Supertext

What Is Supertext?

Machine translation has largely become a two-horse race between DeepL and Google Translate. Supertext takes a different position: a Zurich-based platform that treats AI output as a starting point rather than a finished product, with professional linguists available to verify or rewrite anything that needs to be right.

The company started in 2005 as one of the first online copywriting agencies, long before neural machine translation existed. In April 2024, Supertext merged with Textshuttle, a neural MT company spun out of the University of Zurich in 2016. The combined business kept the Supertext name, folded Textshuttle's translation engine into the product, and now runs on roughly 100-120 specialists split between Zurich and Berlin, backed by a network of 3,000+ freelance linguists.

That merger is the reason Supertext can credibly claim both AI speed and human accuracy. Textshuttle supplied the neural engine; Supertext supplied two decades of enterprise translation relationships and quality-assurance processes. The result is a platform covering 28 languages, with a free web translator, tiered subscription plans for file translation, a developer API, and enterprise options for custom AI models trained on client-specific terminology.

Supertext says 1,500+ European companies use its language solutions regularly, spanning the free adaptive translator through to ISO-certified document workflows. Everything runs on infrastructure the company describes as "hosted exclusively in Switzerland" — a detail worth sitting with before you commit sensitive content to the platform.

Key Features

How Does the Hybrid AI-Plus-Human Model Work?

Every Supertext plan starts with machine translation from the former Textshuttle engine. Paid tiers add the option of professional verification: a human linguist reviews or edits the AI output before delivery, billed separately from the subscription (from CHF/EUR 5.70 per verification job on the API). Enterprise customers can go further with custom AI models trained on their own terminology and translation history, which Supertext claims perform roughly 30% more accurately than generic engines for that client's content.

This layered approach suits organisations that need machine-translation speed for internal or low-stakes content, but human sign-off for anything customer-facing — marketing copy, legal documents, product listings. Google Translate and even DeepL don't offer this verification layer natively; you'd typically need a separate localization vendor to add it.

What File Formats and Languages Does Supertext Support?

The platform handles 28 languages, including multiple regional variants such as English (GB/US), German (AT/CH/DE), and Swiss German alongside standard European and a handful of non-European languages. That's fewer than DeepL's 30+ and dramatically fewer than Google Translate's 130+, so global multilingual projects covering Asian or African languages will need a different tool.

File support is broader than most competitors at this price point: tagged text (HTML, XML), Microsoft Office documents (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx), PDFs with optional OCR for scanned documents, and .srt subtitle files. Editable file translation preserves formatting, which matters for anyone translating contracts, slide decks, or marketing collateral rather than plain text.

What Does the API Offer Developers?

Supertext's REST API adds translation and automatic language detection to websites and internal tools, with setup the company describes as taking under five minutes. Pricing is separate from the subscription plans: a CHF/EUR 4.90 monthly base fee plus CHF/EUR 20 per million characters translated, with optional professional verification billed per job on top.

Teams already paying for a subscription tier have a more direct route via the Advanced and Pro plans' MCP integration. Supertext Translation MCP plugs the service straight into ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, letting translation happen inside tools teams already use daily rather than through a separate interface.

What Security and Compliance Features Does Supertext Offer?

Supertext holds four ISO certifications: ISO 17100 (translation services), ISO 18587 (post-editing of machine translation output), ISO 9001 (quality management), and ISO 27001 (information security). That combination is unusual — ISO 17100 and 18587 specifically address translation-industry quality standards that generic MT engines rarely pursue, since they're built for language-service providers rather than software companies.

End-to-end encryption protects data in transit, and Supertext says translations aren't stored by default once delivered. Enterprise customers can additionally choose on-premises hosting instead of the standard Swiss cloud infrastructure, giving larger organisations more control over where their content physically sits.

Pricing

Supertext runs five tiers, and the free plan is genuinely usable rather than a stripped-down trial. It covers unlimited web translation up to 3,000 characters per attempt (1,500 for unregistered visitors) across all 28 languages, plus five editable file translations a month capped at 5 MB.

Essential jumps to CHF 9.90/month and removes the character ceiling on text translation entirely, subject to a fair-use policy. File translation allowances rise to 20 a month with a 10 MB cap, and Excel, PDF, and SRT support get added to the free tier's Word and PowerPoint coverage. Advanced (CHF 24.90/month) adds glossaries, Microsoft Office add-ins, single sign-on for teams of ten or more, and the ChatGPT/Copilot MCP integration.

Pro, at CHF 49.90/month, is currently waitlist-only rather than available for immediate signup — an unusual gap for a tier that sits between two live, purchasable plans. When available, it adds style guides, translation memory import, faster support response times, and optional CAT tool integration for professional translators. Enterprise pricing is entirely custom, requiring a sales conversation to get a number, though it includes unlimited file translation, custom AI models, and a dedicated account manager.

Annual billing saves 17% across the paid tiers. Against DeepL, whose Starter plan runs around EUR 10.49/month for comparable text volume, Supertext's Essential tier is competitively priced. The real cost difference shows up if you need the human verification layer, which is billed separately and isn't included in any subscription price on the pricing page.

EU Compliance & Privacy

This is where Supertext's story gets more complicated than its marketing suggests. Switzerland is not an EU or EEA member state, and Supertext hosts its infrastructure exclusively there. The company states it is compliant with both the EU GDPR and Switzerland's own FADP, and it points to an EU adequacy decision covering Swiss data transfers as the regulatory bridge.

That adequacy decision matters — it means transfers between the EU and Switzerland don't require the extra contractual safeguards typically needed for genuinely third-country transfers. But it isn't the same as EU-based hosting. Organisations bound by procurement policies that specifically require EU or EEA data residency will find Supertext falls outside that requirement, regardless of how strong its underlying security posture is.

And that underlying posture is genuinely strong: four ISO certifications, end-to-end encryption, no default translation storage, and 1,500+ European enterprise clients already comfortable with the arrangement. For most GDPR compliance purposes — lawful basis, data minimisation, security measures — Supertext's practices hold up well. It's specifically the "hosted in the EU" checkbox that Supertext can't tick, which is why we score its compliance rating below platforms like DeepL that run on EU-only infrastructure.

Who It's Best For

Businesses that need verified accuracy, not just speed. The hybrid model — machine translation with optional professional post-editing — suits legal, marketing, and customer-facing content where errors carry real cost. Pure MT tools like Google Translate don't offer this safety net.

Teams already comfortable with Swiss data protection standards. Companies with existing Swiss vendors, or without a hard EU-hosting requirement, get ISO-certified translation quality without the friction of a large enterprise localization contract.

Organisations wanting document fidelity. OCR for scanned PDFs, format-preserving Office file translation, and subtitle support cover more real-world file types than a plain-text translator. That makes Supertext a better fit for document-heavy workflows than for casual one-off phrase lookups.

It's a weaker fit for anyone needing EU-only data residency as a hard compliance requirement. The same goes for projects spanning languages well outside Supertext's 28-language coverage, where Translated's 200+ language pairs or Google Translate's reach will serve better.

The Verdict

Supertext earns its place among Europe's translation platforms by doing something DeepL and Google Translate don't: pairing machine output with an actual human verification layer, backed by translation-industry ISO certifications most MT vendors never pursue. The free tier is genuinely usable, Essential undercuts DeepL's entry price, and the Textshuttle merger gave the company a modern neural engine without losing its two-decade client relationships.

Switzerland itself is the catch. Data hosted exclusively outside the EU, a waitlist-gated Pro tier, and 28 languages that lag both major rivals keep this from being an unqualified recommendation. Businesses that value human-verified translation quality over pure EU data residency will find Supertext a legitimate, well-certified alternative. Those with a strict EU-hosting mandate won't.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Supertext GDPR compliant if its data is hosted in Switzerland?

Supertext states it is compliant with both the EU GDPR and the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP), and offers end-to-end encryption with instant text deletion. However, its infrastructure is hosted exclusively in Switzerland, not within the EU/EEA. Switzerland has an EU adequacy decision covering data transfers, but it sits outside direct EU regulatory jurisdiction — organisations with strict EU-only hosting requirements should confirm this fits their compliance policy before signing up.

How does Supertext compare to DeepL?

DeepL is a pure machine translation engine covering 30+ languages with EU (Finland) data hosting and ISO 27001 certification. Supertext covers 28 languages but adds a hybrid layer of optional human post-editing from 3,000+ professional linguists, plus ISO 17100 and 18587 certifications specific to translation and MT post-editing quality. DeepL is faster and cheaper for pure machine output; Supertext is the better fit when human-verified accuracy or EU-facing certification documentation matters.

Does Supertext have a free tier?

Yes. Supertext's free tier includes unlimited use of the web translator up to 3,000 characters per translation (1,500 for unregistered users) across 28 languages. Registered users also get 5 editable file translations per month, capped at a 5 MB file size limit.

How much does Supertext cost?

Paid plans start at CHF 9.90/month (Essential) for unlimited text translation and 20 file translations per month. Higher tiers add more file volume, glossaries, and priority support: CHF 24.90/month (Advanced) and CHF 49.90/month (Pro, currently waitlist-only). Enterprise pricing is custom-quoted. Annual billing saves 17% versus monthly, and the separate API is billed at a CHF/EUR 4.90 monthly base fee plus usage charges per million characters.

What was the Supertext and Textshuttle merger?

In April 2024, Supertext merged with Textshuttle, a neural machine translation company spun out of the University of Zurich (UZH) in 2016. The combined company operates under the Supertext name with roughly 100-120 specialists across Zurich and Berlin, pairing Textshuttle's MT engine with Supertext's existing network of freelance linguists and enterprise client base.