My review of Wordfast Anywhere (former Freetm.com)

What is Wordfast Anywhere?

Wordfast Anywhere is a platform that offers its users the option to use different translation tools, such as translation memories (TM) and glossaries, in order to be able to start, work on, and complete their translation projects.

Wordfast Anywhere (freetm.com) used to be free for many years, and it was changed to a subscription-based platform at some point.

It is one of the many platforms that are available for translators to work online, without having to download and/or install any type of software on their computer or laptop.

What are the benefits of using Wordfast Anywhere?

Although Wordfast Anywhere is no longer free for translators to use, the fact that it was offered to translation professionals without any charge for a quite long time is itself a benefit that puts the platform ahead of its competitors.

Even though it has become a subscription-based service, the fee that someone has to pay to use it is reasonable, in my opinion, especially if you are translator working on big projects containing many thousands of words.

Paying the subscription fee to use Wordfast Anywhere is a smart decision and investment that a translator can make, since it will eventually pay back multiple times, thus meaning a high ROI.

Besides, as a translator builds his or her translation memories and glossaries on Wordfast Anywhere or imports his or her own translation assets from other platforms, his or her efficiency will rise dramatically, which means that he or she will be able to earn more money per hour as a language professional, without necessarily charging clients more, because he or she will be able to work faster and more efficiently.

And, just like other translation software, using Wordfast Anywhere can help translators to consistently provide more accurate translations; in this way, they can increase customer satisfaction and build a solid reputation as language professionals.

Wordfast Anywhere vs. other translation memories that I have used

To be honest with you, after I made the decision to start using translation memories and related translation software, I’ve only used Wordfast Anywhere, and also gave OmegaT a go to see how it works.

Therefore, I don’t have any first-hand experience of what other translation memory software and applications are like and how they work.

When I tried OmegaT, before finally testing and shifting to Wordfast Anywhere, I noticed that it affected the operation of my already old laptop, and made it slower, to such an extent that I just couldn’t use it to work on translation projects.

Undoubtedly, OmegaT is a great platform that is trusted by many language professionals.

However, it can be difficulty to use on older computers, since it may make them slower, just like in my case.

I don’t know, though, whether it has improved and become lighter since when I tried it back then.

Is Wordfast Anywhere slow?

There are allegations that Wordfast Anywhere itself will make your system slower.

However, I have never experienced this on my laptop, although it is a quite old model and has limited RAM and other features.

On the contrary, I have been able to work really fast on Wordfast Anywhere, and finish translation jobs in record time, increasing my translation speed and accuracy, as I got repeat customers who allowed me to take advantage of my translation memories and glossaries that I gradually built.

Is Wordfast Anywhere worth it?

There are other, even more experienced, translators than me, who have attested to the fact that Wordfast Anywhere is more than just worth it.

Some people couldn’t believe that such a good translation memory software was offered for free.

Personally speaking, although I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed that the time of using it for free finally came to an end, I made the decision of subscribing to it and paying a fee to use it, because I realized that the benefits that I would enjoy were more than enough to justify my decision.

So I have kept using it as a paying subscriber, and I would definitely recommend it to other translators.

Sources and further reading:

An Introductory Analysis of Wordfast Anywhere In the Context of E2E Business

Top 15 free CAT Tools every Translator Must Know

Wordfast Anywhere FAQ

Features of Wordfast Anywhere