Discord Translation Bot Usage & Cost Calculator

How this calculator works

The arithmetic is deliberately simple, because that is the arithmetic the bots themselves use. Your monthly translated volume is estimated as:

messages per day × share translated × average message length × 30 days

Each bot subtracts the characters of every translated message from a running balance. TranslateBot's FAQ is explicit about the mechanic: "the total number of characters of a message will be deducted from the total amount of characters the server has available. Once the available number reaches 0, the bot will stop working and will require a top up." iTranslator tracks the same running count against a 10,000-character monthly quota; Interaction Bot is the outlier that does not count characters at all, which is exactly why its free tier cannot run out on volume.

Two numbers in the estimate are worth tuning before you trust it. The share of messages needing translation is the one people underestimate, because an auto-translate channel translates everything, including greetings, "lol", and the 20-message back-and-forth that carries two real sentences of meaning. The average length matters almost as much: a 50-character message is a rounding error, a pasted 400-character paragraph is a day's quota.

The channel count is the one input that deliberately does not change the character math. It exists to check configuration limits, which are a separate ceiling. Interaction Bot's free tier allows 3 target languages per channel and 20 channel configs per server; iTranslator allows 30 auto-translate rules; TranslateBot ships 50 linked-channel slots on every plan. A server with more auto-translate channels than a bot's free cap hits that wall long before it hits a character wall.

The three free models, and where these numbers come from

Every "free" translation bot is a machine-translation bill paid by someone. The three leading bots each solved that problem differently, and your volume decides which shape of free actually fits you.

Interaction Bot runs unlimited free translation. Its own FAQ says it can do this "by using less efficient translation models," and that paying for Google translation characters improves quality. Your characters never run out, so the free tier is bounded only by configuration: 3 target languages per channel, 20 channels per server, 2 role translations per role, 20 role configs, and 1 category. Premium (via Patreon) unlocks 5 languages per channel, unlimited channel configs, and extras such as translating bot messages and a language blacklist.

iTranslator gives you 10,000 characters a month and resets that quota by voting. Its premium comparison lists the free limit plainly as "10,000 or /checkvote", along with 30 auto-translate rules, 3 role rules, 30 languages, and a "Generated by iTranslator" credit line until you subscribe. Premium is a flat €8.32 per month (Ex VAT) for unlimited translations and a better engine; Pro AI at €24.99 per month adds the OpenAI engine plus TTS and speech-to-text.

TranslateBot is pure pay-as-you-go. The demo plan gives you 15,000 characters, one time only, and the bot stops at zero until you buy a pack. Packs do not expire: Silver $9.99 for 225,000 characters, Gold $19.99 for 550,000, Platinum $39.99 for 1,200,000, and at Platinum the effective rate is about $3.33 per 100,000 characters, the best value on the board.

What the quota model looks like in a real server

Character math is easier to trust when you have watched a translation bot at work in a busy channel. Gehsture's walkthrough of iTranslator shows the bot's translation features working live inside an actual Discord server, the kind of steady traffic that consumes a monthly quota.

What most admins get wrong

• "Free" usually means a quota, a config cap, or a quality trade-off. Interaction Bot is unlimited on characters but caps configs and runs a lower-accuracy engine; iTranslator is a 10,000-character quota you reset by voting; TranslateBot is a one-time 15,000-character trial. None of the three is free and unlimited without a trade-off somewhere.
• Voting is a chore, not a fix. iTranslator's reset model is a funnel: an active server is in a permanent vote-to-keep-translating rhythm, which is exactly how a free tier converts into a Premium subscriber.
• Bots bill the whole message. Your 40-character "thanks!" and your 300-character link dump both count fully, emoji included. Small messages at high volume are still real characters.
• Auto-translate inflates your share. On-demand translation only runs when someone asks. An auto-translate channel translates everything that moves, so the share slider needs to reflect that channel, not the server.
• A 30-day month is a convention. Real months run 28 to 31 days, so a month-level estimate near a quota boundary can be off by a few percent. That is why the verdict also gives you days until exhaustion at your daily rate.

Method and sources

Free-tier limits and prices were read from each bot's own site and documentation on August 28, 2026. Machine translation pricing moves, so re-check before you buy. Sources used in the table and this explainer:

• Interaction Bot FAQ: doc.interaction-bot.com/faq (unlimited free translation on a lower-accuracy engine)
• Interaction Bot premium comparison: doc.interaction-bot.com/premium/premium (free config caps vs Premium)
• iTranslator premium and plan comparison: itranslator.app/premium (10,000-character free limit, /checkvote, config caps, €8.32 per month Premium, €24.99 Pro AI)
• TranslateBot pricing and FAQ: translatebot.app (15,000-character demo, Silver/Gold/Platinum packs, character deduction, no expiry)