Linguist is not just another browser extension. It’s a full-featured translation system that respects your privacy. Translate offline on your device, use any translation service (including your own like ChatGPT), and explore custom translator options. It’s free, open-source, and does not collect personal data.
Reviewed by Marcus Holmberg
Linguist
github.com/translate-tools/linguist/#readme No ratings yet. Be the first.
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Threat level
Hardened
A hardened pick. Worth the effort once you have chosen to shrink your footprint on purpose. Enough for most people. Threat levels
Our take
More ambitious than the average translate extension, with offline on-device translation and the option to point it at your own translation backend, which is genuinely rare. The cost of that flexibility is setup: getting offline models or a custom service running is more work than a one-click add-on. Pick Linguist when you want translations that can stay entirely on your machine and you’re willing to configure it. If you just want a quick page translation with no fuss, a lighter front-end will get you there faster.
GitHub at a glance
translate-tools/linguist
Stars
1,031
+ 32 this week
Last commit
1mo ago
healthy
License
BSD-3-Clause
Latest release
v7.0.5
4mo ago
Stars, last 38d
Linguist alternatives
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TranslateLocally Offline neural machine translation that runs entirely on your device, with a desktop app and browser extension.
LibreTranslate 100% Self-Hosted. No Limits. No Ties to Proprietary Services.
SimplyTranslate Mobile Clearweb, Onion, I2P and Lokinet instances are also available for SimplyTranslate.
Linguist license, in plain English
BSD-3-Clause Permissive
Permissive: use and modify freely. You just keep the notice and do not use the authors' names to endorse your version.
Permits
- Commercial use
- Modification
- Distribution
- Private use
Requires
- License and copyright notice
Does not provide
- Endorsement using author names
- Liability cover
- Warranty
Why it matters: Permissive licensing lets anyone reuse this, including inside closed products. That is freedom to build on, but no guarantee that downstream copies stay open.
Plain-language summary of the project's license, not legal advice. Read the full text for the exact terms.
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