MarketFit

Localization Break-Even Calculator

Translation is the one-off cost. The recurring ones decide it.

Words to translate

Translation per word ($)

Review per word ($)

Other setup costs ($)

Expected market revenue ($/yr)

Gross margin (%)

Support tickets per month

Minutes per ticket

Support hourly rate ($)

Words updated per year

Extra payment fees (%)

Payback period

13.5 months

Translation is a one-off invoice, which is why it is the only cost most teams budget for. The recurring costs decide the outcome: every product change has to be retranslated, support has to answer in the language you promised, and local payment methods usually cost more to accept.

Revenue needed to break even: $10,206
Net per year: $9,508
Running cost per year: $6,612

What you entered

Words to translate: 45000Translation per word ($): 0.12Review per word ($): 0.04Other setup costs ($): 3500Expected market revenue ($/yr): 26000Gross margin (%): 62Support tickets per month: 55Minutes per ticket: 12Support hourly rate ($): 32Words updated per year: 12000Extra payment fees (%): 1.8

1
One-off translation and review
45,000 words × ($0.12 + $0.04)= $7,200 + $3,500 setup = $10,700
2
Keeping the translation current
12,000 words a year × $0.16= $1,920 a year
3
Support in the local language
55 tickets/mo × 12 × 12 min × $32/hr= $4,224 a year
4
Total running cost
$1,920 + $4,224 + $468 payment overhead= $6,612
5
Annual net from the market
$26,000 × 62% − $6,612= $9,508
6
Payback and break-even
$10,700 ÷ $792.33 a month= 13.5 months — needs $10,205.98 of revenue to stand still

Result

Payback period: 13.5 months

This market pays back in 13.5 months. The $10,700 to launch it is recovered from $9,508 of annual net, after $6,612 of running costs — of which support is $4,224, the largest recurring line. You need $10,206 of annual revenue just to stand still, and you are projecting $26,000, leaving $15,794 of margin for error.

Payback on localising into a new market

Upfront translation against annual gross profit, less the ongoing maintenance, support, and payment costs the market adds. Rows use $0.19 per word all-in and $6,000 of other setup costs.

Words	Market revenue	Gross margin	Upfront cost	Annual running cost	Annual net	Payback	Break-even revenue
40,000	$40,000	75%	$13,600	$5,832	$24,168	6.8 months	$7,252
40,000	$60,000	75%	$13,600	$6,072	$38,928	4.2 months	$7,252
40,000	$120,000	75%	$13,600	$6,792	$83,208	2.0 months	$7,252
40,000	$120,000	50%	$13,600	$6,792	$53,208	3.1 months	$10,967
80,000	$120,000	75%	$21,200	$6,792	$83,208	3.1 months	$7,252
40,000	$250,000	75%	$13,600	$8,352	$179,148	0.9 months	$7,252

Translation is a one-off cost and usually the smaller half. The recurring load, keeping copy current, supporting the language, and absorbing local payment fees, is what determines whether a market stays worthwhile, and it sets a break-even of about $7,250 a year in revenue here.

A localization break-even calculator answers whether translating a product into a market will earn back what it costs, and how long that takes. Localization decisions are usually made on the translation quote, which is the one number a vendor supplies readily and the one that matters least over any reasonable time horizon. Translation is a one-off invoice. Everything that follows it recurs for as long as the market is supported.

Three recurring costs decide the outcome. Content maintenance comes first: a product that ships changes needs those changes retranslated, and a team shipping regularly can spend a meaningful fraction of the original translation cost every year just keeping the localized version accurate. Support is usually the largest line and the most underestimated, because offering a product in a language creates an expectation of help in that language, and hiring or contracting for it costs considerably more per ticket than the existing queue. Local payment methods and currency handling add a percentage to every transaction in the market, which scales directly with success.

Setting those against gross profit rather than revenue gives the annual net, and dividing the upfront cost by monthly net gives a payback period. The more useful output is the break-even revenue: the amount the market must generate each year simply to cover its own running costs. That figure is independent of how much you have already spent, which makes it the right basis for comparing candidate markets and for deciding whether to keep one you have already launched. A market below its break-even revenue is not an investment maturing slowly, it is an ongoing cost.

Ranking markets on this basis frequently reverses the intuitive order. A large market with heavy support demand, low gross margin after local payment fees, and high content churn can sit below a much smaller one where customers rarely contact support and the payment landscape is simple. Language reach is not the same as economic reach. The calculation also gives a clean answer to the partial-localization question, since translating the interface without committing to localized support changes both the upfront cost and the largest recurring one at the same time.

Support is usually the biggest recurring line

Offering a product in a language creates an expectation of support in that language, and that support costs more per ticket than your existing queue. In many markets it exceeds annual content maintenance by several times. Estimate it from ticket volume, handling time and a realistic local rate before committing, because it is the number that decides marginal markets.

Break-even revenue ranks markets, payback does not

Payback depends on what you already spent, which is irrelevant to whether a market is worth keeping. Break-even revenue - what the market must earn annually to cover its own running costs - is independent of sunk cost and directly comparable across markets. Rank on it, and a large market with heavy support demand often falls below a smaller, quieter one.

Frequently asked questions

45,000 words into a market worth 26,000 dollars a year - does it pay back?

Yes, in 13.5 months. Translation and review at 16 cents a word is 7,200 dollars, plus 3,500 of setup, so 10,700 upfront. Running costs are 6,612 a year: 1,920 of maintenance, 4,224 of support and 468 of extra payment fees. Against 16,120 of gross profit that leaves 9,508 net a year.

What revenue does this market need just to break even?

10,206 dollars a year. Fixed running costs of 6,144 divided by the 60.2 percent margin that remains after local payment fees gives the revenue needed to cover them. The projection of 26,000 sits 15,794 above that, which is a comfortable margin for error on a forecast that is necessarily uncertain.

Why is support so much larger than translation maintenance?

Because support scales with customers and maintenance scales with content changes. At 55 tickets a month, 12 minutes each and 32 dollars an hour, support runs 4,224 a year against 1,920 for retranslating 12,000 words. Raise ticket volume or handling time and support dominates completely, which is why partial localization without localized support is a common compromise.

Should sunk translation cost affect whether we keep a market?

No. Money already spent cannot be recovered by continuing, so the only question is whether the market covers its ongoing costs from here. Compare current revenue against the break-even revenue figure. Below it, the market costs you money every year regardless of what launching it cost.

How does this compare to the break-even point calculator?

The standard break-even calculator finds the unit volume where fixed and variable costs are covered for a whole business. This one asks the same question about a single market, with the costs that are specific to operating in another language - retranslation, local support and payment overhead - which a general model does not capture.