Linguist Review: Open-Source Browser Translator With an Offline Mode

Linguist installs from the browser stores, so no terminal is needed. Pick the store for your browser, or download a package from the GitHub release page for other browsers.

Linguist is a browser extension that replaces the browser's translate button with a configurable translation system. It translates whole pages with a hotkey or automatic rules, selected text, typed text, subtitles and private messages, reads translations aloud and saves entries to a personal dictionary.

The product is called Linguist, its website is linguister.io and the code lives in the GitHub organization translate-tools; the LICENSE file names Robert Vitonsky as copyright holder and the documentation footer names PrimeBits. Other tools share the name Linguist; this review covers linguister.io only.

The review draws on the website, documentation, Firefox listing, GitHub repository and release notes. Translation quality, speed and stability were not tested and are not rated here.

Setup is an install and one preference. The steps follow the website and the offline guide.

The feature set centres on translating what you read in the browser. Everything below comes from the website, documentation and README.

The offline translator is Bergamot, built in since version 5.0. The documentation says you pick it as the translation module on the preferences page, and the website says translation then happens on the device and works without a connection. The README names the browsermt Bergamot project. PromptQuorum did not check which language pairs it covers or how its quality compares with cloud services.

Local servers are the second route. A custom translator module connects Linguist to any service you deploy. The guide shows LibreTranslate in Docker, where models download on first start and an NVIDIA GPU is optional, and the website names Ollama. Cloud services such as ChatGPT, DeepL, DeepSeek and Gemini connect the same way and receive the text.

Default behaviour. Per the 7.1.0 release notes, the default is a free Google translator with automatic fallback to another translator when the preferred one is down; the notes say the fallback is not switched on for users of Bergamot or a custom service. No RAM or GPU requirement is stated for the extension itself.

What leaves your machine depends on the translator you pick. With a cloud translator, including the default, the text of the page or selection goes to that provider. With Bergamot or a server you run, the website says the text stays on your device or network.

Telemetry arrived in version 7.1.0. The release notes say it collects basic interaction events and translator errors and "does not collect any personal data or texts". The source code in the repository sends event names such as page translation changed or settings updated, a random ID stored in the extension, the browser language and the user agent to a server at events.vitonsky.net. The website and README still say the extension collects no user data, and the two statements are not reconciled. PromptQuorum found no off switch in the release notes and did not look for one in the app.

Permissions, license and cost. The Firefox listing for version 7.0.5 shows access to all websites, which page translation needs, plus storage, tabs, context menus and scripting. The repository LICENSE file is BSD-3-Clause while package.json and the Firefox listing say GPL-3.0; the difference is unresolved. The extension is free and the website asks for donations.

These are the closest translation tools in the directory: an iPhone translator that runs models on the device and a tool for translating whole books and documents.

Linguist is a good fit if you read foreign-language sites in Chrome or Firefox and want a free, open-source translator where you decide whether the text goes to a cloud service, runs through Bergamot on your device or goes to a server you run. Version 7.1.0 is recent and the offline route is documented.

The caveats are the default and the data: a fresh install uses Google, telemetry arrived in 7.1.0 next to a site that says it collects no user data, and the license files disagree. Switch the translation module before relying on it for private text.