The honest comparison
Choose the right tool. Even if it isn't us.
Three ways to translate a spiritual book, set side by side — price, speed, and above all what you can actually verify when the work is done. We include the rows where the others win, because a comparison that concedes nothing convinces nobody.
The failure mode, watchable
Watch a generic tool lose the thread
SAMPLE — illustrative dataOne source term, three passes, three different words — while a tradition needs one. Illustrative.
Source
The path begins in inner stillness.
A generic AI tool
renders it differently each time
O caminho começa em recolhimento.
O caminho começa em silêncio interior.
O caminho começa em quietude.
SpiritualTranslations
the same, first page to last
O caminho começa em recolhimento.
Glossary: recolhimento — approved at setup by a human expert.
| A specialist agency | A generic AI tool | SpiritualTranslations | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical cost per book | Thousands of dollars | Nearly free | About a tenth of the agency's price |
| Typical time | The better part of a year | Minutes | Weeks |
| Who translates | Human translators | A general-purpose model, untuned | AI tuned to your tradition's terminology, on a foundation approved by a human expert |
| Who checks the work | Internal proofreading — sampled, not shown to you | Nobody | Deterministic checks, a five-lens AI review panel, and a credentialed human ruling on every flagged passage |
| What you can verify | A reputation | Nothing | A signed Assurance Report with a public verification ID |
| Terminology consistency | Depends on the translator's memory and tools | Drifts — the same term rendered different ways | Checked against an expert-approved glossary, first page to last |
| When an error is found | Varies by contract | You're on your own | Corrected in the open: files re-issued, record annotated, client told |
| Your manuscript and data | Varies by vendor | May train third-party models | Never shared, never trains third-party models; every right stated in your contract |
Typical cost per book
- A specialist agency
- Thousands of dollars
- A generic AI tool
- Nearly free
- SpiritualTranslations
- About a tenth of the agency's price
Typical time
- A specialist agency
- The better part of a year
- A generic AI tool
- Minutes
- SpiritualTranslations
- Weeks
Who translates
- A specialist agency
- Human translators
- A generic AI tool
- A general-purpose model, untuned
- SpiritualTranslations
- AI tuned to your tradition's terminology, on a foundation approved by a human expert
Who checks the work
- A specialist agency
- Internal proofreading — sampled, not shown to you
- A generic AI tool
- Nobody
- SpiritualTranslations
- Deterministic checks, a five-lens AI review panel, and a credentialed human ruling on every flagged passage
What you can verify
- A specialist agency
- A reputation
- A generic AI tool
- Nothing
- SpiritualTranslations
- A signed Assurance Report with a public verification ID
Terminology consistency
- A specialist agency
- Depends on the translator's memory and tools
- A generic AI tool
- Drifts — the same term rendered different ways
- SpiritualTranslations
- Checked against an expert-approved glossary, first page to last
When an error is found
- A specialist agency
- Varies by contract
- A generic AI tool
- You're on your own
- SpiritualTranslations
- Corrected in the open: files re-issued, record annotated, client told
Your manuscript and data
- A specialist agency
- Varies by vendor
- A generic AI tool
- May train third-party models
- SpiritualTranslations
- Never shared, never trains third-party models; every right stated in your contract
Where the others genuinely win
Choose a specialist agency
when a human must read every word: canonical scripture, sworn and legal documents, poetry where every line is a judgment call. That work exists, it costs what it costs, and our own reports state plainly that ours is not that process.
Choose a generic AI tool
when the stakes are low: getting the gist of a text for yourself, private study, everyday correspondence. Not everything needs its papers.
Choose us
when the meaning is the point, the budget is a barrier, and someone has to be accountable: the books and writing a community will live by, in translation, with proof of how the work was checked.
The first two columns are our fair-minded summary of common practice, not claims about any named company. If we've been unfair to your corner of the industry, tell us — we correct in the open.
Be early to something careful.
We're early, and small on purpose: a handful of projects, taken on with care, while we measure the method in the open. The people who talk to us now will shape what this becomes. Bring your questions and your doubts. Or bring a book you already paid to translate and see how we compare.