The Best Discord Translator Bot & How to Set It Up?
- Discord has evolved beyond its gaming roots, becoming a hub for diverse communities where people of different nationalities come together. In these multilingual spaces, a translator bot can be essential.
- iTranslator stands out as the best translator bot on Discord due to its ease of use, robust features like auto-translation, manual translation, and multi-language support. It's a freemium bot, but its free version is highly capable for most users.
- Alternatives like Translator Bot, Interaction Bot, and JakeBot also offer solid features, but iTranslator's simplicity and reliability make it the top recommendation for most Discord servers.
Initially intended for gamers, Discord has now evolved into a full-blown messaging app where entire communities can keep in touch and discuss whatever topic they’re passionate about; games, anime, movies, coding, literally anything.
Naturally, large communities have members of different nationalities, and some users might not know English. There are also multiple servers dedicated to learning or improving specific languages. What all of them need is a translator bot. But which translator bot is the best one? Read on to find out!
Table of Contents
What is a Translator Bot?
A translator bot in Discord translates languages within a server. Multiple communities on Discord have members from different nationalities. Not all members may be fluent in English, so a translator bot helps bridge the language gap by translating messages.
The Best Translator Bot on Discord — iTranslator
We tested several bots and found iTranslator to be the clear winner. Although a freemium bot (offering both free and premium versions), iTranslator has all the essentials: auto-translation, manual translation, translation in DMs (direct messages), and support for multiple languages. You can check out its full features in the bot’s documentation.
1. Adding iTranslator to Your Server
Follow these steps to add iTranslator to your Discord server:
- Open your web browser and go to the iTranslator website. Click on the Add to Discord button.
Click on the “Add to Discord” button - A new tab will open, asking for your Discord login credentials. Log in using your credentials or scan the QR code on the right using the Discord Mobile app.
Log in to your Discord account - Select the Add to Server option.
Choose “Add to Server” - Select the server where you’d like to add the bot. Click on the drop-down menu to choose your server and click Continue.
Select your server and click “Continue” - Check the permissions to be granted to the bot, scroll down, and click Authorize.
Click on “Authorize” - You’ll see a message that iTranslator has been added to your server. Click the button to open your server or open your Discord app.
The iTranslator bot should now be present on your server
READ MORE: How to Create Reaction Roles for Discord Using Carl-Bot ➜
2. Using the iTranslator Bot for Normal Translations
To use the iTranslator bot for translations, follow these steps:
- Open your Discord server and navigate to any text channel. Type “/translate” and select the first option from the suggestions.
Click on the top option from the suggestions list - Type the text to be translated in “text” and choose English as the “target_language“.
Input the command as shown - The “source_language” option should appear in the suggestions. Click on it.
Add the “source_language” option to your command - Enter the language of the text you entered in the “source_language” section.
[caption id="attachment_430592" align="aligncenter" width="701"]
Select the text’s original language - Enter the language of the text you entered in the “source_language” section.
- Press Enter or click the Send button.
The bot identifies who sent the translated message and the original language - As you can see, the translation is accurate.
[caption id="attachment_430595" align="aligncenter" width="1034"]
The translations are quite accurate - As you can see, the translation is accurate.
- To send a message in a foreign language, switch the “source_language” and “target_language” and type the text in English.
You can use the bot to type messages in foreign languages too
READ MORE: How to Add Midourney Bot to Discord in 3 Easy Steps [2024] ➜
3. Using the iTranslator Bot for Automated Translations
You can set up the translator bot for automated translations to display messages in English or any other language.
- In any text channel, type “/autotranslate“. From the suggestions list, select “/autotranslate create“.
Click on the “/autotranslate create” option - Enter a name in the “name” option, like “german-english“.
Input any name in the “name” section - Select the “source_channel” where the translator will receive texts for translation.
Set the “source_channel” to your desired text channel - Select the “target_channel” where the translated texts will be output. You can choose the same or a different channel.
Choose the same or a different text channel for “target_channel” - Choose the output language under the “target_language” option.
Select your output language - Add the “source_language” option. Position the cursor outside “target_language“, and it should appear in the suggestions list. Click on it.
[caption id="attachment_430604" align="aligncenter" width="693"]
Select the “source_language” option - Add the “source_language” option. Position the cursor outside “target_language“, and it should appear in the suggestions list. Click on it.
- Select the language you’ll be translating with the “source_language” option.
Select the language to be translated - Press Enter or click the Send button to test your new translation setup!
[caption id="attachment_430606" align="aligncenter" width="713"]
This message confirms the command was accepted - Press Enter or click the Send button to test your new translation setup!
- As you can see, it works perfectly fine!
The auto-translate feature is quite handy
READ MORE: The 8 Best Discord Music Bots That Still Work ➜
Alternatives to iTranslator on Discord
iTranslator is quite straightforward and its free version is often sufficient. However, if you like to keep your options open, here are some other alternatives:
1. Translator
The Translator bot from nvu is a great alternative to iTranslator. It supports even more languages and offers features like auto-translation, DMs translation, and manual translation. However, it has a strict 5000 character limit and requires a paid subscription of $10 per 20000 characters.
2. Interaction Bot
The Interaction Bot can also compete with iTranslator. It offers the same functionality and additional features like designating roles for auto-translation and text-to-speech. However, it has a limit on the number of roles and channels you can designate for auto-translation without a premium subscription.
3. JakeBot
JakeBot is a feature-rich translation bot that offers numerous features besides translation, such as roleplay, trivia, and wordclouds. Its translation capability includes auto-translation with blacklist and whitelist functionalities. However, you can only set up auto-translation for 8 channels, and it may feel overwhelming to use.
READ MORE: The 10 Best Discord Server Rules Templates ➜
Ultimately, the choice of a translator bot is yours. You can try any translation bot, even those not listed here, as long as they fulfill their function. However, we recommend iTranslator for its simplicity and quick functioning.
