A fast and lightweight AI powered desktop translation application built with Rust and Tauri that provides instant translation between multiple languages with global hotkey support, system tray integration, and a beautiful user interface. Supports OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, and Ollama APIs for high-quality translations with minimal latency and cost.

Completely FREE when used with Ollama for local AI-powered translations - no API costs, no internet required, and complete privacy!

Note: This project has been tested on Windows 11 only. It may work on other platforms, but is not guaranteed. If you would like to help with testing on macOS or Linux, please open an issue.

• 📸 Screenshots
• ✨ Features
• 💰 Cost Analysis
• ⬇️ Installation
• 🚀 Quick Start Guide
• 🎯 Usage

• 🔨 Development Commands
• 📦 Building for Distribution

• 📄 License
• 🙏 Acknowledgments
• 📧 Support

Light Theme

Dark Theme

Translation in Action

History Management

Settings Panel

• Intelligent Language Detection: Automatically detects the source language from most supported languages
• Multi-language Translation: Seamless translation between dozens of languages with configurable target language
• Real-time Translation: Debounced translation as you type (500ms delay)
• Multiple AI Providers: Support for OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, and Ollama (local) APIs
• Free Local Translation: Use Ollama for completely free, offline translations with local AI models
• Custom Prompts: Configurable translation prompts with variable support
• Alternative Target Language: Fallback when source equals target language

• Modern UI: Clean, responsive interface with two-panel layout
• Theme Support: Auto, light, and dark themes with system detection
• Keyboard Shortcuts:
  • Configurable Global Hotkey (default Ctrl+Alt+C):
    • When app is not focused: Clipboard capture and translation
    • When app is focused: Reset detected language
  • Ctrl+C: Copy translated text when app is focused
• Responsive Design: Scales beautifully across different window sizes

• System Tray: Runs quietly in background with context menu
• Global Hotkey: Capture clipboard content from anywhere
• Auto-start: Optional startup with Windows
• Single Instance: Prevents multiple app instances
• Clipboard Integration: Seamless read/write clipboard operations

• Translation History: Persistent history
• Configuration: JSON-based settings in ~/.gptranslate/config.json
• Settings GUI: User-friendly configuration interface

• Model management, allowing users to select and switch between different models.
• Better history management, including search and filtering.

GPTranslate offers flexible pricing options from completely FREE¹ with Ollama to extremely cost-effective with OpenAI's gpt-4.1-nano model:

Complete cost breakdown: $0.00 - Forever!

• ✅ No API costs - Run completely offline
• ✅ No internet required - Perfect for private/secure environments
• ✅ Complete privacy - Your data never leaves your machine
• ✅ Unlimited usage - Translate as much as you want
• ✅ Professional quality - Modern AI models like Llama, Mistral, etc.

*Based on ~100 words (130 tokens input + output)

Azure OpenAI offers comparable pricing, which you can check in detail on the official Azure AI Foundry pricing page. The gpt-4.1-nano model is a great choice due to its balance of low cost and high quality. You might also consider using the model-router, which automatically picks the most suitable model for your request. However, keep in mind that it won't always choose the cheapest option. For translation tasks specifically, specialised models like mistral-small or mistral-small-2503 are worth exploring, as they are likely to deliver exceptional results.

• Any amount of translation: $0.00 forever
• No limits: Translate entire books, documents, websites
• Private & secure: Perfect for sensitive content

• Single paragraph: Less than $0.0001 with gpt-4.1-nano
• 100 translations/day: ~$0.005 ($1.50/month)
• 1000 translations/day: ~$0.05 ($15/month)

¹ Requires expensive GPU for optimal performance 😒

The gpt-4.1-nano model provides excellent translation quality at virtually no cost for typical usage patterns, making GPTranslate highly economical for both personal and professional use.

You can download the latest Windows installer from the Releases page.

winget install PhilBerndt.GPTranslate

You'll need an API key from one of these providers:

• Ollama: Ollama for local, offline translation (no API key required)
• OpenAI: Get API key from OpenAI Platform
• Azure OpenAI: Create resource in Azure Portal

1. Install GPTranslate using one of the methods above
2. Launch the application from Start Menu or desktop shortcut
3. Configure your API:
   • Click the Settings button (gear icon)
   • Select your preferred provider (Ollama for local, OpenAI or Azure OpenAI for cloud)
   • Enter your API credentials
4. Start translating:
   • Type text in the left panel
   • Translation appears automatically in the right panel
   • Use Ctrl+Alt+C globally to translate clipboard content

⚠️ Note: The API Keys and Endpoint are stored in plain text. Ensure your system is secure.

1. Get an API key from OpenAI Platform
2. In Settings, select "OpenAI" as provider
3. Enter your API key and preferred model

1. Create an Azure OpenAI resource
2. Deploy a model (recommend gpt-4.1-nano), as it is super cheap and fast.
3. In Settings, select "Azure OpenAI" as provider
4. Enter your endpoint and API key

1. Install Ollama: Download from ollama.ai or use winget install ollama.ollama
   • Note: Requires a GPU for optimal performance
2. Pull a model: Run ollama pull mistral-small (or any preferred model)
3. Start Ollama: The service should start automatically
4. Configure GPTranslate:
   • In Settings, select "Ollama" as provider
   • Set the server URL (default: https://localhost:11434)
   • Choose your downloaded model name

1. Launch: Click the system tray icon or use the global hotkey
2. Type or Paste: Enter text in the left panel
3. Auto-translate: Translation appears in the right panel
4. Copy: Click Copy button or press Ctrl+C when app is focused

1. Copy text anywhere with Ctrl+C
2. Press global hotkey (Ctrl+Alt+C)
3. View translation in app window
4. Copy result Ctrl+C or Copy button to copy to clipboard

• Configurable Global Hotkey (default Ctrl+Alt+C):
  • Always: Reset detected language first
  • When app is not focused: Also capture clipboard and translate
  • When app is focused: Only reset detected language
• Ctrl+C: Copy translated text (when app focused)
• Esc: Close settings/history dialogs

Use these variables in your prompts:

• {detected_language}: Source language
• {target_language}: Target language

Example:

Translate from {detected_language} to {target_language}.
Preserve the original tone and cultural context.

• Rust: 1.87+ with stable toolchain
• Node.js: 22+ with npm
• Visual Studio Build Tools: 2022 (Windows)
• WebView2: Runtime (usually pre-installed on Windows 11)

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/philberndt/gptranslate.git
   cd gptranslate

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Set up your API configuration:

   • Run the app once to create the config file
   • Add your OpenAI or Azure OpenAI credentials in Settings

4. Run in development:

   npm run tauri dev

# Development server with hot reload
npm run tauri dev
# Build for production
npm run tauri build
# Run frontend only
npm run dev
# Type check
npm run check
# Lint code
npm run lint

# Build MSI and NSIS installers
npm run tauri build

Installers are created in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

• Icons: Bootstrap Icons
• Framework: Built with Tauri and SvelteKit

• Issues: GitHub Issues

Technology Stack: Tauri 2.5+ • Rust • SvelteKit • Vite • TypeScript