The MTPE becomes the newest player in the language industry as it boosts the translator’s work. But it surely cannot replace humans — it may not be used in some fields of expertise and with some language pairs. On the whole, MTPE services will be wildly used as time doesn’t stand still. As it has already been said, this is a new language service, and pricing for it is not stable.
Factors impacting MTPE pricing
- The quality of the source text (The poorer quality of MT, the more time it takes to perform MTPE, therefore the prices should be higher).
- The language pair (Most popular language pairs will have a better MT engine, so it will be cheaper. In the case of African and other rare languages, MTPE services will be expensive as they will take time to make changes).
Word and hourly MTPE pricing
MTPE can be paid per word or per hour. There is a great discussion about it as some people think the word count is better, the others say that MTPE should be paid per hour as it depends on the quality of the MT.
So, the word count rate is 70-80 % of the rates of a regular translation. The rate for machine translation is considered only for new words and 50-74% matches. The remaining matches are processed without the help of the MT and are paid at the rates of a regular translation. As for hourly payment, according to Payscale, the hourly rate is average $20.
Conclusion: there is no particular answer to what MTPE pricing to choose. Pay attention to the MT quality and language when calculating prices for MTPE.