SDL Trados has highly unethical business practices
August 15, 2022

SDL Trados has highly unethical business practices

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Trados Studio

I bought SDL Trados software several years ago, believing I would be able to use it forever. In August 2022 I received an email saying that "License resets no longer available" for my version of software, effectively meaning I am forced to buy a new version of their software if I move to a new computer or need to reinstall Windows for any reason.

There are few meaningful updates from the 2014 version to the new version, it's basically the same thing with a few tweaks, and a new version is nearly $1,000. Where does this leave translators who work part time or live in countries where rates are low?

Except for this unfair decision by SDL, I have no reason to buy their new version!I will never give SDL another dime as thankfully there are now other competing programs such as memoQ and Trados no longer has a monopoly. It's a desperate and unethical financial move by a company that has always offered poor customer support and attempted to corner the market by brute force. Good riddance.
  • Satisfactory translation memory management.
  • Acceptable but not outstanding workflow.
  • Business oriented mechanisms.
  • Highly unethical corporate practices
  • Poor customer support
  • Overly priced product
  • Monopolistic business strategies
  • Using a CAT that was once the only widely used application by agencies
  • translation memory management (now other programs give the same level of management)
  • mentioning I use it to potential clients as it is widely known
  • It is overpriced
  • Other CAT tools are less expensive for the same level of quality
  • SDL provided almost no support when I had problems
memoQ is better quality and cheaper. Previously, Trados had a monopoly on the market but fortunately there are other adequate options available now at a lower cost.

Do you think Trados Studio delivers good value for the price?

No

Are you happy with Trados Studio's feature set?

No

Did Trados Studio live up to sales and marketing promises?

No

Did implementation of Trados Studio go as expected?

No

Would you buy Trados Studio again?

No

Although now there are competitors, it held a monopoly on computer assisted translation packages for some years. If high prices and poor customer support are not an issue for you, by all means purchase it. Other translators can find better options elsewhere in 2022.