Kitab AI
EPUB → Arabic
Pay-per-use book translation with Kindle-ready output
The Problem
Arabic readers wait years for translations
Technical and literary books in English take 1–3 years to reach Arabic readers — and many never do. Existing translation tools either produce low-quality machine output that's hard to read, or require manual cleanup that costs more than the book itself. There's a gap in the middle: affordable, good-enough translation that respects the reading experience.
Kitab AI fills that gap. Users upload an EPUB, pick a quality tier based on their need (skimming, study, or publication-ready), and receive a translated file back with proper RTL layout, embedded Arabic fonts, and Kindle-compatible structure.
Engineering
Key decisions
Pay-per-use, not subscription
Each book is a one-time cost. No monthly billing, no tiered plans, no overage fees — translation is an occasional need for most users, and subscriptions punish that pattern. The credit-based model maps 1:1 to a real unit of work: one EPUB, one price.
Three quality tiers, transparent tradeoff
Users pick between Draft (fast, cheap, good enough for skimming), Standard (balanced, the default), and Premium (slower, expensive, near-human quality). The tradeoff is explicit in the UI — cost, ETA, and sample pages are visible before checkout. No hidden model switching.
Arabic-first design, not Arabic-translated
Every layout decision starts from RTL. Amiri is the default body font. Numbered lists start from the right, footnotes align right, and the reading experience flows the way Arabic readers expect. LTR is supported as a viewing option, not the primary direction.
Kindle-ready EPUB output
Translated books come back as valid EPUB files with preserved chapter structure, working ToC, and embedded Arabic fonts. The output passes Kindle Previewer validation, so users can sideload to a Kindle and read without extra tooling.
Screens
Selected views
Outcome
What shipped
Built and shipped Kitab AI as a pay-per-use SaaS for EPUB-to-Arabic translation. The product handles the full pipeline: EPUB ingestion, chapter-level translation with quality-tier selection, RTL reflow, Amiri font embedding, and Kindle-compatible output. Stripe handles payments, and the platform is live in production with a private repository.