How long does translation take?

Last updated: July 2026

Translation is the one freelance craft with published speed norms: a professional translator moves through about 2,000 to 2,500 words per working day, all stages included. That makes a 5,000-word document a 2 to 3 day project: 16 to 23 hours of real work.

In short: professional translation moves at 2,000 to 2,500 words per day with all stages included (~1,500 for technical texts), so a 5,000-word document is a 16 to 23 hour project, not an afternoon.

The assumptions: human translation by a professional working into their native language, a general business text (not literary, not legal), an editable source file, and standard quality with self-revision included.

The task list, for a 5,000-word document

The conversion nobody does: per word back to per hour

Translation is priced per word almost everywhere, which hides what the work pays. The bridge is simple: your per-word price × your real words per hour = your effective hourly rate.

At $0.12 per word and a realistic 300 words per hour (all stages counted), you earn $36 per hour. Is that above your personal floor? Above your target? Most translators have never run this check, and it is the whole reason to know your rate before accepting a per-word price. The calculator gives you both numbers to compare.

What moves the estimate

Up: technical, medical or legal content (slower and requiring terminology work), a PDF or image source instead of an editable file, rare language pairs, certified or sworn translation requirements, tight formatting like subtitles or software strings.

Down: familiar subject and repeat client, translation-memory matches on repetitive content, simple general text.

One separate case: machine-translation post-editing is a different service at a different speed and a different price. Quote it as its own thing, never as a discount on translation.

Price your version

Take your word count, divide by your realistic daily speed, and put the hours into the calculator. At 20 hours and the default $50/h with a 20% buffer, the 5,000-word document quotes around $1,200 (which is $0.24 per word, a useful sanity check in both directions).

Per-word prices hide the hours. Convert back once, and you will never accept a rate blind again.