Is TEP Worth It? What We’ve Seen Work and Fail

TEP (Translation, Editing, Proofreading) is a three-stage quality assurance service where two or three linguists work on your content instead of one. It costs roughly 80–100% more than translation-only services but catches errors that single-translator projects miss. ISO 17100, the international standard for translation services, requires TEP for certified translations. Most translation buyers underestimate how often translation-only deliveries fail in real-world use.

In this post:

What TEP actually is (the service package, not the workflow)

TEP stands for Translation, Editing, Proofreading. When you purchase TEP services, you’re hiring a team approach instead of a solo translator.

Here’s what you’re buying:

Translation: One linguist translates the content.

Editing: A second linguist compares the translation against the source text, checks terminology consistency, and verifies meaning accuracy.

Proofreading: Either the editor or a third linguist reviews the target text alone (without looking at the source) to catch typos, flow problems, and readability issues.

The key difference from translation-only? Multiple linguists review the same content. That’s the entire point of the service.

Why businesses choose TEP (and when they should)

Translation-only works fine for internal documents where perfect accuracy doesn’t matter. TEP exists for content where errors have consequences.

High-stakes content needs TEP

Medical translations can harm patients if dosage instructions or contraindications are wrong. Legal translations can void contracts if terminology shifts meaning. Technical documentation can cause equipment damage or safety incidents if procedures aren’t clear.

These aren’t hypothetical risks. Translation errors have triggered product recalls, failed regulatory submissions, and legal disputes. TEP reduces those risks substantially.

Brand reputation depends on quality

Your website represents your company in foreign markets. Marketing materials shape how customers perceive your brand. Product descriptions influence purchase decisions.

Translation-only deliveries often contain errors that native speakers notice immediately. Awkward phrasing, inconsistent terminology, or cultural missteps make your company look unprofessional. Customers assume the product quality matches the translation quality.

TEP-level review catches these problems before publication.

ROI case for quality

Poor translation costs more than good translation. Fixing published errors means reprinting materials, updating websites, resubmitting regulatory documents, or managing customer complaints.

One client came to us after their translation-only website launch generated confused customer service calls. They’d saved £2,000 (€2,350) on translation costs but spent £15,000 (€17,600) fixing the problems and managing the fallout.

TEP costs more upfront but eliminates expensive post-publication corrections.

What you’re paying for (the commercial breakdown)

TEP pricing reflects the number of people involved and the time each stage requires.

Multiple linguist involvement

Translation-only uses one person. TEP uses two or three. Each linguist needs to be paid, which increases costs.

The second linguist reviews critically because they didn’t translate the text. They spot problems the original translator missed because they’re seeing the content fresh. This is why ISO 17100 specifically requires that editors did not work on the original translation.

Time investment required

Editing takes time. The editor compares source and target text sentence by sentence, checks every term against glossaries or client guidelines, and often queries the translator about word choices.

Proofreading takes additional time. The proofreader reads the entire target text focusing on flow, readability, and catching any errors that slipped through editing.

At Crisol, we estimate full TEP takes roughly 200 words per hour (across all three stages), compared to 300 words per hour for translation-only. That time difference reflects the quality checks involved.

Specialist expertise for each stage

Good editors need different skills than good translators. Translators need creativity and deep cultural knowledge to adapt content appropriately. Editors need critical thinking to spot inconsistencies and verify accuracy against the source.

Proofreaders bring fresh perspective because they haven’t been staring at the same text through multiple review stages. They catch the small errors that everyone else’s eyes have started to skip over.

Finding people who excel at each of these distinct roles costs more than finding one generalist translator.

Quality checkpoints and accountability

TEP creates accountability. If the translation has problems, the editor should catch them. If editing misses something, proofreading provides backup.

Translation-only puts all responsibility on one person. When that person misses an error (which happens to everyone), there’s no safety net.

TEP pricing: What it actually costs

TEP costs roughly 80–100% more than translation-only services because you’re paying for multiple linguists and additional quality stages.

Most translation agencies price TEP per word with separate rates for translation, editing, and proofreading. Specialist agencies often use hourly pricing for marketing and SEO work that involves cultural adaptation, keyword research, and strategic decisions beyond word-for-word translation. For a detailed breakdown of how these different pricing models work, we’ve written a full guide to translation pricing.

How we price TEP services

At Crisol, we use hourly pricing. We work primarily with marketing content (which often requires transcreation) and SEO translation (which involves things like multilingual keyword research) – work that doesn’t fit neatly into word counts. Keyword research, cultural adaptation, and persuasive copywriting take time that isn’t captured by counting words.

We charge £100 per hour (€117/hour) as a base rate, though specific projects may vary depending on complexity, timeline, and requirements.

For a typical website localisation project with TEP, we estimate hours based on content type and complexity. A 1,000-word homepage with standard marketing content typically takes about 4 hours for full TEP (two linguists working together). That same content would take roughly 2.5–3 hours as translation-only.

1,000-word homepage example:

• Translation-only: ~3 hours at £100/hour = £300 (€352)
• Full TEP: ~4 hours at £100/hour = £400 (€469)

That £400 (€469) includes substantially more than word-for-word translation:

• Two specialist linguists (translator + editor) reviewing every sentence
• Cultural adaptation and localisation beyond linguistic accuracy
• Brand voice alignment and persuasive copywriting
• Strategic decisions about when content needs transcreation rather than direct translation
• SEO considerations (though full keyword research is quoted separately)
• Direct communication with the linguists working on your project

Per-word pricing works when you need straightforward translation. Hourly pricing works when you need marketing translation that actually persuades customers in the target market, not just conveys information accurately.

Package pricing for ongoing work

We offer discounted packages for clients who need consistent quality across multiple projects:

• 25-hour package: 5% discount
• 50-hour package: 7% discount
• 75-hour package: 10% discount
• 100-hour package: 13% discount

All packages allow usage within three months. Marketing agencies and language service providers can request up to 20% agency discounts.

These packages work well for companies expanding into multiple markets or running continuous localisation programmes. You buy a bank of hours upfront, we guarantee our availability, and you allocate hours to different assets as needed.

Industry price comparison

Large translation agencies often advertise cheaper per-word rates. They achieve those prices through high volume, machine translation with light post-editing, and paying translators low rates.

Boutique specialist agencies typically charge £0.12–0.25 per word (€0.14–0.29) for marketing translation with full TEP. The higher rate reflects specialist expertise, proper review processes, and fair translator compensation.

Warning signs of problematic pricing:

Anything under £0.06 per word (€0.07) for European languages usually means machine translation with minimal human review. The provider might call it TEP but you’re not getting three qualified linguists reviewing the content.

If a quote seems too cheap, ask how many linguists will work on the project and what their qualifications are. Many providers use “TEP” as a label without following the actual process.

How to choose between TO and TEP

Not every project needs TEP.

When translation-only (TO) is acceptable

Use TO for:

• Internal communications that won’t be published
• Content where you need the gist but not perfect accuracy
• Draft translations that will go through additional review internally
• Low-risk content where errors won’t cause problems

When TEP is essential

Use TEP for:

• Published marketing content (websites, brochures, ads)
• Legal documents (contracts, terms of service, compliance materials)
• Medical or pharmaceutical content (patient information, clinical trials, regulatory submissions)
• Technical documentation (user manuals, safety instructions, specifications)
• Financial reporting or investor materials
• Any content where accuracy affects business outcomes

Red flags that you need more than TO

You definitely need TEP if:

• Errors could cause legal liability
• The content directly generates revenue (sales pages, product descriptions)
• Brand reputation is at stake
• Industry regulations require quality assurance
• Native speakers will scrutinise the text
• The content has technical terminology that must be consistent

Where machine translation and AI fit into TEP

Machine translation has improved substantially in recent years. Neural MT systems like DeepL and Google Translate produce better output than the rule-based systems from a decade ago. Many translation buyers wonder if MT can replace TEP.

MT doesn’t replace the need for TEP, but it can change what TEP looks like.

MTPE: Machine translation with post-editing

MTPE (machine translation post-editing) means running content through MT, then having human linguists review and correct the output. Some providers market this as “TEP” but it’s not the same process.

Some providers also use pre-editing before machine translation – cleaning up the source text to make it clearer for MT systems. This might involve simplifying sentence structure, removing ambiguity, or standardising terminology before the content goes through the machine.

The distinction:

Traditional TEP: Human translates → second human edits → third human (or second human) proofreads

MTPE with quality review: Machine translates → human post-edits → human proofreads

MTPE with pre-editing: Human pre-edits source → machine translates → human post-edits → human proofreads

The MTPE version can work well for certain content types: technical documentation with repetitive language, high-volume content that updates frequently, or internal materials where natural language matters less than comprehension.

Where MTPE struggles: marketing content, persuasive copy, culturally sensitive material, anything where tone and voice matter. Machine translation doesn’t understand brand personality or cultural nuance. Post-editing can fix grammar and accuracy, but it can’t always inject the persuasive quality that human translation delivers from the start.

When we use MT (and when we don’t)

At Crisol, we’re transparent about when we use machine translation. For marketing and SEO content, we typically don’t. The cultural adaptation and persuasive language our clients need requires human creativity from the beginning.

For clients with large volumes of technical UI strings or help documentation, we might use MT as a first pass if:

• The content is technical and repetitive
• Speed is critical
• The client understands the quality difference
• We can still apply proper human review

The pricing reflects the process. MTPE with review costs less than human translation with TEP because the initial translation takes less time. But it’s still more expensive than raw MT because the human review is essential.

AI writing tools and quality concerns

Some agencies now use AI writing tools (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) to generate translations or marketing copy. This creates different quality risks than traditional MT.

AI-generated content can sound fluent and natural, which makes errors harder to spot. An AI might write perfectly grammatical Spanish that uses the wrong terminology, misses cultural context, or sounds generic instead of on-brand. Traditional TEP catches obvious errors, but spotting AI-generated mediocrity requires subject matter expertise.

Google’s position on AI-generated content is clear: they care about quality and usefulness, not how content was created. But unedited AI content often lacks the cultural nuance and market-specific knowledge that makes international SEO work.

If you’re considering a provider who uses AI tools, ask:

• How do they verify accuracy and cultural appropriateness?
• Do subject matter experts review AI output?
• Can they explain when AI is appropriate for your content type?

The honest assessment

Machine translation won’t replace human translators for content where quality matters. But it can speed up certain workflows when combined with proper human review.

TEP exists because even excellent human translators miss things. AI and MT are tools that can fit into quality workflows, but they don’t eliminate the need for multiple expert reviews. If anything, AI-generated content needs more rigorous checking than human translation because the errors are subtler.

When evaluating providers, the question isn’t “do you use AI?” but “how do you ensure quality regardless of what tools you use?”

Beyond basic TEP: When you need additional review

Sometimes even TEP isn’t enough. Some projects need extra quality assurance.

TEP + SME review

Subject matter experts (SME) provide domain knowledge that linguists might lack. A medical translator knows language and medical terminology, but a practising doctor might catch clinical inaccuracies or outdated treatment references.

TEP + SME works well for:

• Highly technical content in specialised fields
• Medical or pharmaceutical translations
• Legal documents requiring country-specific legal knowledge
• Financial or regulatory content

TEP + in-country testing

For software, apps, or websites, linguistic quality isn’t enough. You need someone in the target market to click through the interface, test forms, and verify that everything works in context.

In-country testing catches:

• Text that doesn’t fit in the UI
• Cultural mismatches in images or examples
• UX problems specific to that market
• Technical issues with character encoding or date formats

Continuous quality for software products

Software products that release updates constantly need continuous localisation – translation processes that run parallel to development.

We often structure continuous localisation as ongoing TEP with monthly hour allocations. Clients use a translation management system (TMS) to push new strings to us, we translate and review them using the full TEP process, and they go live with each release.

Evaluating TEP providers: What to check

Not all providers deliver genuine TEP even when they use the label. Here’s how to evaluate them.

Questions about their process

Ask: “How many linguists will work on this project?” Red flag: If they say one person does everything, it’s not real TEP.

Ask: “Will the editor be someone who didn’t work on the initial translation?” Red flag: If they say the translator self-edits, that’s not proper TEP.

Ask: “What qualifications do your linguists have?” Red flag: If they can’t specify credentials, experience, or specialisations.

Ask: “Do you use machine translation?” Important: Using MT isn’t automatically bad, but they should be transparent about it. Some providers use MT with post-editing and call it TEP. That’s fine if they’re honest about it, price accordingly, and apply proper quality checks. Red flag: If they’re evasive or claim they never use it when their prices are suspiciously low.

Ask: “How do you decide whether to use MT for a specific project?” Good answer: They evaluate content type, language pair, and whether MT will genuinely help. Red flag: “We use MT for everything to keep costs down” or vague answers about “efficiency.”

Technology they use

Professional TEP providers should use translation memory systems and terminology management. These tools ensure consistency across large projects.

Ask about:

• CAT tools (computer-assisted translation software)
• Translation management systems
• Quality assurance checks (automated error detection)
• Whether they maintain translation memories for your content

Portfolio and references

Request examples of similar projects. If you’re translating marketing content, ask to see marketing translations they’ve done. If you need technical documentation, ask for technical samples.

Check references, especially from clients in your industry. Ask specifically about:

• How they handled revision requests
• Communication responsiveness
• Whether deadlines were met
• Error rates in delivered content

The risks of skipping quality steps

Cheap translation fails predictably.

Translation-only delivery failures

One e-commerce client tried translation-only for their product catalogue. The translations were technically accurate but used formal, stiff language that didn’t connect with customers. Conversion rates in those markets were 40% lower than English-language sales.

After TEP-level revision focusing on persuasive language, conversion rates recovered to match their domestic performance.

Machine translation disasters

A software company used free machine translation for their help documentation. Customer support calls from international markets tripled because users couldn’t understand the instructions. They spent months retranslating everything properly.

Machine translation has improved substantially, but it still needs human review (post-editing) to catch errors, awkward phrasing, and cultural problems. Proper MTPE (machine translation post-editing) with TEP-level review can work well. Machine translation alone doesn’t.

The “cheap translation” trap

Budget translation services often advertise low per-word rates. What you actually get is:

• Junior translators without specialist expertise
• No editing or proofreading (despite “TEP” claims)
• Fast turnarounds that sacrifice quality
• Generic translations that don’t account for your brand voice

You end up paying twice: once for the cheap translation, then again to fix it properly.

Real project example: What TEP looks like in practice

We structured TEP services for a recent client this way (details changed to protect confidentiality).

Project scope

The client needed to localise their group gifting platform into Spanish. Content included:

• Website (homepage, product pages, FAQs)
• App interface
• Transactional emails
• Google Ads campaigns

Total volume: approximately 8,000 words across all assets.

Our estimate

We broke down the project into specific deliverables with hour estimates:

Website content:

• Homepage (1,000 words): 4 hours
• Product pages (with repeated content): 1 hour each
• FAQs (1,150 words): 5 hours

App screens:

• Three main screens (50-100 words each): 4.5 hours total

Email templates:

• 62 transactional emails (5,000 words): 16 hours

Google Ads:

• 38 ad groups with responsive search ads: 76 hours (includes keyword research and adaptation for character limits)

Additional services:

• Local market audit (cultural relevance of different “occasions”): 2 hours
• SEO audit per page: 0.5 hours per page
• Kick-off call with lead linguist: 1 hour

Total estimated hours: Approximately 117 hours for full TEP plus strategic consulting

Pricing approach

We offered:

• Base rate: £130/hour (€152/hour)
• 10% new client discount: £117/hour (€137/hour)
• Recommended package: 100-hour package at 13% discount = £10,179 (€11,935)
• Additional hours at full rate if needed

The client had three months to use the hours and could allocate them across different assets as priorities shifted.

What this delivered

Two linguists reviewed every piece of content. One focused on translation and cultural adaptation, the other on editing and quality assurance. Both were Spanish marketing specialists with experience in the client’s industry.

The client got:

• Consistent terminology across all assets
• Culturally adapted content (we flagged that some “occasions” weren’t relevant for Spanish markets)
• SEO-optimised pages with proper keyword research
• Ad copy that fit Google’s character limits while maintaining persuasive language
• Direct communication with the linguists for queries and brand voice alignment

Getting started with TEP services

Providers need certain information from you to quote accurately.

Brief requirements

Expect to provide:

• Source files (in editable format, not PDFs if possible)
• Context about your target audience
• Brand guidelines or style guides
• Glossaries or terminology preferences
• Reference materials (previous translations, competitor examples)
• Timeline requirements

Realistic turnaround times

Professional TEP takes longer than translation-only because multiple linguists are involved. Schedule coordination adds time.

For marketing content with full TEP:

• Simple content (blog posts, product descriptions): 3–5 business days per 1,000 words
• Complex content (technical documentation, legal): 5–7 business days per 1,000 words
• Website localisation: depends on volume, but expect 2–4 weeks for small sites

Rush jobs cost more and may compromise quality. We typically commit to 15 hours per week per language to maintain quality standards.

Building long-term partnerships

The best translation relationships are ongoing. When providers understand your brand, products, and terminology, quality improves and costs decrease.

We maintain translation memories and term bases for all clients. Second projects in the same language pair go faster because previously translated content can be reused where appropriate.

Retainer packages work well for companies with continuous translation needs. You get priority scheduling, consistent linguist assignments, and discounted rates.

Work with a team that takes TEP seriously

Crisol is an award-winning marketing and SEO translation agency working across English-Spanish and English-German markets. Every project we handle goes through a full TEP workflow: translation by a subject-matter specialist, editing by a second linguist, and proofreading before anything reaches you.

We work with SaaS companies, food brands, hospitality groups, and education providers who need translated content that reads naturally in the target market and performs in search. No shortcuts, no machine output passed off as human translation.

If you want to know whether your current translation process is giving you what you are paying for, we are happy to take a look.Get in touch to talk through your project.

Frequently asked questions about the TEP process

What is the TEP process in translation? TEP stands for Translation, Editing, and Proofreading. It is the three-stage workflow by which professional translation agencies produce quality-assured translations. Translation produces the draft; editing compares it against the source and corrects errors; proofreading reviews the final text for fluency and consistency without reference to the source. ISO 17100, the international standard for translation services, recognises TEP as best practice and requires that editing and proofreading be performed by a second translator who did not work on the original translation.

What happens during the editing stage of TEP? The editor compares the translated text against the source document, checking for accuracy, grammar, spelling, punctuation, register, and compliance with any client-specific guidelines. It is not a passive review: editing is often an ongoing back-and-forth between editor and translator, with both parties defending and refining choices. When editors and translators collaborate rather than operating in a one-way hierarchy, the resulting quality is higher than either could achieve independently.

What happens during the proofreading stage of TEP? The proofreader reviews the edited text without looking at the source, reading it as a piece of writing in the target language and checking for remaining errors, inconsistencies, and fluency issues. This step exists because even well-edited text can contain problems that only become apparent when read as a standalone document rather than in comparison with a source.

Can machine translation be combined with TEP? Yes. Some agencies pre-translate content with machine translation and then run the output through editing and proofreading to bring it up to human quality standards. This is called MTPE (machine translation post-editing). The efficiency gains depend heavily on the content type and the machine translation engine: for high-volume, formulaic content it can significantly reduce time; for creative or culturally nuanced content the editing stage may take as long as translating from scratch.

When is TEP not enough? For content that goes beyond linguistic accuracy, TEP needs to be supplemented with additional steps. Marketing content may require localisation (adapting for the target culture, not just correcting the language), SEO content requires keyword research and adaptation for local search behaviour, and advertising copy may need transcreation (recreating the emotional impact for the new audience) rather than a quality-controlled translation of the original.

Related reading:

• The translation process explained
• Will machine translation replace human translators?
• What is a CAT tool?
• Translation memory: benefits and limitations
• ISO 17100 translation quality standard

Author: Maria Scheibengraf

Maria Scheibengraf is an English-to-Spanish marketing and SEO translator specialised in software (SaaS, martech, fintech), and Operations Manager at Crisol Translation Services, which she co-founded in 2016. With a solid background in programming and marketing, Maria has an in-depth understanding of the technical intricacies involved in software programs, websites, and digital platforms. Maria is also the author of The SEO Translation Bible.