Translation engines
The bot can translate with four engines. You pick the one you prefer in your settings, and the bot automatically falls back to another if your choice can't handle a particular message, so a translation almost always succeeds.
The four engines
| Engine | Best for |
|---|---|
| DeepL | Top quality on its ~33 supported languages; supports formality (formal/informal tone). |
| Azure | The widest language coverage, including ~17 languages DeepL doesn't support. Used as the automatic fallback. |
| OpenAI | An AI engine: handles any language with strong, natural phrasing, and doesn't count against your character cap. |
| Gemini | Google's AI engine: fast, natural, and great with slang, idioms, and mixed languages. Also doesn't count against your character cap. The default engine for new servers' channel auto-translate. |
OpenAI and Gemini are the two "AI" engines and share one monthly allowance (aiTranslations): Free 25, Pro 1,000, Max unlimited. Neither draws down your DeepL/Azure character cap.
Choosing your engine
Set your default in Settings → Translation → Translation engine. The option only appears when there's a real choice for your account. The AI engines (OpenAI, Gemini) show whenever they're available, sharing the monthly AI allowance per plan: Free 25, Pro 1,000, Max unlimited. Once a plan's allowance is used up, the AI engines fall back to DeepL/Azure for the rest of the month; the allowance resets each month.
You can also override the engine for a single message using the engine option on /translate, handy if you usually use one engine but want to try another on a tricky message.
Servers have their own engine for channel auto-translate, set separately on the Servers page. See Channel auto-translate.
Automatic fallback
You never have to worry about an engine "not supporting" a language or having a hiccup. If your chosen engine can't translate a message, the bot quietly tries another one and still returns a translation. The translation result shows which engine actually produced it.
On the Free plan, DeepL is available for a small monthly allowance; once that's used up, translations automatically switch to Azure for the rest of the month. Paid plans get unlimited DeepL.
AI engines: uncapped translations
The AI engines (OpenAI and Gemini) are uncapped. Translations made with either:
- Don't count toward your monthly character cap.
- Don't use up your purchased character packs.
- Are never blocked when you've hit your character limit.
Only DeepL and Azure draw down your monthly cap. This is what the "Unlimited translations" line on the Max plan refers to. Pick an AI engine and you can keep translating without watching your character balance. They also handle every language, which makes them a great everyday default.
OpenAI and Gemini share one monthly AI allowance that depends on your plan: Free gets 25 AI translations per month, Pro gets 1,000, and Max is unlimited. Once a plan's allowance is used up, AI translations automatically fall back to DeepL/Azure for the rest of the month; the allowance resets at the start of each month. (Only Max is truly unlimited on the AI engines; that is the "Unlimited translations" line on the Max plan.)
Quality note: all four engines are strong. DeepL tends to need the fewest edits on its supported languages; the AI engines (OpenAI and Gemini) are excellent across a much wider range and especially good at nuance, slang, and context. If a particular translation isn't great, try a different engine on that message with
/translate, or use Report translation (right-click → Apps) to flag it.