langid.py
Stand-alone language identification system for Python.
Pricing
Free tier
Flat rate
Adoption
↘CoolingLicense
Open Source
Data freshness
Aging · Jun 8, 2026Overview
What is langid.py?
Langid.py is a stand-alone library that identifies the language of text strings. It's useful for developers working with multilingual data who need to automatically detect and process different languages.
Key differentiator
“Langid.py stands out with its high accuracy and ease of integration into Python projects, making it an ideal choice for developers working with multilingual text data.”
Capability profile
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Honest assessment
Strengths & Weaknesses
↑ Strengths
↓ Weaknesses
Accuracy drops significantly for less common or non-European languages, which may not meet the needs of all multilingual projects.
The library can be slow when processing a large volume of text strings, leading to increased computational time and resource usage.
The last major update was several years ago, indicating potential stagnation in improvements and bug fixes.
Detailed explanations of how to handle edge cases or customize the language detection process are sparse, making it difficult for developers to fully leverage the tool's capabilities.
Fit analysis
Who is it for?
✓ Best for
Developers working on projects with multilingual text data who need accurate and fast language identification.
Data scientists preprocessing datasets for machine learning tasks involving multiple languages.
✕ Not a fit for
Projects requiring real-time streaming language detection, as langid.py is designed for batch processing.
Applications that require support for a very specific or niche language not covered by the library's supported list.
Cost structure
Pricing
Free Tier
Available
Open source — free to use
Starts at
$0
Model
Flat rate
Enterprise
None
Performance benchmarks
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Next step
Get Started with langid.py
Step-by-step setup guide with code examples and common gotchas.