For publishing and translation teams
Every book, article, podcast and video moves forward with a clear owner.
Sastra plans the work around every book, article, podcast and video. Each stage has one owner. Rights, funding, email and chat stay with the project. The assistant does the paperwork, and a person approves each step.
14 days free with either plan, then from $24 a month for 5 people. Cancel any time.
Before and after
From five places to one.
Before Sastra, the work on one project lives in email, spreadsheets and chat apps. Nobody is sure who has the next step.
With Sastra, it lives in one project, and each part has one owner.
Where Sastra fits
The text lives in your translation tool. The plan lives in Sastra.
Lectio: the translation
Lectio is a translation platform for Christian publishing. AI suggests a draft, and your translators decide. Bible verses stay exactly as your team approved them.
Visit lectio.proSastra: the work around it
Rights, funding, owners, email, printing and publishing, for books, articles, podcasts and videos. Sastra's assistant helps with plans and paperwork. It does not translate or edit your text.
Your tools still work
Translate in Word, Google Docs or Paratext if you prefer. Sastra tracks the tasks, not the text.
Lectio runs Sastra Cloud. A connection between Lectio and Sastra is planned. Today, each task owner marks their work done in Sastra.
How a book moves
From the first license to the day it reaches readers.
Follow one book, Hope for Today, through Sastra. Articles, podcasts and videos move the same way, with their own stages.
1 of 5 · Rights
Know what the publisher allows.
Each project has one rights record from the publisher. It shows what is signed, what is still needed, and who is asking for it. Ask the assistant about an agreement, and it answers from the document.
2 of 5 · Funding
Know what each project still needs to raise.
Each project has a funding target. Gifts from donors, grants and partner funding all count toward it. When a project is short, it shows a blocker. Send a funding proposal to a partner from the project. When the funding is received, the blocker clears.
3 of 5 · Owners
Every stage has one owner.
Each task has one owner and a due date. Each person sees their work in the order to do it. People get a notification when a task is assigned to them.
4 of 5 · Email
Printer and publisher email goes to the right project.
Your workspace has its own email address, or you can connect your Gmail. Copy it on your emails, or forward them. Sastra files each one under its project, and reads printer quotes out of the email for you to check.
5 of 5 · Assistant
The assistant does the paperwork. You decide.
It plans new projects, answers questions about agreements, reads documents into projects and drafts emails. It shows you each change first. Nothing is sent or changed until a person approves it.
Team chat
Each project has its own chat.
Every project has channels for General, Translation, Editing, Layout and Marketing. The whole team shares #general. Managers can make private team channels, and two people can message each other directly.
- @mentionsType @ and a name. That person gets a notification in Sastra, on their phone, or by email.
- Voice messagesRecord up to ten minutes when typing is slow. Add a short note so people can read it without sound.
- Files, reactions and pinsShare a file where the team is talking, answer with a quick reaction, and pin the messages people need to find again.
- StandupsStandup Bot asks each person three short questions. Managers get a summary of who may need help.
Any language
Publish in any language.
Titles, chapter and episode names, and notes can be in any script. Sastra's own screens are in plain English, written for teams who read English as a second language.
- ភាសាខ្មែរ
- ภาษาไทย
- ພາສາລາວ
- မြန်မာဘာသာ
- Tiếng Việt
- Bahasa Indonesia
- 中文
- 한국어
- 日本語
- हिन्दी
- বাংলা
- தமிழ்
- नेपाली
- العربية
- اردو
- فارسی
- አማርኛ
- Kiswahili
- Español
- Français
- Português
- Русский
- English
Built to last
Your work stays yours.
Sastra is free software under the AGPL-3.0. Anyone can read the code, run it and change it.
Version 0.2.3, released 7 October 2026
Read the source- Take your data with you
- Export reports to a spreadsheet at any time. On Sastra Cloud, ask us for a full export of your database and files.
- Run it yourself
- The same software runs on your own server, with Docker Compose, Coolify or Railway. See the guides.
- Where your data lives
- Each Sastra Cloud workspace runs in Singapore or Frankfurt, with its own database and file storage.
- If Sastra Cloud ever closes
- The terms give you 90 days' notice. You can export your data, and the software stays free to run yourself.
What the assistant does, and what it never does
It does
- Plans a new project from a conversation
- Answers questions about your agreements
- Reads documents into projects and budgets
- Reads printer quotes out of email
- Drafts emails for you to check
It never
- Sends or changes anything without a person's approval
- Translates or edits your manuscripts
Running Sastra yourself? The assistant is optional. Everything else works without it.
Sastra began inside a translation ministry in Cambodia.
Nathan Wells built it there, to plan books, articles and audio for readers in their own language. It grew out of real problems: handoffs that went missing, proofs that sat in inboxes, and budgets kept in spreadsheets.
Most of the people who use it read English as a second language. So Sastra uses short sentences and one word for each idea. Lectio, Nathan's company, runs Sastra Cloud, so other teams can use Sastra without running servers.
Questions
Before you ask.
Is Sastra only for books?
No. Sastra plans books, article series, podcasts and video series. Each kind has its own stages, and you can change them to fit your team.
Does Sastra replace our translation tool?
No. Keep translating in Lectio, Word, Google Docs or Paratext. Sastra plans the work around the text: rights, funding, owners, email and printing.
Does the assistant translate or edit our text?
No. It plans projects, answers questions about agreements, reads documents and printer quotes, and drafts emails. Nothing is sent or changed until a person approves it.
Do we still need a separate chat app?
Maybe not. Each project has its own chat, the whole team shares #general, and two people can message each other directly. You can share files and voice messages, pin important messages, and get notifications on your phone.
Does Sastra work offline?
No. Sastra needs an internet connection. If you install it on a phone and the connection drops, it shows a short offline screen.
Which languages and scripts can we use?
Any. Titles, chapter and episode names, and notes can be in any script. Sastra's own screens are in English.
Do we need to be a registered nonprofit?
No. Every team pays the same prices, and there are no forms to fill in.
What happens to our work if Sastra Cloud closes?
The terms give you 90 days' notice. You can export all your data, and the same free software runs on your own server.
Where is our data kept?
In Singapore or Frankfurt, as you choose. Each workspace has its own database and file storage. See the privacy policy.
How do we start with Sastra Cloud?
Start your free trial, name your workspace and choose a plan. The first 14 days are free. A card is needed to start, and you can cancel before the trial ends. You can also run Sastra yourself.
$24
a month for a team of five.
Every feature, 1,000 AI credits a month and 20 GB of file space. Add people for $4 each, or choose Large team: $60 a month for 20 people. You do not need to show nonprofit papers.
See pricingGive every project a clear owner.
14 days free with either plan, then from $24 a month for 5 people. Cancel any time.