WordPress has several popular multi-language plugins that allow website owners to create multilingual sites easily. They can roughly be broken down into two categories—plugins that primarily focus on helping you create multilingual sites, and plugins that focus on automated translation of content. We will only discuss the former, as the best solutions all feature integration with translation services, either automated and/or paid.
Here is a quick overview of some of the most widely used multi-language plugins for WordPress. Listed in order from the most traditional approach to the most modern SAAS service:
WPML (WordPress Multilingual Plugin)
Key Features
- Powerful translation management.
- Compatible with most WordPress themes and plugins.
- Reliable support and frequent updates.
- Integrates with almost all major themes, page builders, and plugins
Drawbacks
- “Heavy plugin” that is known to have a negative effect on performance
- Seems to have problems with large sites
- No free version
Polylang
Key Features
- Free version is enough for most sites
- Much less performance degradation than WPML
- Straightforward setup with a user-friendly interface
- Support for unlimited languages
- Content synchronization between translations
- Customizable language switchers
- Integrates with Lingotek (and other services) for automatic or manual translation
Drawbacks
- Not as many integrations as WPML
- No native automatic translation ability
- Some effort required to translate strings in forms and other areas Polylang can’t detect automatically–often needs a developer.
TranslatePress
Key Features
- Free version is enough for most sites
- Real-time translation preview
- Good at finding and translating strings
- Integration with Google Translate for automatic translations.
Drawbacks
- No link to manual translation services
- Google Translate is not the most accurate translation service for many languages
- SEO Pack add-on is pretty much a must, and it requires a paid plan
Weglot Translate
Key Features
- Multiple automatic and manual translation options
- Cloud-based translation, minimizing server load
- Compatibility with e-commerce platforms
- Translation memory for consistent translations
Drawbacks
- Free version only good for testing
- UI is a bit confusing
- Main dashboard not part of WP Admin. Users have to sign in to their Weglot account
- Not as much flexibility regarding site architecture as WPML or Polylang
- Can be very expensive for large sites
- The translated versions of site stop working if you stop using Weglot
Conclusion
There are a LOT of translation plugins, with more appearing all the time. However, as of right now, these seem to be the four best candidates. WPML has been around the longest and has the most support, but it can be a real killer if performance is important—and isn’t it always? The SAAS billing system makes Weglot much too expensive for content heavy sites. That leaves Translate Press and Polylang. We’ve built several sites using Polylang, and find it to be a robust, versatile solution, especially when combined with DeepL for often uncannily accurate automatic translation. However, now that TranslatePress supports DeepL, also, it is definitely worth taking a look at.