DeepL Review

The nuance specialist

Almost empty on purpose — and unusually smart

DeepL's screen is just two boxes. But look at what it did: we typed a polite English request, and without being told, it chose the polite German form 'Könnten Sie' — the way you'd address a stranger — instead of the casual form you'd use with a friend. Getting that right is DeepL's whole reputation. The Alternatives button under the answer shows other ways to phrase it, so you can pick the tone you want.

The middle tab doesn't translate — it fixes your writing

Paste an email you wrote in German or English, and DeepL Write corrects the grammar and suggests smoother wording. It's a writing helper living inside a translation app, and none of the other apps we rank has one. If you write in a second language for work or school, this tab might be the reason to pick DeepL.

Conversations: DeepL's newest trick

DeepL used to be weak at spoken conversation — this new mode is the fix. Each person gets a microphone and, unusually, a keyboard too, so a shy speaker can type while the other talks. The middle button listens and figures out which language it heard automatically. It's newer and less proven than Google's or Microsoft's conversation modes, but it means DeepL is no longer just a typing app.