Epsylo vs Google Translate
Google Translate is the free, everyday translator: about 250 languages, typed, spoken, photographed or offline, on the web and in apps for Android and iPhone, with a Practice beta for a few language pairs. Epsylo is a translator that explains itself, in 97 languages: every translation comes back broken down word by word, each word colored by its grammatical role and explained, with a politeness dial and per-word emphasis that rewrite the sentence. Choose Google Translate to get the gist of a sign, a menu or a conversation. Choose Epsylo when you are learning the language and want to understand the sentence.
Updated 20 October 2026 · Facts about other products checked 20 October 2026
At a glance
| Epsylo | Google Translate | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A translator that explains the grammar of every translation | A general-purpose translator |
| Made for | People learning a language | Anyone who needs to understand or be understood |
| Languages | 97 | About 250 |
| Word-by-word breakdown | Every word colored by grammatical role, with an explanation, a dictionary entry and alternatives | Dictionary entries and alternative translations for single words |
| Sentence structure | Syntax cards and a dependency tree for every translation | Not a feature |
| Register | A four-step politeness dial, from blunt to honorific | Not a feature |
| Emphasis | Six kinds of emphasis, down to a single word | Not a feature |
| Camera and images | PDFs and images, paragraph by paragraph, with every word open to explanation | Live camera translation and photos |
| Speech | Listen to translations; a spoken tutor on paid plans | Voice input and live conversation translation |
| Offline | Saved words and review work offline; translating needs a connection | Downloadable languages in the mobile app |
| Learning tools | A guided course, a vocabulary bank with spaced review, writing critique, a tutor | A Practice beta for a few language pairs |
| Platforms | Web app, on any device with a browser | Web, Android and iPhone apps, built into Chrome |
| Price | Free plan with 20 translations a month; paid plans on the pricing page | Free |
Translating to get by, and translating to learn
Google Translate is made for the moment you need to understand something now: point the camera at a menu, speak to someone at a counter, paste an email. It covers more languages than anything else, works offline once a language is downloaded, and costs nothing. What it gives you is the translation.
Epsylo is made for the moment after: when you want to know how the sentence works, so that next time you can read it, or write it, yourself. Every word of the translation is a segment colored by the job it does in the sentence, and each one opens to say why it is there, what its dictionary form is, and what else could have stood in its place. Syntax cards name the constructions, and a dependency tree shows what attaches to what.
Google has started to add learning to Translate: its Practice beta, announced in August 2025, builds listening and speaking exercises around everyday scenarios, at first for English speakers practicing Spanish or French and for Spanish, French and Portuguese speakers practicing English. Epsylo explains grammar in all 97 of its languages, on the sentences you bring.
Which one should you use?
- You are travelling and need to read a sign or order a meal: Google Translate, with its camera and offline languages.
- You need to talk with someone who speaks another language, right now: Google Translate's conversation mode.
- Your language is not one of Epsylo's 97: Google Translate, which covers about 250.
- You are learning the language and want to understand the sentence, not only read it: Epsylo.
- You want to know whether a sentence sounds polite enough, and how to make it more or less formal: Epsylo, whose politeness dial rewrites it.
- You want to keep the words you meet and review them on a schedule: Epsylo, with its vocabulary bank and spaced review.
What Epsylo shows for a Japanese sentence
Take a short sentence any translator gets right:
- 昨日、友達と駅の近くで昼ご飯を食べました。Yesterday I had lunch with a friend near the station.
The translation tells you what it means. The breakdown tells you how: と marks who you did it with, の links 駅 (station) to 近く (vicinity), で marks where the eating happened, を marks what was eaten, and 食べました is the polite past of 食べる. Turn the politeness dial down and it becomes 食べた, the plain form you would use with that friend.
Questions
- Is Epsylo an alternative to Google Translate?
- For learning a language, yes: Epsylo translates and explains the grammar of every translation. For instant camera, voice or offline translation, and for languages beyond Epsylo's 97, Google Translate remains the more direct tool.
- Can I learn a language with Google Translate?
- It helps with meaning, and its Practice beta adds listening and speaking exercises for a few language pairs. It does not explain why a sentence is built the way it is; that explanation, for every translation, is what Epsylo is for.
- Does Epsylo work offline?
- Your saved words and their review work offline. Translating needs a connection, because each translation and its breakdown is produced when you ask for it.
- Is Epsylo free?
- Yes, within a monthly limit: a free account includes 20 translations a month with the full breakdown, in every language.
Sources
What this page says about other products is taken from their own store listings and website, as they read on 20 October 2026. Products change; if something here is out of date, write to hello@epsylo.app and we will correct it.
Try it on your own sentence
Epsylo translates between 97 languages and explains every word of the translation. A free account includes 20 translations a month.