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How to translate an EPUB for free
You can, and there are several ways. We make one of them, so read this with that in mind; we've tried to be straight about where each one is the better pick, ours included. Free tools and their limits change often, so check before you start on a long book.
Before you start: is the file open?
Every tool here needs a DRM-free EPUB. Most books bought from Amazon, Kobo or Apple are locked to the shop’s app, and none of these will open them. Project Gutenberg, Wikisource, Standard Ebooks and DRM-free shops all give you a file that works.
The free ways, from most work to least
A Calibre plugin
Calibre is the free ebook manager, and the open-source Ebook Translator plugin adds translation to it. It rebuilds the EPUB and can keep the original text alongside. The catch: setup, and you choose the translation engine, so the good ones need a paid key. Free engines exist but can be unreliable on a whole book, and a long translation is slow.
Open-source command-line tools
Projects such as epub-translator and bilingual_book_maker make a two-language EPUB and give you full control. The catch: you need to be comfortable in a terminal, and you pay for the translation key they use. Free for the software, cents or dollars for the book.
A browser extension’s free tier
Immersive Translate has a document translator with bilingual output and a free monthly allowance, reported at about 1,000 pages. If you want a lot of pages for nothing, start there. The catch: you depend on its allowance and its choice of engine, and it’s worth checking how the file comes out on your e-reader before relying on it.
Our free preview and free pages
DuoText translates the opening pages of any upload with no account or card, and a free account has 50 pages, enough for a long short story or a trial of a novel. You read it in the browser with the original beside every paragraph, and download it. The catch: a whole novel is beyond the free pages and costs a few dollars.
Converting it for a document translator
You can convert an EPUB to Word or PDF and upload that to a general translator. The catch: chapters and layout usually suffer, you lose the original, and free limits on general translators are small. Fine for a chapter, poor for a novel.
Which one to pick
- You like tinkering, and want control: the Calibre plugin.
- You want the most free pages: a browser-extension free tier.
- You want to see if a book is worth it, in two minutes, with nothing to install: our preview.
- You want it on a Kindle: check that the output comes in a format your device takes. Ours gives you EPUB, AZW3 and MOBI; see the Kindle guide.
Whatever you use, keep the original next to the translation if you can. Machine translation of a novel is good, not perfect, and a parallel text lets you check any line that reads oddly.
Questions
Can I translate an EPUB for free?
Yes, in several ways, but each has a catch: a Calibre plugin takes setup, open-source tools usually need your own translation key, and free tiers have limits. For a short book a free tier is usually enough.
Does Google Translate work with EPUB files?
Google Translate's document upload takes formats such as Word and PDF. For an EPUB you would have to convert it first, and a converted book usually loses its chapters and layout.
Can I translate an EPUB I bought from Amazon or Kobo?
Not if it has DRM, which most store purchases do. All the tools here need a DRM-free file. Public-domain books from Project Gutenberg or Wikisource work with all of them.
What is the best free way to translate a whole novel?
If you are happy to set things up, the Calibre plugin with an engine you trust. If not, a free tier for the first part, to see whether the book reads well for you, before spending anything.