# DeepL Translator Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/deepl/ 21 people recommended DeepL Translator in Hacker News comments, 4 had mixed feelings and 13 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 12 months, in 20 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** People recommend DeepL for translations that sound closer to natural phrasing than Google Translate. Critics say it now makes text more formal and its free tier has limits. Summary written by Claude from 34 comments. ## Why people recommend it - Better translation quality than rivals (5 comments in the sample): "In terms of translation quality, it's still DeepL > Google > Apple" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46313101)) "it's way better than Google Translate for many languages" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48065187)) "IMHO it is the best translation model out there" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48543282)) - Dedicated translator, not a chatbot (3 comments in the sample): "using a literal translator (e.g: Google Translate, DeepL) will ensure we get to hear what you have to say" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47319657)) "DeepL should be perfect to do it, because is model is dedicated for translations" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47386059)) "There's a big difference between running your input through DeepL and asking" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48381706)) - Closer to natural phrasing (2 comments in the sample): "Why not use a dedicated translator such as DeepL, which will not only save you tokens/energy…" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47385292)) "I find Deepl does a much better job at capturing the direct translation of what I’m saying" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49104629)) ## What people warn about - Quality seems to have declined (3 comments in the sample): "which is likely why it seems to hallucinate a lot more now" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49821845)) "it can not do any good translation service at all" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49821325)) "I do remember trying DEEPL without much success." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46332734)) - Output sounds formal and LLM-like (2 comments in the sample): "Now it always makes the translation more formal, "professional", and gives everything the "LLM voice" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47877039)) "most sentences become flat and end up being judged as GenAI" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48771942)) - Web tab heats laptop, uses CPU (2 comments in the sample): "left their main page open and left my laptop for an hour, only to come back to it being steaming hot" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47563202)) "your CPU lifts off while the tab is in the foreground" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47563004)) - Free tier limits and usage blocks (2 comments in the sample): "i used it to much so i would be blocked for 18 days" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47387080)) "DeepL's limit is now only 500 words." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48381797)) ## Other translation services people recommend - [Kagi Translate](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kagi-translate/): 45 recommend, 3 mixed, 23 criticize - [Google Translate](https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-translate/): 40 recommend, 20 mixed, 61 criticize - [Firefox Translations](https://hackerapproved.com/p/firefox-translations/): 21 recommend, 5 mixed, 4 criticize ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.deepl.com/en) ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "DeepL Translator", https://hackerapproved.com/p/deepl/ (21 recommend, 4 mixed, 13 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.