Comparison

RuneTranslate vs Translator++

Translator++ is the closest thing to a structural twin RuneTranslate has. Both open the game's own data files, pull every translatable string into a project you can edit, and write the result back as a build you keep and play — neither reads memory at runtime and neither draws an overlay on screen. The difference is not the approach, it is which engines each one reads at file level, and who decides what is safe to translate. Translator++ hands Unity to a runtime plugin and asks the human translator to filter out scripts, tags and paths; RuneTranslate parses Unity as files and builds those filters into the extractor.

Made by: Dreamsavior
Licence: GPL-3.0-or-later
Runs on: Windows 7 SP1+

The short answer

If your game is RPG Maker — including 2000 and 2003 — or its text sits in loose JSON, XML, a spreadsheet or a .mo catalogue, Translator++ has eight years of parsers, a huge backend list and a guide already written for your exact title. If your game is Unity, Unreal, Godot, NScripter, AliceSoft or an Electron or Cocos Creator shell, RuneTranslate reads those as files and Translator++ either has no parser or routes you through a runtime plugin. Translator++ is also the better tool if you are a translator who wants a full CAT workbench and total manual control; RuneTranslate is the better tool if you want the extractor itself to refuse to translate a scene name or an asset path. Neither one wins outright, and plenty of people keep both installed.

When Translator++ is the better choice

Take Translator++ first if your game is RPG Maker 2000 or 2003 — it has had a dedicated RM2K2K3 parser since v3.1.30, with an optional EasyRPG interpreter path to work around those engines' encoding limits, and RuneTranslate has no adapter for them at all. Take it if your text lives in a format nobody has written an adapter for: the Custom Parser and Parser Model Creator let you define a new parser from regex or JavaScript rules yourself, which is a route to a result today rather than a feature request, and the generic JSON, XML, spreadsheet and gettext .mo parsers plus the Windows Binary File parser cover a lot of ground on their own. Take it if you are a working translator rather than someone who wants a machine pass: multiple translation columns per row so alternates and machine output sit beside your final choice, a Common Reference glossary, translation memory with an optional MySQL or MariaDB backend for a team, OmniSearch across a whole game directory, an automation builder, the NetCollab real-time add-on and an AI Proofreader are the deepest CAT toolset in this niche, and the exported .trans and .tpp project files are how a lot of community work is passed between translators. Take it if you need a backend RuneTranslate does not carry — Papago, Kakao, Baidu, Yandex and Excite matter for target languages where the big three are weak, and the OpenAI and Gemini batch APIs cut cost roughly in half. Take it if you want a complete tool with no account and no throughput limit, because the free public build is exactly that. And take it for the ecosystem: roughly weekly patron releases through August 2026, a Discord of around 4,150 people and an RPG Maker Forums thread running since 2018 mean that when something goes wrong on your specific game, someone has usually already hit it.

When RuneTranslate fits better

The clearest case is Unity. Translator++ does not parse Unity at file level — it delegates to XUnity.AutoTranslator through BepInEx or ReiPatcher, so the deliverable is a runtime plugin plus text files that fill up only as you play, and Dreamsavior's own docs say a translator has to explore the entire game to record it; RuneTranslate reads TextAsset and MonoBehaviour fields, localization tables and Addressable bundles on both Mono and IL2CPP builds and writes an exported build. The same applies to Unreal Engine 4 and 5, Godot 3 and 4, NScripter and ONScripter, AliceSoft System, and Electron or Cocos Creator visual novel shells, none of which have a Translator++ parser. It also matters if you would rather not hand-audit the grid: RuneTranslate marks scene names, animator parameters, asset paths, lookup keys and comparison operands as opt-in rows that are never translated automatically, and re-checks them at export, because those are the strings that silently break a game. Beyond text, the Image Studio detects, inpaints, typesets and re-bakes Japanese painted into title screens and buttons, which Translator++ states flatly it cannot do, and cloud translation memory follows your account between PCs. Be clear on the trade you are making, though: RuneTranslate is Windows-only, it requires a Patreon sign-in even on the free tier, free runs roughly 2× slower on AI providers and holds one project at a time, the Image Studio is the one place free is read-only rather than throttled, and some engines have a confirmed in-game-playable baseline while others are honestly best-effort.

Side by side

Only the axes where the two genuinely differ. Translator++ details are from its own site, docs and changelogs as of August 2026 — both projects ship often, so check current versions before deciding.

What you are comparing	RuneTranslate	Translator++
Unity games	Parsed at file level on both Mono and IL2CPP builds — TextAsset and MonoBehaviour fields, localization tables and Addressable bundles — then written back into an exported build.	Delegated to XUnity.AutoTranslator via BepInEx or ReiPatcher: a runtime plugin whose translations accumulate as you play, with ReiPatcher limited to Mono and IL2CPP coverage partial.
RPG Maker 2000 and 2003	No translation adapter; only save files are readable, through the rm2k3 LCF codec.	Yes — a dedicated RM2K2K3 parser since v3.1.30, with an optional EasyRPG interpreter path for Unicode.
Unreal, Godot, NScripter, AliceSoft, Electron and Cocos	An adapter each: .pak, .locres and UE5 IoStore; .pck and .translation; .nsa and .sar; System 3.x and 4; and app.asar shells including Cocos Creator builds.	No dedicated parser for any of them; the Custom Parser can reach loose text files but not an encrypted binary container.
Generic and binary text formats	No general-purpose parser for arbitrary files; the Developer tab does bulk CSV, JSON, PO and XLIFF interchange, and compiled .NET strings are read only inside Unity Mono games.	Yes — JSON, XML, spreadsheet and gettext .mo parsers, plus a Windows Binary File parser for strings inside a .dll or .exe.
Adding support for a format yourself	Not possible — every engine ships inside the app, so an unsupported format is a feature request.	Yes — parsers are add-ons, and the Custom Parser and Parser Model Creator build a new one from regex or JavaScript rules.
Keeping identifiers and paths untranslated	Per-engine structural gates mark control identifiers, asset paths and comparison operands as opt-in rows that are never translated automatically, and the same gates re-run at export.	Filtering exists, but the FAQ is explicit that deciding what is script, tag, path or variable name is the translator's job rather than the tool's.
Installing the finished translation	The app writes the output itself — a full runnable copy, an override .pak, a patch.xp3 or a repacked archive, depending on the engine.	You copy the exported files into the game's data folder and delete or rename the original archive, such as Game.rgss3a or Data.wolf, or the engine keeps loading the untranslated originals.
Japanese baked into artwork	Image Studio detects, inpaints, typesets and re-bakes text into the art on the engines it supports; the free tier can open and read it but not edit.	None — the docs state that Translator++ translates text only and has no capability to read characters in image files.
What the free build gives you	Always the current version with every engine, provider and editor unlocked, but it needs a Patreon sign-in, runs roughly 2× slower on AI providers and keeps one project open.	The complete tool with no throughput limit and no login wall, but the public build is an annual snapshot — 8.4.15B from 30 April 2026 while patrons were on 8.8.8 in August 2026.
Paid tiers	Supporter $3/mo and Pro $5/mo; a Developer tier exists and is quoted rather than listed.	Patreon pledges from $2/mo, with $4, $6, $12 and $25 tiers unlocking rolling builds, certain add-ons and extras such as the Translation Proxy.
Machine translation backends	Nine — Google, the free DeepL endpoint, DeepL Classic and Next-gen, the DeepL API, OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek, any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, and a local model via Ollama or LM Studio. No bundled offline model.	20 or more, including regional engines such as Papago, Kakao, Baidu, Yandex and Excite, OpenAI and Gemini batch APIs, and a built-in offline translator covering 40+ languages since 8.4.15.
Translation memory and glossary	Cloud translation memory tied to your account and available on every PC you sign in from, plus a glossary; both are Supporter and above.	Project translation memory and a Common Reference glossary, with an optional MySQL or MariaDB backend when a team shares one.
Maturity and community	First released in May 2026 — much younger, with a smaller community and far fewer third-party guides.	Eight years of continuous development, roughly weekly patron releases, a Discord of about 4,150 members and an RPG Maker Forums thread running since 2018.
Source code	Closed source.	GPL-3.0 core with published source, though the public mirror sits at 6.4.11 from August 2024 and the add-ons carry their own licences and are partly patron-gated.

RuneTranslate is not affiliated with Translator++ or its developer, Dreamsavior. Every detail above was checked in August 2026 against the project's own site, documentation, changelogs and published source mirror; both tools update frequently, so confirm anything decision-critical before you commit to a workflow.

Questions people ask

Is RuneTranslate a drop-in replacement for Translator++?

Not in every direction. The two overlap heavily on RPG Maker MV and MZ, XP, VX and VX Ace, Wolf RPG, Kirikiri, Ren'Py, TyranoScript, LiveMaker, YU-RIS, Artemis, Bakin and SRPG Studio, where both extract strings from the game's files and export a build you keep. Outside that overlap they diverge: RuneTranslate adds Unity at file level plus Unreal, Godot, NScripter, AliceSoft and Electron or Cocos shells, while Translator++ adds RPG Maker 2000 and 2003, generic JSON, XML, spreadsheet and .mo parsing, and a Custom Parser you can extend yourself. Check your specific engine before assuming either one covers it.

How does Translator++ handle Unity games?

Translator++ does not parse Unity assets at file level. It routes Unity games to XUnity.AutoTranslator through BepInEx or ReiPatcher, which is a runtime plugin: the translation is captured into text files only as lines appear on screen, so producing a complete translation means playing through the whole game, and ReiPatcher is Mono-only with partial IL2CPP support. Everywhere else in Translator++ you get an exported build, but for Unity the deliverable is a plugin the player installs. RuneTranslate takes the file-level route on Unity instead, reading TextAsset and MonoBehaviour fields, localization tables and Addressable bundles on both Mono and IL2CPP.

Which tool should I use for an RPG Maker 2000 or 2003 game?

Translator++, without hesitation. It has carried a dedicated RM2K2K3 parser since v3.1.30, including an optional EasyRPG interpreter path that works around the encoding limits of those two engines. RuneTranslate has no translation adapter for RPG Maker 2000 or 2003 at all — it can only read their save files, through the rm2k3 LCF codec. For anything on MV, MZ, XP, VX or VX Ace, both tools are real options.

Is Translator++ free, and what sits behind the Patreon?

The Translator++ public build is genuinely free and fully functional, with no throughput limit and no account needed to translate a game. What the Patreon buys is currency and extras: the public build follows an annual cadence — 8.4.15B shipped on 30 April 2026 — while patrons were already on 8.8.8 by 9 August 2026, so new parsers, provider support and fixes can be months ahead there. Pledges start at $2/mo, and some add-ons and features are tied to pledge level. RuneTranslate inverts that trade: everyone gets the current version, but a Patreon sign-in is required and the free tier is throttled rather than feature-limited.

Can either tool translate Japanese text that is part of an image?

Translator++ cannot — its documentation states directly that it translates text only and has no capability to read characters inside image files, so title screens, menu buttons and CG text stay in Japanese. RuneTranslate has the Image Studio for exactly that case: it detects the text, inpaints it out, lets you typeset a replacement and bakes the result back into the game's own image format. The free tier can open and read the Image Studio but not edit in it, which is the one place free is read-only instead of merely slower.

Can I use Translator++ and RuneTranslate together on the same project?

There is no shared project format, so you cannot open a .trans or .tpp file in RuneTranslate or an .rtproj file in Translator++. What does travel between them is the text itself: Translator++ imports and exports spreadsheets, and RuneTranslate's Developer tab does bulk CSV, JSON, PO and XLIFF interchange, so a line-by-line export from one can be edited and re-imported into the other with some manual key mapping. In practice most people who use both pick per game rather than per stage — one tool for the engines it parses, the other for the rest.

Try it on the game you are stuck on

The free tier unlocks every engine, every provider and the whole editor — translation just runs slower, roughly 2× on AI providers, with one project open at a time. It takes a Patreon sign-in and runs on Windows. If your game is Unity, Unreal, Godot or an Electron shell, that is the fastest way to find out whether it extracts cleanly before you commit to any workflow.

Download for Windows Get Supporter ($3/mo)