Trancy alternatives
Trancy alternatives
Trancy puts two lines of AI subtitles on videos and translates web pages and PDFs. People look for something else when its free wordbook fills up, when they want a single line to stay in the language they learn, or when the reviews matter more than the translation. Here are five tools that answer those needs, A to Z.
By Reza Pirighadim, who makes Lexpad. Checked against the app on 25 October 2026.
Choose Trancy if
- You watch with two lines of AI subtitles.
- You also translate whole web pages and PDFs.
- You want its phone apps and Safari extension.
Choose Lexpad if
- You want to save more than 100 words for free.
- Each word comes back for review with the line you heard.
- You also save words from web pages and Google Meet.
- Checked
- 25 October 2026
- Order
- A to Z, not a ranking
- Tools
- Five, plus Trancy
- Ours
- Lexpad, marked as ours
The short answer
- Hit the 100-word limit? Trancy’s free plan bookmarks 100 words and 50 sentences. Lexpad’s free plan keeps unlimited words in one notebook; Readlang’s free plan saves every word you translate on a page; asbplayer is free and sends cards to Anki.
- Want two lines of subtitles still? Language Reactor shows the original and a translation together.
- Want cards with a picture and the audio of the line? asbplayer or Migaku.
- Want the words back on a schedule, on your phone too? Lexpad brings each one back with its line, on the web, in the Android app and on Mac and Windows.
Trancy or Trancy Air?
Two products share the name. Trancy is the browser extension for subtitles and web pages, with phone apps and a web learning centre. Trancy Air is a separate translator for Mac and Windows that works in any app: select text, translate what you type, dictate, or read a screenshot (Trancy Air). Its pricing page says one account and one membership cover Trancy Air, the extension, the mobile app and the Learning Center (pricing, 25 October 2026). This page is about the extension.
At a glance
Alphabetical, not a ranking, and each cell is what the tool itself says it does.
| Tool | Works on | Subtitles | Pages and PDFs | What it keeps for you |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| asbplayer | Streaming sites, and your own subtitle file beside a video on your computer | The site’s subtitles, or the file you load | Built for video | Sentence cards with a screenshot and audio, sent to Anki |
| Language Reactor | Streaming sites and YouTube; a reader for texts you import | Two lines: the original and a translation | Imported texts in its reader | Saved items, reviewed in PhrasePump or exported to Anki |
| Lexpad (ours) | Any web page; YouTube; TED, lesson pages and common web players; Google Meet captions | One line as the site shows it; a card for the word you click | A card for the word you select on any page; in PDFs and e-books with the Mac and Windows app | The word with its line and where you met it, in a notebook that brings it back for review |
| Migaku | Streaming sites, YouTube and web pages | Clickable subtitles with a click dictionary | Click words on web pages | One-click cards with a picture and audio, in its own reviews or Anki |
| Readlang | Web pages and texts | Built for reading: the words on the page | Click a word or a phrase for its translation | Every word you translate, kept for its flashcards |
What Trancy does well
Its home page calls it “Immersive AI Language Learning”: translated subtitles on YouTube, streaming sites, TED and course sites, with a theater mode and a reading mode, plus word look-up, grammar analysis and sentence splitting by AI (trancy.org). It translates a selection or a whole web page, and has a PDF translator. Its download page lists Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Brave, Arc and Safari on a computer, and phone versions (download page).
For someone who mostly wants to understand a video or a page, now, in two languages at once, that is a lot in one place.
asbplayer
A free, open-source tool for Anki users (GitHub). It shows the subtitles of streaming sites, or a subtitle file you load next to a video on your own computer, and turns a line into an Anki card with a screenshot and the audio clip. Reviews then happen in Anki, which is free on computers and Android.
Coming from Trancy, expect more setting up: it is built for mining sentences from video.
Language Reactor
The closest to Trancy on video: the original subtitle and a translation stacked together on streaming sites and YouTube, with its own reader for texts you import (its site). It runs in Chrome. For saving words on the free plan, see the table below; a staff reply on its forum (25 February 2025) says “In case of free plan there is no option to save words”.
More on it, and on its other alternatives: Language Reactor alternatives.
Lexpad
Lexpad (ours, who makes it) leaves the subtitle as the site shows it, in the language you learn. Rest your pointer on the line and the video waits; a click on a word, or a drag across up to four, opens a card with the meaning in your notebook’s languages. Add it, and the line becomes its example, with a note of the video and the moment.
- Words from YouTube, TED, lesson pages and common web players, Google Meet captions and any web page you read.
- In a PDF or an e-book on a Mac or Windows PC, select a word and press one shortcut with Lexpad for Mac and Windows.
- Free: unlimited words in one notebook, and 25 AI cards a day (400 a month).
Where Trancy fits better: two lines on screen, and translating whole pages or PDFs.
Migaku
Built for people who mine sentences from video and the web. Its FAQ says you can click words in subtitles and on web pages to see what they mean, and make a flashcard with a picture and audio in one click; it also offers courses, and the extension is designed for Google Chrome (FAQ). It is a paid subscription.
If you liked Trancy’s video tools but want cards with sound, it is the paid route.
Readlang
A reader for web pages: click a word or a phrase to see its translation, and the words you translate become flashcards. Its free plan lists unlimited single word translations and flashcard practice, and 10 phrase translations a day (pricing, 25 October 2026).
For Trancy users who mostly read, it is the lighter swap.
Free plans compared
The same facts as on our Language Reactor page, from one list, so the two pages never disagree.
| Tool | Saving words on the free plan | Source, read |
|---|---|---|
| asbplayer | Free and open source; its cards go to Anki | GitHub, 24 October 2026 |
| Language Reactor | A staff reply on its forum: “In case of free plan there is no option to save words” (25 February 2025). A forum post of 7 July 2025 lists “Save words and phrases across all Language Reactor features” among the Pro features. | Language Reactor’s community forum, topics “Saving words for free plan” and “Language Reactor Pro features”; 25 October 2026 |
| Lexpad (ours) | Unlimited words in one notebook, and 25 AI cards a day (400 a month) | Pricing, 25 October 2026 |
| Lingopie | A subscription, with a free trial | Chrome Web Store, 24 October 2026 |
| Migaku | Paid, with a trial | pricing, 24 October 2026 |
| Readlang | Unlimited single word translations and flashcard practice; 10 phrase translations a day; its table lists word highlighting as “200 words in total” | pricing, 25 October 2026 |
| Trancy | Bookmarks for 100 words and 50 sentences; unlimited on Premium | pricing, 25 October 2026 |
How to choose
- Do you need the translation on screen? Yes, two lines: Language Reactor. No, one line and a card for the word you pick: Lexpad.
- Pages and PDFs, or video only? Readlang for web pages; Lexpad for pages, videos and calls, and PDFs with its desktop app; asbplayer for video.
- Where should your words live? In Anki: asbplayer or Migaku. In a notebook that schedules them: Lexpad. In the reader you use: Readlang.
- Paying? asbplayer is free; Lexpad and Readlang have free plans; Migaku is paid.
Good to know
Questions
Is Trancy free?
It has a free plan. Its pricing page lists unlimited word look-ups and sentence translations, bookmarks for 100 words and 50 sentences, and 50 PDF pages a month; on Premium, bookmarks are unlimited (pricing, 25 October 2026).
How many words can Trancy’s free plan save?
100 words and 50 sentences, by its pricing page.
Is Trancy Air the same as Trancy?
No. Trancy Air is a separate translator app for Mac and Windows; Trancy is the browser extension. One account and membership cover both.
What happens to my words in each tool?
asbplayer and Migaku send cards to Anki (Migaku also has its own reviews); Language Reactor keeps saved items for PhrasePump; Readlang turns translated words into its flashcards; Lexpad keeps each word with its line in your notebook and brings it back on a schedule.
Why is Lexpad on this list if you make it?
Because saving words from video is one of the things it does. It is marked as ours, the list is A to Z, each fact about another tool links to where we read it, and each tool’s section says where it fits.
Lexpad
Your words, back on the right day.
Lexpad is free to start, on the web and on Android. Bring the words you meet.