranslator · author of From LLM to NMT (125+ citations)Updated September 16, 2026
Four kinds of tools can translate a PDF in 2026, and the right one depends on your language and whether your PDF is real text or a scan. The honest comparison:
Polytranslator
Languages: 475, including ancient and rare languages
Whole-PDF upload: 20MB on Free; 50MB on Pro/Scholar. Upload limits are separate from credit cost
Scanned/photographed PDFs: Yes; review faint text and handwriting carefully
Output: A translated PDF with the layout preserved; pages rendered as images
Price: Free daily credits; quote shown before translation. Paid plans and credit packs available
Google Translate
Languages: Broad modern-language coverage
Whole-PDF upload: Up to 10MB and 300 pages
Scanned/photographed PDFs: Text in images and scanned pages is not translated by document upload
Output: A translated document; review the layout
Price: Free
DeepL
Languages: 100+ advertised for document translation
Whole-PDF upload: Yes; file limits depend on the plan
Scanned/photographed PDFs: Scanned PDFs supported; quality depends on the scan
Output: Translated PDF; Word download available on eligible plans
Price: Free account and paid plans with different file allowances
AI chatbots
Languages: Coverage depends on the model
Whole-PDF upload: File upload and limits depend on the tool and plan
Scanned/photographed PDFs: Image reading depends on the model and upload workflow
Output: Text or files, depending on the tool and workflow
Price: Free and paid plans with varying limits
File support and limits checked on September 16, 2026 against DeepL's document translation page and PDF support guidance, and Google's document translation help. Scan quality and complex layouts can affect the result with any tool.
Translate a whole PDF now
Digital or scanned PDFs, 475 languages. Free daily credits available; review the credit quote before translating.
Open the PDF translatorPolytranslator translates digital and scanned PDFs in 475 languages, aiming to preserve columns, tables and the page layout. The credit cost is shown before you translate. DeepL also supports digital and scanned PDFs, with over 100 languages advertised for document translation. Google's document tool is a free option for text-based PDFs; it leaves text in scanned pages untranslated.
For a Latin parish register, a Sanskrit book or a medieval charter, check that the tool supports the specific language and test a representative page. Polytranslator covers ancient and rare languages as well as modern ones. With any tool, compare names, terminology and difficult passages against the original before relying on the translation.
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