memoQ TMS Reviews

Despite being literally loaded with functions that go far beyond being just a basic CAT tool, memoQ is quite easy to learn. Thanks to impeccable customer support (which is also one of the software's brightest points) implementation is not an ordeal, either.
Also: multitude of quality assurance, text processing (e.g. auto alignment, term extraction) and project management functions.

It might be quite cumbersome for an inexperienced user. Requires heavy processing power (CPU and RAM) for large (or many) projects.

Some of my clients work exclusively in the tool, so... I'm "happy" to use it. If you are in this same situation, it would be smarter for you to accept/ask for ELM licences from your clients instead of buying your own licence (like silly old me).

The interface is unintuitive, it's difficult to find what you are looking for.
I recently upgraded to the latest version (8.2). In the last 3 years, I did not notice any improvements or new features that have helped my own productivity when translating with the tool. This leads me to believe that development in the last few years has been mainly focused on the PM side.
Overall, I would say I am less productive when using this tool compared to other similar tools.
It is painfully obvious that the developers do not use the tool to see how unproductive it is and there are very few actual users of the tool, so they cannot rely on user feedback to improve it.
There is a self-congratulatory mentality within the company that is simply delusional. They prefer to surround themselves with people that pat them on the back for some reason instead of looking at criticism from users and the reality of the market.
Rambling uninformative webinars.
The latest versions (8.xxx) install on some of my machines, not on others. No reason or solution found so far. Had to revert to 2015 on my desktop.
Their ELM licencing system distorts the market and encourages unfair competition from translators who do not want to invest in tools and agencies that prefer to work with cheaper translators that rely on them for licences etc.
As things stand I do not see why I would continue to waste money paying annually for this subpar tool.

This became the go-to CAT tool. Although I still use some competitors with specific clients. memoQ for me had the shortest learning curve.

Some of the really advanced options are harder to take a grasp of, but I managed after a few searches on Google.

MemoQ is an excellent CAT tool that is easy to install and use. It doesn't crash and it is easy to update/upgrade. The translation process is smooth and QA is easy. If you don't have a license the client can provide you one to work on their project.

I would like additional QA functions, such as integration with XBench to perform QA within the CAT tool itself.

MemoQ is very simple to use. Great user experience. Even if you are not a translator but a copywriter or content manager, this tool has all benefits of Trados while still being easy to use.

Contact with tech support was very problematic. I had to wait days before someone could help me with my problems. I hope this changes for the better.

The sheer amount of thought that went into this software is incredible. They have an outstanding number of feature yet it doesn't feel overwhelming or overpowered like over similar tools. UI is very well done and easy to use and the whole project creation process is flawless.

Lack of ability to work with subtitle files without having to cover them in some other format, like XML, but perhaps this feature will be added soon.

How easy it is to use for the first time and the ease to discover new features as you play with the software

Not much, the only thing is I never found how to enlarge the text I was seeing but this is a minor thing.

One of the coolest things about memoQ is how well it integrates with various tools. We actually use it with XTRF, and although we ran into some integration hiccups, the memoQ support team was absolutely amazing in helping us sort it out. On top of that, the software offers loads of customizations and flexibility, making it super easy to customize and optimize our translation process exactly the way we want it.

The learning curve was a bit steep, especially if you're new to CAT tools. It took some time and effort to get the hang of all the features. Secondly, I wish there was an option to optimize the database directly in the server settings. It would be more convenient and save some extra steps.

The biggest plus to me is that I can use MemoQ daily with no need to buy it, as the client who wants me to work this software provides me with a temporary licence. It may not be that intuitive if you have no idea about how a CAT tool works, but the user manual provides all the explanations you need, at least to use its basic features. In comparison to other CAT tools, I find it very easy to use and appreaciate the interface. It handles tags very vell and works well with all file types I tried (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and some PDFs as well).
A few other plus: the possibility to work on online projects, to connect to server-based translation memories and termbases and to quickly add terms to the termbase.

Sometimes it's not that stable when working on online projects as it disconnects from the server.

As a professional freelance translator, using MemoQ allows to expand my customer base by catering to agencies and clients that work exclusively with this software.
It contains enough features for a professional and is stable.
If you're not ready to commit to purchsing a license yet, you can always ask your client for an ELM license, since these work with a 4Free account as well as with the trial edition of the Translator Pro license.
Moreover, the free version (Translator Free) offers a few features for basic use.

MemoQ is not my first choice to work with, since I feel I am more productive when I use other CAT tools, such as SDL Trados or the Text United app.
A certain learning curve is expected with any professional CAT tool, but perhaps because MemoQ wasn't the first software I learned to use I find it more challenging than other tools.

It offers plenty of customization options in terms of filter creation. This is one of the biggest assets of this tool. The ability of using multiple filters on a given file using the cascading filter function makes the filtering of a file easier and with less pre-processing needed.

All these functionalities come with the drawback that you need to have some technical background in order to profit them. On the other side, their support is able to help on that if needed via their professional services.

The amazing ease of use. MemoQ has always been very intuitive and each version keeps getting better. The ease in customisation is also a big plus.

Integration with some file types could be better - PDF files are still hard on it, which is bad, since we get so many.

Support answers quickly, i.e. within 1-2 days. I have to write 100 characters here, but I have no more pros to mention.

Pretty much everything. MemoQ is hard to learn. It tries to copy SDL Trados, only using a new set of terms and shortcuts. But, the tool is far inferior to Trados, and much harder to learn. In every project, I've done for clients, I've had issues. And using the server version for one client didn't work at all, I had to ask the client to take it offline.
The last straw for me was, when I had to install MemoQ on a new system after a crash. The installation didn't complete, and the error included a Visual C++ Redistributable error. I contacted support, and I was told to uninstall all previous versions of Visual C++ Redistributable, install the latest version (provided in a link by Kilgray) and then try the installation again. This did work. BUT, uninstalling previous versions completely messed up other installations, e.g. my installation of Trados Studio, and my TMs and termbases then had to be fixed!
Having had only problems with MemoQ, I now translate all MemoQ files directly in Trados (yes, this wonderful suite lets you translate them directly in their tools), to completely avoid MemoQ altogether.
After the reinstallation disaster, and as I've had a lot of problems with MemoQ, I asked for them to cancel my license and return my money. They declined.
BEWARE, and watch out. Do not waste your money on this tool - SDL Trados may be more expensive, but it sure is worth it!

A thing I like about MemoQ and that I believe is good to start with is its ability to handle tags, tables of content and images which is done seamlessly. It also processes headers and footers - often have I had to deal with those manually, that is no longer needed with MemoQ.

What I dislike is not so much about the software itself, it's about the presentation of information done by the developer. Over 30 pages manual and 1 hr introduction video, definitely makes it seem complex and each source provides more information that needed.

Its ability to handle the various types of Excel files is a great news of translators, especially those working in the financial area.

The price of the license is not too affordable for the freelance translators, and the enterprise version of memoQ doesn't coming with WOW-it-is-not-in-the-basic-version features that really justify its high pricing

You gotta love MemoQ, it's laden with multiple features that i love to use. The editor interface has multi-sections that display my translation work and shows my progress in real-time, the live preview is also a useful feature to me. What is a CAT tool without a reliable QA? Memoq has a very good LQA which i love to use. You have the ability to integrate terminology and TM plugins even WordFast is included, this feature is super useful.

Not so affordable, in fact it's tops my list of top-tier expensive tools.
The dictation feature is not available for Android users and the languages supported are very few. Every translator would love this feature but apparently its out of reach to most.

Similar to TRADOS but an easier and less cumbersome installation, easier to activate. I take issue with the "Waste of Money" review. She does not state that she worked for Trados and loves that product. On Proz.com she says "I have also worked for TRADOS Corp. demonstrating the use of the tools to freelance communities all over the US, Canada and South America. My experience using the Trados tools, and my computer skills in general, are advanced."

The company is generally progressive and well organized. The latest version, 8.2 (2017) is quite stable and reliable. They caused confusion with naming versions and rapid introductions of new versions in 2016, but since MemoQ 8,0 things are much better. More agencies and switching to MemoQ; Trados still dominates but seems to be losing ground. Like Trados, the product has a steep learning curve.

What I like the most is integration with other CAT tools, very user-friendly interface, opportunity to connect to server-based TMs and TBs, the function of quick add of terms to the termbase.

The QA feature is not very precise and shows a lot of false positive errors.