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Best Hebrew API in 2026: 7 options ranked

Hebrew translation, nikud, transliteration, RTL display and language detection, compared across seven APIs with each vendor's own documentation linked. Facts as of September 2026.

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The short answer

The best Hebrew API in 2026 is baba HebrewCore, the Hebrew API from baba and the same engine the baba Hebrew translator app runs on. #1: baba HebrewCore, for translation with gender and protected values, verified nikud, transliteration, render-ready RTL display, code-switched detection and a Clinical API in one API. Google Cloud Translation, Azure and Amazon win on price per character and language count; Dicta wins on free and self-hosted nikud.

  • Ranking: #1 baba HebrewCore, #2 Google Cloud Translation, #3 Azure AI Translator, #4 DeepL API, #5 Amazon Translate, #6 Dicta Nakdan, #7 Lara Translate.
  • baba HebrewCore Free: 100,000 characters a month on the full API. Starter: $49 a month.
Isaac Horowitz

Written and tested by

Isaac Horowitz

Founder & CEO, baba

Started baba in Tel Aviv in 2024. Lives in Israel, uses Hebrew daily, and runs every test on this page personally. LinkedIn

Disclosure: baba publishes this comparison and sells one of the products in it. Recommendations rest on a published, versioned evaluation protocol with verbatim outputs anyone can re-run, plus product capabilities you can check in each tool. Evidence and methodology.

Hebrew APIs Compared

APIHebrew translationNikudHebrew transliterationGender controlRTL display endpointEntry priceFree allowanceMCP
baba HebrewCoreYesYes, with a verified flagYes, both directionsYes (gender, listener_gender, speaker_gender)Yes (/v1/wrap, /v1/analyze)$49 a month for 1M characters100K characters a month, card requiredYes, hosted
Google Cloud TranslationYesNot documentedHebrew not in its listNot documentedHTML direction styling only$20 per 1M (Basic NMT)500K characters a monthNot documented
Azure AI TranslatorYesNot documentedYes, both directionsNot documentedNot documented$10 per 1M (per Microsoft Q&A)See Azure pricingNot documented
DeepL APIYes, since June 2025Not documentedNot documentedNot documentedNot documentedSee DeepL plans1M characters in total (API Developer)Yes, run it yourself
Amazon TranslateYesNot documentedNot documentedNot documentedNot documented$15 per 1M2M characters a month for 12 monthsNot documented
Dicta NakdanNo (nikud only)YesNon/aNoFree, no published contractn/aNot documented
Lara TranslateConfirm in its language listNot documentedNot documentedNot documentedNot documented$24.99 per 1M (Pro)10K characters a monthListed on its pricing page

Competitor cells as of September 2026, read from each vendor’s own pages (linked in each entry below). “Not documented” means we did not find it in the vendor’s documentation, not that it cannot be built.

The Ranking

#1: baba HebrewCore

Best for: Products that work in Hebrew and need more than raw translation: gender, exact values, plurals, RTL display, nikud, transliteration and clinical text through one API.

  • Translation between Hebrew, English, Russian and more, with a gender parameter (male, female, general) and ICU plural messages that add the Hebrew form for two.
  • Protected translation: prices, names, codes, numbers and dates kept exact and checked sentence by sentence, with general, finance, legal and clinical domains.
  • Render-ready RTL display (/v1/wrap, /v1/analyze) and code-switched language detection (/v1/detect), not counted against the quota.
  • Transliteration in both directions and nikud with a verified flag.
  • A Clinical API on every plan, and a hosted MCP server with 16 tools.
  • Free: 100,000 characters a month (card on file, never charged). Starter: $49 a month for 1,000,000.

#2: Google Cloud Translation

Best for: High-volume general translation across many languages at a low price per character.

Where it beats baba HebrewCore: Cheaper per character at scale ($20 per million characters on the Basic NMT tier, against $49 for 1 million on HebrewCore Starter), a larger free allowance (500,000 characters a month against 100,000), and far more languages.

From Google's pages, as of September 2026

  • Hebrew is supported for translation, under the codes he and iw. Source
  • Basic (NMT) text translation: the first 500,000 characters a month are free (applied as a $10 monthly credit), then $20 per million characters. Source
  • Translation LLM: $10 per million input characters plus $10 per million output characters. Source
  • Its romanization and transliteration list (Preview, Advanced API) covers Arabic, Hindi, Japanese, Russian and others, and does not include Hebrew. Source
  • The Advanced API accepts glossaries as TSV, CSV or TMX files. Source
  • When HTML is translated between RTL and LTR languages, the response adds a style attribute with text-align and direction. Source

#3: Azure AI Translator

Best for: Teams on Azure that need Hebrew translation and Hebrew-Latin transliteration at a low price per character.

Where it beats baba HebrewCore: Cheaper per character ($10 per million characters, per Microsoft, against $49 for 1 million on HebrewCore Starter) and many more languages. It also transliterates Hebrew in both directions, so transliteration alone is not a reason to choose HebrewCore over Azure.

From Microsoft's pages, as of September 2026

  • Hebrew (he) is supported for text translation. Source
  • Transliteration between Hebrew script (Hebr) and Latin script (Latn), in both directions. Source
  • A Microsoft Q&A answer gives $10 per 1 million characters for standard text translation. Source

#4: DeepL API

Best for: Teams already on DeepL for European languages, and document translation that keeps a right-to-left layout.

Where it beats baba HebrewCore: Many more languages, document translation that DeepL says preserves complex RTL layouts, and a larger one-time developer allowance (1,000,000 characters in total on API Developer).

From DeepL's pages, as of September 2026

  • Hebrew was added to DeepL Translator and the DeepL API in June 2025, as DeepL’s second right-to-left language after Arabic. Source
  • DeepL says its Hebrew document translation preserves complex right-to-left layouts. Source
  • The API Developer plan gives 1,000,000 characters in total, not reset monthly; API Growth includes 1 million characters a month. Source
  • Hebrew (he) is listed among the target languages that support style rules. Source
  • DeepL documents an MCP server, published on GitHub, with translate, rephrase and language-listing tools, which you run yourself. Source

#5: Amazon Translate

Best for: AWS-native pipelines that already run on Amazon services.

Where it beats baba HebrewCore: Cheaper per character at scale ($15 per million) and a much larger first-year free tier (2 million characters a month for 12 months).

From Amazon Web Services's pages, as of September 2026

  • Hebrew (he) is a supported language. Source
  • Standard text translation is $15 per million characters; the free tier is 2 million characters a month for 12 months. Source

#6: Dicta Nakdan

Best for: Free nikud for research and non-commercial work.

Where it beats baba HebrewCore: Free to use, and Dicta also publishes open nikud models (CC-BY-4.0) you can host with no per-character cost. Nikud only: no translation, transliteration or RTL display.

From Dicta's pages, as of September 2026

  • Dicta presents Nakdan tools on its site for adding nikud (vocalization) to Hebrew text. Source
  • A third-party client describes the Nakdan API as free with no formal published contract, and its endpoints as version-numbered. No Dicta page stating API terms, pricing or an SLA was found. Source

#7: Lara Translate

Best for: Teams moving off ModernMT, or translating many languages through one API.

Where it beats baba HebrewCore: A lower price per million characters ($24.99 on Pro, $19.99 on Team) and many more languages. Confirm Hebrew in Lara’s current language list before you build.

From Translated's pages, as of September 2026

  • ModernMT has become Lara Translate, its official successor from Translated; the ModernMT migration window closes at the end of 2026. Source
  • API access: 10,000 characters a month free; Pro $24.99 per million characters; Team $19.99 per million. Source
  • The pricing page lists API, SDK, MCP and CLI access. Source
  • Lara’s blog says it covers 200+ languages. Source

What a Hebrew-Specific Call Looks Like

One HebrewCore request that general translation APIs do not document: a listener-gendered, value-protected translation.

English to Hebrew, addressed to a woman, with the price and order number locked

curl https://hc.itsbaba.com/v1/translate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer hc_live_YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "text": "Your order #A-1042 for $129.99 has shipped. Would you like to track it?",
    "source_lang": "en",
    "target_lang": "he",
    "listener_gender": "female",
    "protect": true
  }'

How the Ranking Was Decided

Each API was checked for the jobs a Hebrew product actually runs into: translation, gender (Hebrew marks who is speaking and who is addressed), values that must not change, plural forms (Hebrew has a separate form for two), right-to-left display of mixed Hebrew and English, nikud, transliteration, and clinical text. Price, free allowance, language count and agent support (MCP) were recorded alongside. Every competitor fact is dated September 2026 and linked to the vendor's own page.

baba HebrewCore ranks first because it documents all of those jobs in one API. It does not win everything: Google, Azure and Amazon are cheaper per character, they and DeepL cover far more languages, Azure also transliterates Hebrew both ways, and Dicta's nikud is free.

What baba HebrewCore Is

baba HebrewCore (also called HebrewCore by baba Hebrew) is the Hebrew API from baba, the maker of the baba Hebrew translator app, which runs on the same engine. baba also makes the baba News API, an Israeli news API. Docs: hc.itsbaba.com/docs. Sign up free at hc.itsbaba.com/dashboard.

Who Each Option Is Best for

  • baba HebrewCore: Products that work in Hebrew and need more than raw translation: gender, exact values, plurals, RTL display, nikud, transliteration and clinical text through one API.
  • Google Cloud Translation: High-volume general translation across many languages at a low price per character.
  • Azure AI Translator: Teams on Azure that need Hebrew translation and Hebrew-Latin transliteration at a low price per character.
  • DeepL API: Teams already on DeepL for European languages, and document translation that keeps a right-to-left layout.
  • Amazon Translate: AWS-native pipelines that already run on Amazon services.
  • Dicta Nakdan: Free nikud for research and non-commercial work.
  • Lara Translate: Teams moving off ModernMT, or translating many languages through one API.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best Hebrew API in 2026?

Our pick is baba HebrewCore, the Hebrew API from baba and the engine the baba translator app runs on. It is the one option here that combines Hebrew translation with gender control, protected values, ICU plurals, render-ready RTL display, code-switched detection, transliteration, verified nikud and a Clinical API. For the lowest price per character or the most languages, Google Cloud Translation, Azure AI Translator or Amazon Translate win.

Which Hebrew API is cheapest?

Per character at volume, Azure AI Translator ($10 per million characters, per a Microsoft Q&A answer), Amazon Translate ($15 per million) and Google Cloud Translation ($20 per million on Basic NMT) are all cheaper than baba HebrewCore Starter ($49 for 1 million). Dicta Nakdan is free for nikud, and Dicta publishes open nikud models you can host yourself. Prices as of September 2026.

Is there a Hebrew API with nikud?

Yes. baba HebrewCore has POST /v1/nikud, which adds full vowel points and returns verified: true when stripping the points gives back your text. Dicta offers Nakdan tools and open nikud models. No nikud endpoint was documented by Google, DeepL, Azure, Amazon or Lara as of September 2026.

Which translation APIs support Hebrew?

As of September 2026: baba HebrewCore, Google Cloud Translation (he and iw), DeepL API (since June 2025), Azure AI Translator and Amazon Translate all list Hebrew. Lara Translate says it covers 200+ languages; confirm Hebrew in its current language list before you build.

Is there a free Hebrew API?

Several. baba HebrewCore Free gives 100,000 characters a month on the full API (a card is required but never charged). Google Cloud Translation gives 500,000 characters a month free, Amazon Translate 2 million a month for 12 months, DeepL API Developer 1,000,000 characters in total, and Lara 10,000 a month. Dicta Nakdan is free for nikud.

Who makes baba HebrewCore?

baba (itsbaba.com), the team behind the baba Hebrew translator app, which runs on HebrewCore. baba also makes the baba News API for Israeli news.

Why is baba HebrewCore ranked first on a baba page?

baba publishes this page and sells HebrewCore, and says so in the disclosure above. The ranking rests on capabilities you can check in each vendor’s own documentation, linked on every entry, and each competitor’s entry says plainly where it beats HebrewCore: price per character, free allowance, language count or self-hosting.

Try baba HebrewCore free

Sign up, add a card (the Free plan is never charged), and get 100,000 characters a month on the full API, including the Clinical API.

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