Running a WordPress site in more than one language means picking a translation plugin early, because switching later means re-doing a lot of setup work. The three most-established options — WPML, Polylang, and TranslatePress — take meaningfully different approaches to pricing and architecture. Here’s what each actually offers.
At a Glance
| Plugin | Free Version | Active Installs | Rating | Entry Paid Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WPML | None (premium only) | N/A | N/A | €39/year (1 production site) |
| Polylang | Yes, full core translation features | 900,000+ | 4.7/5 (2,999 reviews) | €99/year (Pro) |
| TranslatePress | Yes, basic translation and switcher | 400,000+ | 4.7/5 (1,664 reviews) | €99/year (Personal, 1 site) |
Install counts and ratings are each plugin’s live WordPress.org figures as of October 2026; WPML isn’t distributed through WordPress.org. Prices are from each vendor’s official pricing page.
Short Verdict
Polylang is the only one of the three with a fully capable free version — real multilingual content, menus, and widgets at no cost, with Pro reserved for shared slugs, content syncing, and WooCommerce support. TranslatePress’s free version is more limited but its paid tiers bundle AI-powered automatic translation, which can save substantial manual work on large sites. WPML has no free tier at all, but its page builder and plugin compatibility list is the deepest of the three, which is why it remains the default pick for complex, plugin-heavy sites despite starting at €39/year.
WPML: Deepest Compatibility, No Free Tier
WPML is sold directly, with no free version and no WordPress.org listing. Pricing runs Multilingual Blog (€39/year, 1 production site plus 3 development sites, core translation only), Multilingual CMS (€99/year, 3 production plus 9 development sites, adds the advanced editor, string translation, translation management, and 22,500 AI translation words per year), and Multilingual Agency (€199/year, unlimited sites, 45,000 AI words/year). Unused AI words roll over at renewal rather than expiring. WPML’s reputation rests on its compatibility list — it’s built and tested against most major page builders and WooCommerce specifically, which matters more as a site’s plugin stack grows.
Polylang: Best Free Tier
Polylang’s free version, with 900,000+ active installs and a 4.7-star rating from 2,999 reviews, genuinely supports translating posts, pages, media, categories, tags, custom post types, custom taxonomies, menus, and widgets — not a stripped demo. Polylang Pro starts at €99/year and adds shared/translatable URL slugs, content duplication and syncing across translations, XLIFF import/export, DeepL machine translation (bring your own API key), and premium support. A separate WooCommerce add-on (also €99/year) or the combined Business Pack (€139/year, discounted from €198) adds WooCommerce-specific translation for products, categories, and cart synchronization. Renewals get a 50% discount across all Polylang paid products.
TranslatePress: Best for AI-Assisted Translation
TranslatePress has 400,000+ active installs and a 4.7-star rating from 1,664 reviews for its free version, which covers basic translation and a language switcher but doesn’t include automatic translation. The paid tiers build around TranslatePress AI: Personal (€99/year, 1 site, 50,000 AI words included), Business (€199/year, 3 sites, 200,000 AI words, adds per-language domains, translator accounts, and automatic user-language detection), and Developer (€349/year, unlimited sites, 500,000 AI words). All paid tiers also include Google Translate integration and an SEO pack for translated URLs and metadata. The AI word allowances are the thing to size correctly — a large site translating into several languages can burn through the Personal tier’s 50,000 words quickly.
Bottom Line
Start with Polylang if you want to run a multilingual site for free and only pay once you need slug translation, content sync, or WooCommerce support. Pick TranslatePress if AI-assisted translation of a large volume of content is the priority. Choose WPML if you’re running a complex site with a specific page builder or a large plugin stack and want the broadest tested compatibility, even though it means paying from day one.
Sources
- WPML — Official pricing page
- Polylang — WordPress.org plugin listing
- Polylang Pro — Official pricing page
- TranslatePress — WordPress.org plugin listing
- TranslatePress — Official pricing page
Discover more from Software Online Review
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
