Your plan includes a number of translated words. That number is a prepaid total, not a monthly allowance: it does not reset, it does not follow your billing cycle, and there is nothing to roll over because there is no monthly bucket to roll.
The model in one paragraph
You buy a quantity of translated words. Each new piece of text translated for the first time draws that total down. When the total runs out, new content stops being translated until you have words again. Text already translated keeps serving forever at no further cost.
Usage measures what is translated now rather than everything ever translated, so it can go down as well as up: remove a language or a project and its words come back to you.
What counts against it
Only the first translation of a given piece of text. See Word counting for the exact rules.
What does not count
Traffic does not count. This is the most common misunderstanding, so it is worth being blunt: your usage does not grow because your site gets more visitors.
| Activity | Draws down your total |
|---|---|
| A page translated for the first time | yes |
| The same page viewed again, by anyone | no |
| A returning visitor | no |
| A search engine crawling pages that are already translated | no |
| A search engine crawling a page not yet translated in that language | yes, the same as a visitor |
| Adding a language to already-translated content | yes, that text is new in that language |
| Editing your source text | yes, the changed text is new |
| Removing a language, or deleting a project | no, and its words come back off your total |
A site with stable content reaches a point where its usage stops growing, however busy it gets.
Why there is nothing to roll over
Rolling over assumes a monthly allocation that expires. Universally does not work that way. Words you have not used are still there next month, next quarter, and next year, because they were never scoped to a month.
If you have used 40,000 of 100,000 words, you have 60,000 left, and you will still have 60,000 left in six months unless you translate more content.
The other plan limits
Words are one of four limits, and the others are caps rather than balances that deplete:
| Limit | What it caps |
|---|---|
| Translated words | the prepaid total described above |
| Projects | how many sites the workspace can hold |
| Team members | how many people can be in the workspace |
| Languages per project | how many target languages one site can have |
See Plans and pricing for the numbers on each plan.
Checking where you stand
Your current usage against your total is on the dashboard. See Track your usage.
Adding words without changing plan
Word add-ons buy extra words that stack on top of your plan's total. They are on the Manage Subscription screen, alongside add-ons for extra projects, extra languages per project and extra team members. The add-on amounts are added to the plan's limits rather than replacing them.
That makes two ways to get more words: an add-on, or a larger plan. See Upgrade or downgrade your plan.
Running out
Already-translated pages keep serving normally. Nothing breaks and nothing is deleted. What stops is translation of anything new: a new page, or text you changed, is served in the source language, and it is translated the moment you have words again.
With a card on file, the plan can move up on its own. Crossing 100% of your words charges the card on file for the next plan up, which raises the total and lets translation continue rather than stopping. Three things to know about it:
- It happens at most once in any 30 days, so it cannot walk you up several plans in a week.
- The charge appears in Invoice History like any other, and you get an email confirming the new plan.
- If the card is declined, the plan does not change and translation stays stopped. For a temporary decline the charge is retried over the following two weeks; for a card problem you get an email asking you to update it. See Payment methods and invoices.
Without a card on file, nothing is charged and translation of new content waits.
If you would rather never be upgraded automatically, email [email protected] and they can switch it off for your account. There is no toggle for it in the dashboard.
See Upgrade or downgrade your plan.