I think it is the best CAT tool. It might seem difficult to use at first, but it is a true powerhouse with so many features...

Many features, options, smart actions, integration with other tools, many add-ons (also third party add-ons). It is extremely good CAT tool, and in my opinion it is the best CAT tool right now.

Licensing. It is unbelievable how licensing can annoy users who paid for the software and how it is limiting them (binding to a specific hardware, server activation/deactivation - terrible when the site is down for maintenance and you need to switch the license from your office computer to home computer for some weekend work).

SDL Trados Studio is, by far, the most known CAT tool out there. It's an expensive software, but once you start using it for your projects, you will quickly notice how this can pays itself off in a few months (or days, depending on your workload). After years translating with SDL Trados, it's impossible to imagine my rountine without a CAT Tool like this. The downside is that it may freeze at sometimes for no apparent reason. It also demands a good PC to run it smoothly, as it tends to be a bit slow in older devices. Overall, it is worth every cent if you do intend to work as a translator!

It makes your job as a translator sooo much easier, faster and more professional! The translation memories and termbases allow you to work like 2x faster and keep consistency throughout your project. It's a really powerful tool (after 5 years working daily with it, I still discover new and incredible tools and features every week).

The software may freeze or present some errors that force you to reopen it. It may also have a hard time working with MS Word file full of tags. You may need a strong PC to work it properly and smoothly.

Terrible. User-unfriendly. Bugs here and there. When you use this, please be prepared to spend more time troubleshooting than translating.

Nothing. It wastes a lot of my time in troubleshooting every single time.

It is soooooo damn difficult to use!!!! I have an B.A. and M.A. degree in Translating and Interpreting and took university courses about Translation Tools. And yet TRADOS is just sooooooo unbelievably difficult to use. Because my client sent me a Trados package, so I decided to switch to it. And yet, every single time, you have to spend hours in trouble shooting. If I used that much time in translating, I would have finished the tasks long time ago. There are sooooo many bugs. For example, you have put in the translation terms manually for soooo many times, and yet there is simply no hit or the term menu would not show up. You have put in all the right files, and yet sometimes it even refuses to create a project. You created a translation memory with an older version of the software, and it cannot even recognise the translation memories created by its own older version of products. Simply put, this is just dumbness!!!! The software is so stupid that it made itself so complicated to use. I believe that if Microsoft or Google were interested in the market, they would have made something far far better. And since its inception, Macbook has been so popular and yet there is still no mac version on the market. This company is just so unbelievably dumb! Trados were a breakthrough when it came out, but if it continues on this stupid and arrogant route, it should be deserted by the era. There are so many more replacement translation softwares that are far more user-friendly

A very good software overall, anyone starting out as a translator should take advantage of Trados trial before committing to buy it, they should ready their pockets though.

Easy to set-up and deploy. Even easier to start a project in almost any language spoken in the world. I can reuse my TMs on any project i am working on, a very good feature. Navigation through the panels is easy and self-explanatory, saving projects and locating them is super easy.

Too expensive! Whats with yearly upgrades? i mean if i do not renew definitely i do not get feature upgrades and yet i possess the software. Bulky. As you use it overtime expect your RAM and storage to be depleted with time.

Productivity, brings me business.

Trados is a productivity tool that is indispensable for professional translators. It is the preferred platform of the industry and many clients require its use. Therefore, it is a good investment for professional translators. It has batch processing features and filtering options which aid in quality control and increase productivity.

The filtering functions could be better/more complex. I have experienced quite a few bugs over the years. Easily accessible customer support costs extra. Finding direct help from Trados without paying for the support package is like pulling teeth. Luckily, so many people use the software, it is usually easy and quick to find troubleshooting tips through online forums.

- The Office-suite-look user interface makes the tool seem really familiar and user-friendly. - Trados Studio has improved over time and has been implementing new useful filters for the most common file formats that make them a reference CAT tool in the sector.

- Misses some powerful and advanced functionalities, especially to work with software files such as .resx, for that you need to turn to Passolo, also from the SDL family.

Trados is one of the most commonly used translation software out there. What I like about Trados is that it remembers phases that I have used previously so I can create a more consistent translation which alone is a huge time saver.

Occasionally it freezes up it is also expensive. If you are working for an agency your agency might be able to offer you a different software free of charge.

The offline review tool needs to work before I can give it my wholehearted recommendation. There are many features that I definitely like more than competitive tools, and if I was doing translation myself, I'd have a hard time avoiding the purchase. That being said, it remains a necessary evil at best for translation agencies who have clients that require its use. We would not be using it if a client did not require it.

This program is probably the closest to the industry standard. It's extremely robust, with lots of add-ins the expand the capabilities. It covers all the standard bases as well for a modern CAT tool, and is usually the only CAT tool you'll see fully integrated in other translation project management tools or TMSs.

It feels a little clunky in some places, and the features aren't always where you would expect to find them. SDL is clearly trying hard to get everyone onboard with their environment and their tools, but the reality is that the majority of translators in our industry (highly specialized legal translators) are at a point in their career where they don't need to invest in Studio to get the work they need, and so many top translators are unwilling to take projects that work in Studio. There is a very glitchy "offline review tool" that converts the project to a bicolumn word document, but it is not designed to be used for translation outside of the Studio environment, so it is a pain to work with, if it works at all.

The possibility to work freelance more efficient and effectively while also being hired independently by companies that use the same software

After you've learned most features, you realise all the great qualities, for example, creating a translation memory or your own terminology database basically using any languages you work with, while also providing different specialised fields where you can save them according to your own categories. It adds up to an incredible time saver that increases your productivity, which is also accountable, because it keeps track of how many words you've translated and also tells you how much further you have to go.

I would have to say its incompatibility with other softwares. You cannot share translation memories or any other documents with non Trados users.

I just love Trados. I have used it since 2007 and Im one happy customer !

Sometimes after updating few issues happens but they get solves soon.

Trados Studio is the business standard which means it that it's a must-have for any professional translator. It is difficult to learn, and never ceases to frustrate, but, overall, it can be the only tool you really need.

This software is standard within the translation business and therefore a must-have for every professional translator. The software can be very powerful once you have learned to master it.

The learning curve is very steep, the user interface is counter-intuitive, bordering on byzantine. Even for power users with many years of use, this software never ceases to confuse. The development has stalled, which means that competing software is now just as good, or better, but Trados Studio is still a must-have due to its ubiquity.

Translations are done better and faster.

It does what it needs to and it does it well. Very well recognized name with other vendors so easy to find people who use it.

Sometimes the updates and licensing can be a bit of a pain. Unless you pay extra the support turn around time can be a bit slow (but they are always friendly and will do everything they can for you)

I like it very much. I use it in my everyday working process, actually I don’t see myself without it.

It really speeds the working process, and helps keep consistency of similar documents.

The only minus is the pricing, and that there are many update also to be purchased.

The ease of use, I can work faster with it.

Importing and exporting bilingual files.

This is my go-to software for translation as a freelance translator, it was easy to learn and it makes my job so much easier and faster. My favorite part is being able to keep the same format as the original file without having to add extra effort on my side.

Easy to learn, worth the investment, makes my job easier and faster, helps me keep the same format as the original document.

It is very pricey but the investment is worth the money if you want to work as a translator full time

Translation Memory management is great, userinterface is friendly and doesn't take long getting used to.

Processing PDF files can be a paint, sometimes impossible. Performance could be improved, maybe opt in for hardware accelleration? Definitely missing OCR option - I belive it is a must. Segmentation of documents could be improved, a lot of the times text loses sence due to segmentation.

I only use Trados (I started using it back in 2006, now using version 2017) when I am required by an agency. This is not because I don't know how to, on the contrary, I can and have taught people how to work with it. But the result is invariably the same: they are dumbfounded by its complexity, especially after comparing it to other tools.

Rich in features and functionalities. The support for community-made add-ons that solve various problems or improve (facilitate) functionality.

Trados has the steepest learning curve among the leading CAT tools, and managing even a simple setting can be quite a challenge. I have to say I hate the fact the in order to be able to work with terminology, you are required to purchase a separate – and costly – tool.

I have never had a great experience with Trados. Yes, it is capable of a lot, but it costs so much time to be able to learn how to effectively use it, and for the number of errors and problems you can come across while trying to figure it out, it's completely not worth it.

The only real benefit I see to using Trados is that a lot of people use it, so as a linguist it would be a great tool to have just to be able to work on projects for clients that use Trados.

This software is so expensive! Honestly, I believe it is seriously overpriced. It is SO difficult and complicated to use, completely NOT intuitive or user friendly. It takes a lot of time to learn how to use it well and to maximize the benefits and features. There are often unexplainable bugs that can slow down projects and make life plain frustrating.

A tremendous improvement in my cross-file consistency, and to be able to work with clients needs.

SDL TRADOS 2017 or 2019 is the standard in the industry because of its wide range of tools and settings that help the translator, reviewer, and PM to work seamlessly

Since it is a big platform, it is cumbersome for medium-range computers, and it can be too nitpicky, giving a lot of false positives.

This is one of the best and most important CAT tools on the market that I use in my freelance translation work.

It is probably the most widespread CAT tool among big companies. It has a large translation memory, it's versatile and can be applied to almost any type of text.

It has some bugs that make usability a bit difficult. It is not easy to use, it requires a long time to understand and use its functions. There are free options almost as good.

Great software for translations gig. It has amazing translation memory that makes it quick and easy to translate long files.

Trados could up its design and make the experience a bit more fun and innovative. I hope to see this change in the near future.

I constantly use the memory accumulation function - it's a very convenient thing that saves time. At first it was necessary to get used, but now I really understand that this is a professional tool and an approach to it is necessary corresponding. You can't completely rely on the program.

Difficulties with the translation of the books. There, the same fragments are very rare. This makes the system almost useless. I also searched for it for a long time, but I still could not find ready-made databases of formalized texts.

SDL trados is a powerfull CAT tool that allows you to increase your performances, and take care of all the formating while letting you focus on the quality of your translation

Trados is a powerfull tool with huge capabilities and powerfull functionnalities that allow you to take on any big translation project as a team or individual.

My main issue is that SDL is tool powerfull for my needs so it's a little expensive in my opinion considering my needs.

I have tried the free version of this product in the past and honestly wish it was worth it for me to purchase, but at my current workflow it just isn't a possibility. Having said that, I found the software incredibly useful in improving quality and speed of translations. I hope to purchase it in the near future.

It is pricey and many things aren't included and have to be paid for as extras.