Most Commonly Used CAT Tools

In the previous article, we talked about the definition, components, and benefits of CAT tools. As mentioned there, CAT tools are important for making translation easier, faster, and more accurate. In 2019, Proz made a survey for full-time professional translators who use CAT tools to check what are the most commonly used ones. They also showed the effectiveness of CAT tools. This is shown in the graph below:

1. SDL Trados Studio
Trados is the most widely used CAT tool in the language industry. It is one of the complete translation software solutions that translate, edit, manage terminology, and run language QA.

2. memoQ
memoQ is another famous CAT tool. It provides almost the same features available in Trados, plus some extra features like the cloud editor and creating termbase for a specific project. memoQ also accepts Trados packages and other packages.

3. Memsource
Memsource is a cloud translation software solution. It supports 50 file types and it offers multiple services i.e. project management, terminology management, and translation memory.

4. XTM Cloud
XTM Cloud can handle most of the file formats. Before adding files to the TM, it converts them to XML format. Once the translation is done, XTM reformats the files again. It has two different models: XTM Suite and XTM Cloud.

5. Wordfast (Classic & Pro)
Wordfast Classic is a macro that works within Microsoft Word to convert documents into bilingual ones. It also works with plain text files, Word files (DOC/DOCX), Excel (XLS/XLSX), PowerPoint (PPT/PPTX), Rich Text Format (RTF), HTML.
Wordfast Pro includes more features, such as terminology management, translation memory management, and more project management features. It also supports a larger number of file formats such as XLF/XLIFF, SDLXLIFF/TTX, Java, InCopy (INC), InDesign (INX/IDML), FrameMaker (MIF), Quark (TAG), and editable PDF.

6. Déjà Vu
Déjà Vu is another CAT tool with a special user-friendly interface. It has a full host of terminology management and TM features and can handle a variety of file formats including Trados and memoQ.

7. Across
Across is a CAT tool with a complete translation environment including TM, terminology management, QA, and project management.

Translation Efficiency Using CAT Tools
The survey results showed that 93% of translators using CAT tools agreed that using a CAT tool increases the efficiency of translation.
About 17% said that CAT tools increased efficiency from 20% to 30% on average.

How translators choose a CAT tool?
You don't have to use the most commonly used or popular CAT tool. Instead, you can decide on the most suitable CAT tool according to your needs, your customer's needs, the project's needs, etc.
Here are some opinions about how translators choose their primary CAT tool that was found in the survey:
- Client Expectations.
- Market Research.
- By Recommendation.
- University/Work.
- Price.
- By Chance.
- Other.

At last, it doesn't only matter how popular or full of features the CAT tool is. It depends on the translator's or client's preferences. So, if you use one of these tools, let us know in a comment and you can also tell us why!