franc
Detect the language of text with franc.
Pricing
Free tier
Flat rate
Adoption
↘CoolingLicense
Open Source
Data freshness
Aging · Jun 8, 2026Overview
What is franc?
Franc is an open-source library for detecting the language of a given piece of text. It's lightweight and fast, making it ideal for applications where quick and accurate language detection is necessary.
Key differentiator
“Franc stands out with its lightweight and fast performance, making it an ideal choice for developers who need a simple yet effective solution for text language detection.”
Capability profile
Capability Radar
Honest assessment
Strengths & Weaknesses
↑ Strengths
↓ Weaknesses
Franc primarily supports over 100 languages, which may not be sufficient for applications requiring detection of less common or regional languages.
The official documentation lacks comprehensive examples and detailed explanations, making it difficult for new users to quickly understand how to use Franc effectively.
Franc does not provide an easy way to add support for new languages or customize the detection algorithm, limiting its flexibility and adaptability.
Fit analysis
Who is it for?
✓ Best for
Developers building multilingual web applications who need a lightweight solution for language detection
Data scientists preprocessing text data for natural language processing tasks
Projects requiring quick and accurate language identification without the overhead of larger libraries
✕ Not a fit for
Applications that require real-time streaming language detection (franc is designed for batch processing)
Use cases where extremely high accuracy in language detection is critical, as franc may not be as precise as specialized services
Cost structure
Pricing
Free Tier
Available
Open source — free to use
Starts at
$0
Model
Flat rate
Enterprise
None
Performance benchmarks
How Fast Is It?
Ecosystem
Relationships
Integrations
Next step
Get Started with franc
Step-by-step setup guide with code examples and common gotchas.