We look after multilingual sites for organisations who have international reach. In this article we’re focusing on the two market leaders and our experience of working with them. These two platforms are WeGlot and WPML, and they solve the same problem in very different ways.
WeGlot: low setup cost and off-site management
WeGlot works as a hosted translation layer that sits next to your website, rather than within it. Once linked to your site, it automatically detects content, provides machine/AI translations and lets users edit those translations where needed through a separate dashboard.
One of WeGlot’s biggest strengths is speed. It’s very quick to set up, doesn’t require duplicating pages in WordPress, and handles technical details like language switching, SEO tags and URL structures for you. For organisations that want to launch quickly, or don’t have the capacity to manage translations internally, this can be a real advantage.
Because WeGlot is externally hosted, it also tends to be lighter on the WordPress admin side. Content updates flow through automatically, which reduces the risk of things getting out of sync.
The trade-off is cost and control: WeGlot pricing scales with word count and number of languages, and some teams prefer translations to live entirely within WordPress rather than in a separate system.
How much does WeGlot cost?
WeGlot operates on a subscription model based on word count and number of languages. Pricing scales depending on your website size, traffic, and translation needs, with monthly or annual billing options.
Are there ongoing costs with WeGlot?
Yes. WeGlot is a A Software as a Service (SaaS) product, so you pay a recurring monthly or annual fee, rather than for a plugin, license or installation. Costs may increase if your word count grows or you add additional languages.
Is WeGlot good for SEO?
Yes. WeGlot creates dedicated, indexable URLs for each language, automatically adds hreflang tags, translates metadata, and generates multilingual sitemaps to support international SEO best practices.
Does WeGlot slow down website performance?
Weglot uses a CDN and optimized delivery system to minimize performance impact. In most cases, page speed remains strong, though performance depends on hosting quality and site complexity.
Is WeGlot compatible with WordPress?
Yes. WeGlot integrates seamlessly with WordPress via a dedicated plugin. It also works with other platforms like Shopify, Webflow and custom-built websites.
Can I edit automatic translations in WeGlot?
Absolutely. WeGlot provides a visual editor and translation dashboard where you can manually review, edit, and override machine translations for accuracy and brand consistency.
How does WeGlot handle multilingual URLs?
Weglot can use subdirectories (example.com/fr/), subdomains (fr.example.com), or language parameters depending on your setup. Subdirectories and subdomains are recommended for SEO.
Does WeGlot support eCommerce websites?
Yes. WeGlot integrates with WooCommerce, Shopify, and other eCommerce platforms, allowing translation of products, checkout pages, and dynamic content while maintaining SEO structure.
Which is better, WeGlot or WPML?
Weglot and WPML serve different needs. WeGlot is faster to deploy and easier to manage, especially for non-technical teams. WPML offers deeper WordPress-native control and may suit more complex, highly customised builds.
You can see WeGlot in use on one of our client’s sites, take a look at the Community Health Impact Coalition website.
WPML: powerful and integrated
WPML stands for WordPress MultiLingual, so unlike WeGlot it is very much purpose built for WordPress. WPML takes a very different approach to WeGlot; plug-in based, it lives within your WordPress site and allows you to manage translations directly within the site. Each language version exists as its own piece of content, giving editors granular control over wording, structure and nuance.
This can be a good fit for organisations with in-house editors, professional translators or complex content needs. It’s also useful where translated content needs to diverge slightly from the original, rather than being a direct mirror. You can also turn off various pages in various languages, which can help with regional product availability in e-commerce settings. WPML supports AI translations too, and the cost per word is better value than WeGlot, at approx £0.0012 per word for WPML and £0.11–£0.38 per word for WeGlot.
However, WPML requires careful configuration which means a higher setup cost than WeGlot. Ongoing maintenance is greater too, meaning higher maintenance costs for your site overall, and if your site isn’t well hosted, WPML can drag the back-end page speed down quite substantially.
How much does WPML cost to set up?
WPML is a premium plugin with annual licensing fees. Setup costs typically include the plugin license, configuration time, theme compatibility checks, and initial content translation—either manual or professional translation services.
What are the ongoing costs of WPML?
Ongoing costs include annual license renewal, translation updates for new content, possible automatic translation credits, maintenance, and technical support to ensure compatibility with WordPress core and plugin updates.
Is WPML good for SEO?
Yes. WPML supports multilingual SEO best practices, including language-specific URLs, hreflang tags, translated meta data, XML sitemaps, and compatibility with major SEO plugins, such as Yoast SEO.
Does WPML slow down a WordPress website?
When properly configured with quality hosting and caching, WPML has minimal performance impact. However, multilingual sites naturally require more database queries and content management compared to single-language sites.
Can WPML translate WooCommerce stores?
Yes. WPML integrates with WooCommerce, allowing you to translate products, categories, attributes, checkout pages, and transactional emails while maintaining currency and regional settings.
Can WPML use automatic translation?
Yes. WPML includes automatic translation options powered by machine translation engines. You can review and edit translations before publishing to ensure accuracy and brand consistency.
How does WPML handle multilingual URLs?
WPML lets you structure language URLs using subdirectories (example.com/fr/), subdomains (fr.example.com), or separate domains. This flexibility supports international SEO strategies, however in all cases you must properly configure DNS and hosting for each domain/subdomain to point to your WordPress installation before WPML will recognise them.
You can see WPML in use on one of our clients’ sites, take a look at the Swadling Brassware website, however at present they’re only using this in English and US English but it’s very effective for swapping words like ‘tap’ for ‘faucet’ as well as controlling regional product availability.
Other tools worth exploring
While Weglot and WPML are the tools we most often recommend, there are others on the wider WordPress landscape. Each have their own strengths, limitations and learning curves but we’re happy to work with any of them.
Polylang is a popular WordPress-native plugin and alternative to WPML, offering similar content-based translation management with a lighter footprint.
TranslatePress allows content to be translated directly from the front end, which some teams find more intuitive.
MultilingualPress uses WordPress Multisite to separate each language into its own site, giving both editors and search engines a clearer structure.
We don’t default to one multilingual solution
A multilingual site isn’t just about translation. We look at how a site will be used and maintained over time. Who will manage translations? How often will content change? What other integrations does your site rely on and are there any potential compatibility issues? How important is speed versus control? Choosing the right tool early can make a big difference.
If you’re considering a multilingual WordPress site, we’re very happy to talk through the options and help you make a choice that fits your organisation.
Ready to discuss multilingual support for your WordPress website?
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