Why I built Unlingo?
Hey Indie Hackers,
For years, my internationalization workflow was a complete mess of JSON files and endless back-and-forth on Slack. Every time I had to add a new language or change a simple piece of text, I felt the pain. I knew there had to be a better way.
That's why I built Unlingo - an open-source, developer-first platform to fix this mess. The goal is to make localization a simple, and even enjoyable, part of the development cycle instead of a chore.
Here's what it does:
🚀 Super fast setup. Go from zero to a multilingual app in about 3 minutes.
🤖 AI assistance. Generate translations on the fly when you don't have a human translator ready.
📸 Screenshots. Attach screenshots directly to keys so translators know exactly what they're working on.
🔄 Insta Sync for keys. Edit your primary language, and the keys are instantly created for all other languages.
🔀 Branches. Create separate translation sets for development, staging, and production.
I built this as a solo developer. The stack is Next.js on the frontend, with Convex for the real-time database/backend and Clerk handling the auth. The whole thing is open-source, so you can see exactly how it works.
I'm launching it today and would be incredibly grateful for any feedback, bug reports, or first impressions from the IH community.
Thanks for checking it out.
Finally ....localization without the headache...
Really like the angle here, letting creators republish in new markets without reshoots is a clear win. What I’m curious about: which use case is converting best so far (YouTube creators, course makers, or brands repurposing explainers)? And what “activation moment” tends to predict retention — first fully dubbed upload, % watch time on the dubbed version, or a second language added?
A couple quick ideas that might compound: a 30-sec before/after clip that shows meaning + emotion preserved, lightweight pricing explainer tied to minutes/languages, and a few SEO pages for “dub my video to [language]” queries with real case studies.
P.S. I’m with Buzz — we build conversion-focused Webflow sites and pragmatic SEO for product launches. If helpful, happy to share a short GTM checklist.
This sounds super handy! 🙌 Dealing with scattered JSON files and manual syncing is such a pain — I’ve been there too. Love that you included screenshots for context and the AI-assisted translations; those alone feel like game changers. Congrats on launching! Dropping a link so folks can try it out?
Hey, thank you so much for the feedback! Im not allowed to post a link in the comments but you can press on Product and then Visit website. It has a free tier, so I would really appreciate any feedback after usage!
Really smart approach! Saving time on translations is huge. How well does the AI handle tricky phrases, or do you still rely on humans for the tough stuff?
Hey! Thank you for the feedback! Honestly it's really depends, sometimes AI is better and sometimes worse. I'm planning to make it better, one of the possible solutions would be to attach screenshots for AI as well, that way it can actually see interface context. Other possible solutions would be to allow codebase parsing during future CLI usage, so it could get more context as well. But the screenshots solution seems easier and faster to implement. For now I would probably use humans for tough stuff anyway (if you have resources)
Really impressed by this approach! One idea....adding AI-assisted glossary suggestions could keep tone and terminology consistent across tricky translations.
Nice work! By the way, you could add a CLI to find missing or unused keys, support ICU messages for plurals and variables :)
Hey, thank you! Yes, Im planning to add CLI which would automatically sync translation files inside project and dashboard. Plurals and variables are technically already supported because it stores pure JSON, so string values are normal strings and you can add
{{variable}}inside and your framework would parse it. It worked fine with tests :)Sounds great, happy that you have tested it already!
Oh and btw, we could partner up! Me and my team are building HustleAdvisor, a social network where entrepreneurs share practical step by step lessons. If you join the waitlist and later post a short write up about building Unlingo, we will boost it in the main feed so more people see it :)
You get: more users
We get: an experienced entrepreneur on board
Good luck with the launch!