What is Poedit used for?

Poedit is a desktop translation editor for gettext PO files and related formats, with optional Pro features such as pre-translation and WordPress support. It is a good fit for WordPress developers translating themes and plugins, and translators working with PO files locally.

Is Poedit open source?

No. Poedit is proprietary (closed-source) software. Open-source alternatives to Poedit include Weblate and Pontoon.

What are some alternatives to Poedit?

Poedit competes with BabelEdit, POEditor and Loco. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Poedit alternatives.

Poedit: features, pricing and alternatives

About Poedit

Poedit is a desktop translation editor built around the gettext PO format, which is used by PHP projects such as WordPress and Drupal, Python frameworks like Django, and many Linux applications. It also handles XLIFF, JSON, Qt and Flutter translation files.

The app emphasizes a minimal interface, safety checks and easy management of translation files and templates. It connects to cloud localization platforms such as Crowdin and Localazy so translators can open and work on those projects directly from the editor. A Pro tier adds fast pre-translation and suggestions using machine translation and AI engines, plus support for translating WordPress themes and plugins stored locally or remotely.

Poedit can be downloaded for free, with Pro available as a paid upgrade. It runs locally on your own computer rather than as a hosted web service, so translators can keep working on files without an internet connection. The vendor also publishes a news feed, support pages and a full feature list.

Key features

Full gettext PO file editing
Support for XLIFF, JSON, Qt and Flutter
Built-in checks to catch translation errors
Crowdin and Localazy project access
Machine translation pre-translation in Pro
WordPress theme and plugin translation in Pro

Good fit for

→WordPress developers translating themes and plugins
→Translators working with PO files locally

Tags: localization; gettext; po-files; translation-editor; desktop-app; wordpress; xliff

Poedit: questions and answers

What is Poedit used for?: Poedit is a desktop translation editor for gettext PO files and related formats, with optional Pro features such as pre-translation and WordPress support. It is a good fit for WordPress developers translating themes and plugins, and translators working with PO files locally.
Is Poedit free?: Yes. Poedit has a free plan.
Is Poedit open source?: No. Poedit is proprietary (closed-source) software. Open-source alternatives to Poedit include Weblate and Pontoon.
What are some alternatives to Poedit?: Poedit competes with BabelEdit, POEditor and Loco. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Poedit alternatives.