Around
Smartling
| Feature | Around | Smartling |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $10/mo | Contact sales |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Rating | 4.3 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | remote-teams, hybrid-teams, developers, creative-teams | enterprise-companies, saas-companies, global-marketing-teams, content-teams |
| Founded | 2019 | 2009 |
| Floating Bubbles | ✓ | ✗ |
| Noise Cancellation | ✓ | ✗ |
| Auto Leveling | ✓ | ✗ |
| Screen Sharing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Reactions | ✓ | ✗ |
| Meeting Notes | ✓ | ✗ |
| Calendar Integration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Neural Mt | ✗ | ✓ |
| Translation Memory | ✗ | ✓ |
| Visual Context | ✗ | ✓ |
| Quality Scores | ✗ | ✓ |
| Workflow Automation | ✗ | ✓ |
| Connector Integrations | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Around Pros
- Minimal screen footprint with floating video bubbles
- Excellent AI noise cancellation
- Auto-equalizes audio levels between participants
- Designed for casual always-on collaboration
✗ Around Cons
- Limited features for formal presentations
- Smaller user base than major platforms
- No recording on free plan
✓ Smartling Pros
- Hybrid human + AI translation
- Visual context for translators
- Excellent quality management
- Strong CMS and code integrations
✗ Smartling Cons
- Enterprise pricing (not transparent)
- Overkill for small projects
- Setup requires technical resources
The Verdict
Around is built for remote teams and hybrid teams, with a focus on floating-bubbles and noise-cancellation. Smartling targets enterprise companies and saas companies and leads with neural-mt and translation-memory.
Smartling uses custom enterprise pricing, while Around starts at $10/mo — a tangible advantage for teams with a fixed budget.
Around has a free plan, which gives it a meaningful edge for individuals and small teams exploring their options. Smartling requires a paid subscription from day one.
Feature-wise, Around offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Smartling takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.