Localess

Localess is an open-source translation management tool and content management system built with Angular and Firebase, developed by the Lessify organization. It lets teams manage and translate website or app content into multiple languages, using AI (Google Translate) to accelerate the translation process. The project is free to use under the MIT License, and users pay only for the infrastructure where they self-host it.

What It Is

Localess sits at the intersection of a translation management system (TMS) and a headless CMS. It centralizes multilingual content workflows — from defining content schemas and assigning translators to publishing updates instantly — without requiring application rebuilds. The tool is designed for both developers integrating via API and non-technical editors who need direct control over content.

Architecture and Deployment Model

Localess runs entirely on Google Cloud Platform via Firebase products. The architecture uses:

• Firebase Authentication for user management with granular permissions
• Firestore as the primary data store
• Firebase Storage for generated API data
• Firebase Hosting for the admin UI
• Firebase Functions for backend logic
• Google Cloud CDN to cache API responses, with the project claiming response times around 20ms for 5,000 translations

Clients — mobile apps, web apps, and server-side applications — access content through a CDN-backed API. The admin UI manages data directly via the Firebase SDK.

Key Capabilities

• Translation Management: Real-time editing of localization content, AI-assisted translation via Google Translate, translation memory to reuse approved content, and approval workflows
• Content Management: Visual schema builder (Schematics) for defining content models without code, field-level validation, hierarchical content structures, and instant publish
• Digital Asset Management: Centralized asset library for images, videos, and documents with localized asset attachment
• Import/Export: Data migration and backup support
• API Integration: REST API access for any application or language (Node.js, Java/Kotlin, Python, Rust, Go, iOS, Android)
• User Management: Granular role-based permissions

Open-Source Model and Sponsorship

Localess is part of the Lessify Project and is developed entirely through community contributions and GitHub Sponsors. The project's ongoing development — including hosting, development costs, and new features — is funded by sponsors. The source code is publicly available under the MIT License, making it free to use, modify, and distribute.

Update: v3.0.1 — Translation Webhook

The latest release, v3.0.1 (published March 12, 2026), is named "Translation Webhook," indicating new webhook support for translation events. The repository was last updated in May 2026, showing active maintenance. The project was created in May 2022 and has accumulated 73 stars and 19 forks on GitHub as of the latest data.