«I want my WordPress to translate itself.» It's one of the most searched things about multilingual WordPress, and also one of the worst explained: almost all plugins promise automatic translation, but each one understands something different by «automatic».
This guide separates the five real ways to do it that exist, what each one costs, and where it breaks down.
First of all: «automatic» means three different things
When a plugin says it translates automatically, it can mean:
- Translate a piece when you ask for it. You open an entry, click a button and that entry is translated. It is the most common.
- Translate the entire site at once. You launch a process and when it finishes all content exists in the other language. It is much less common than it seems.
- Translate on the fly, in the visitor's browser. Nothing is saved: it is translated every time someone enters.
The difference between the three and the other two is the one that costs the most. If the translation is not saved in your database, Google does not index it as your content: you don't have a website in five languages, you have a website in one with a translator on top.
The five ways to automatically translate WordPress
1. Plugin that translates and saves, piece by piece (WPML, TranslatePress)
The plugin connects to a translation engine and saves the result in your database as real content. You open pieces and translate.
Advantage: the content is yours, indexable, editable.
Disadvantage: with three hundred entries, someone has to click three hundred times, or set up batches.
Cost: WPML from 39 € per year, with automatic translation charged by credits separately. TranslatePress from 99 € per year with a word pack included.
2. Structure plugin plus external engine (Polylang + DeepL)
Polylang organizes languages and, in its Pro version, connects with DeepL using Your own API key. You open the DeepL account, you pay their bill, you monitor the consumption.
Advantage: you pay the real price of the engine, without an intermediary, and the architecture is native to WordPress.
Disadvantage: two providers, two invoices, and the translation is still piece by piece.
Cost: Polylang Pro €99 per year plus what you spend on DeepL.
3. On-the-fly translation in the browser (GTranslate and similar in their free mode)
Nothing is saved. The visitor clicks a flag and the content is translated at that moment.
Advantage: installs in five minutes and is free.
Serious drawback: no SEO. There is no URL per language with its own content, so you won't rank in any new market. It serves for visitor courtesy, not for selling abroad.
4. External service that hosts your translations (Weglot, Linguise)
Your content is sent to a service that translates it, saves it on their servers and serves it on subdomains or subdirectories.
Advantage: works very well and sets up quickly.
Disadvantage: subscription usually by number of words and languages, which increases as it grows, and your translations don't live in your database. If you stop paying, they disappear.
5. Translate the entire site at once and review afterwards
It's the least common approach: instead of translating as you go, you launch the translation of the entire site and then correct what matters.
Advantage: the site is in another language today, not in two months.
Disadvantage: you are going to have machine-translated content published, so you need a system that tells you what is unreviewed and lets you correct it quickly.
Decision table
| If your situation is… | What fits you |
|---|---|
| Twenty pages and you write each language yourself | Free Polylang |
| Store with many products and external translators | WPML |
| You want to see the translation while editing the page | TranslatePress |
| You just want the visitor to understand, without SEO | On-the-fly translation |
| You don't want to maintain servers or API keys | External service like Weglot |
| You have a hundred or more pieces and you want them translated now | Mass translation with subsequent review |
What no one tells you before you start
Content is not just posts. A half-translated WordPress is the normal result of translating only posts and pages. The menu, theme buttons, builder texts, forms, WooCommerce emails, and order statuses are missing. Check what the plugin covers before paying for it.
URLs are also translated. Or they should. If your English website has Spanish addresses, you lose relevance in that market. Almost all plugins cover it only in their paid version.
Hreflang is not optional. It's the tag that tells Google those pages are the same in another language. Without it, your versions compete with each other instead of adding up.
Translated is not reviewed. No engine gets product names, handwritten prices, or commercial tone right. The pricing page and product sheets are always reviewed manually; the rest can wait.
How much it really costs
Translating 300 pieces into 3 languages is not covered by any entry-level plan. Do this calculation before buying:
- Count the pieces: posts, pages, products, theme texts, and builder texts.
- Multiply by the languages.
- Check if the plan includes a word bag or charges separately for translation.
- Add three years, not one: annual licenses renew and content grows.
How WP-Translate solves it
WP-Translate is the fifth way: translates the entire site at once and lets you review afterwards. You launch the translation of everything, the plugin marks each piece as pending review, and you correct what is seen and what sells directly on the website, without entering a manager.
Three concrete differences from the above:
- Translations are saved in your database, with its URL per language and its hreflang. They are yours, not from an external service.
- It comes with several AI engines included, so you don't have to open a DeepL account or manage an API key.
- It's a one-time payment: 89 €, 169 € or 289 € depending on the number of sites, with a lifetime license, instead of an annual subscription.
It's not the tool for everyone: if each language on your website has different content written by hand, Polylang fits better; and if you have professional translators on staff with approval workflows, WPML is still the standard.
If your thing is to have the site in several languages as soon as possible, the free version lets you try it without paying anything.
Frequently asked questions
Does Google penalize automatically translated content?
Not because it's automatic. Google penalizes content that doesn't provide anything to the user. A revised automatic translation, with its own URL and hreflang, is valid content. An on-the-fly translation that is not saved, simply does not exist for Google.
Can I translate only part of the website?
Yes, and it's usually sensible: start with the homepage, services or products, and the contact page. The blog can wait.
Which engine translates best?
It depends on the language pair. DeepL usually works better for European languages, and generative AI models handle commercial tone and context better. The important thing is not to get the engine right, but to be able to change it and correct the result.
What if I uninstall the plugin?
That's the question to ask any solution before paying for it. If the translations are in your database, they stay. If they are in an external service, they leave with it.