How to Choose the Best WordPress Translation Plugin

Did you know that WordPress powers 40% of the web? It hosts everything from blogs to major sites like The New York Times and ecommerce stores like Mint Mobile. 

Surprisingly, about 71% of WordPress sites are in English, even though over 75% of internet users speak other languages.

To reach a broader audience and meet global language needs, translating your brand’s WordPress site is no longer optional — it’s essential. 

In this guide, we’ll examine some of the best enterprise WordPress plugins for accurate, reliable, and secure website translation.

What’s the best way to translate a WordPress site?

If you're looking to create a bilingual or multilingual WordPress site or WooCommerce store, translation plugins are an effective solution. They allow you to present the same content in multiple languages, helping you reach a broader audience without building separate WordPress websites.

Key Benefits of WordPress Translation for Businesses:

Elements to Localize on a WordPress Site:

SEO Benefits for Multilingual Sites:

Types of WordPress Translation Plugins

The market for WordPress translation tools is crowded with independent plugins, tools, paid options, and everything in between. While free plugins may work well for smaller operations, they can cause friction when brands need to accurately localize entire websites or manage a large backlog of content.

Why look beyond WPML?

Although WPML is the most popular WordPress multilingual plugin, it has its drawbacks. It supports 60+ languages at an affordable price, but many users report inconsistent translation quality. Compatibility is another issue—WPML doesn’t work seamlessly with all themes, which could leave parts of your site untranslated.

Plus, its manual, ZIP-file-driven translation process can be time-consuming and complicated to set up. And, in late 2024, a critical security breach impacted over 1 million sites, raising concerns for businesses that need reliability. 

For enterprise-level or e-commerce brands, WPML might not be the safest or most efficient choice.

What to Look for in a WordPress Translation Plugin

We recommend using a third-party plugin that integrates with a dedicated Translation Management System (TMS). This type of tool automates multilingual support, translating your site through a TMS and syncing it seamlessly. It's perfect for enterprises and brands with larger, more complex websites.

Look for a plugin that eliminates manual file handling, offers compatibility with all WordPress themes, and provides a user-friendly interface. The right plugin should make translation simple and seamless, allowing you to focus on a great user experience with no technical roadblocks.

Top 9 Enterprise WordPress Translation Plugins

We analyzed 9 vetted WordPress translation plugins based on a comprehensive set of criteria for multilingual websites and WooCommerce stores. These factors include budget, reliability, ease of use, features, translation accuracy, and support availability.

1: Localize’s WordPress Plugin

Localize’s no-code translation platform gives you the tools you need to launch multilingual experiences in minutes - not months.

AI-powered workflows help you translate WordPress content in one dashboard: websites, marketing materials, SEO metadata, WooCommerce stores, help docs, and more.

Designed for agility and scalability, Localize excels when:

Pros: 

Cons:

• May not be the best solution for small teams that need a less advanced feature set

Download the Localize Plugin

2: Smartling WordPress Translation Connector

Smartling’s AI-powered translation platform offers a solid blend of automation and human expertise to streamline the localization process. The prebuilt WordPress integration features real-time collaboration and customizable reporting for a multilingual experience. 

Smartling is designed for teams that need to: 

Pros

Cons

Download the Smartling Connector

3: Weglot Translate

Weglot’s beginner-friendly translation plugin makes it easy for anyone to create a multilingual WordPress website. This plugin allows you to translate your site into 110+ languages, with automatic translation and full editing control.

Weglot is designed for teams that need to:

Pros

Cons

Download Weglot Translate

4: Bablic

Bablic is a website translation tool designed to help users localize their sites into multiple languages. It offers a straightforward setup, with features like automatic content translation, real-time publishing, and a visual editor for customizing pages. 

Bablic is designed for teams that need to:

Pros

• Users can choose between machine translations or opt for professional human translation services.

Cons

Download the Bablic plugin

5: Lokalise

Lokalise is a growing translation management platform with a clean, intuitive interface. It supports the localization of digital assets across web and mobile apps, software, games, and marketing materials—all in one place. 

However, Lokalise’s WordPress integration will cost you. Lokalise offers one of the priciest WordPress plugins, with plans starting at $270 per month.

Lokalise is ideal for teams that need to:

Pros

Cons

• High cost for certain plugins like WordPress

Download the Lokalise Companion plugin

6: Crowdin

Crowdin is a localization platform that streamlines the process of making products multilingual. It enables teams to manage translations in one central hub.

Crowdin is ideal for teams when: 

Pros

Cons

Download the WPML plugin for Crowdin

7: MotionPoint Express

MotionPoint is a managed translation platform offering hands-on, end-to-end translation services to meet the needs of global brands. With a focus on translation quality and efficiency, MotionPoint provides a fully outsourced solution for multilingual Wordpress management.

MotionPoint is ideal for teams when: 

Pros

Cons

• Time-to-market for translated sites can be 30 days or more.

Download the MotionPoint Express plugin

8: International SEO by Transifex

Transifex is a localization platform designed to streamline the translation of software, websites, and customer experience with AI-powered tools. It allows organizations to manage their entire localization process in one platform, automating tasks and delivering high-quality, on-brand translations at scale.

Transifex is ideal for teams when: 

Pros

Cons

Download the Transifex plugin

9: Phrase/Memsource

Phrase is a powerful translation tool designed to simplify and accelerate global growth. Supporting 500+ languages and 50+ file types, Phrase delivers high-quality translations quickly and efficiently.

However, its WordPress integration features are available only with the Ultimate and Enterprise plans, which start at steep price points in the quadruple digits.

Phrase is ideal for teams when: 

Pros

Cons

• It’s the most costly WordPress translation solution on the market

Download Phrase TMS Integration for WordPress 

Why Localize is the Best Choice for WordPress Translation

I get it—saving money is always tempting, which is why free or low-cost plugins like WPML are so popular. But these basic tools often complicate the process with messy files and clunky workflows. As your website grows or changes, translation only gets more time-consuming and frustrating.

When it comes to translating your WordPress site, Localize shines as the best choice. It offers affordable pricing, ease of use, and top-notch translation accuracy. With no complicated file handling and full compatibility with every WordPress theme, Localize simplifies your entire workflow from start to finish.

Trusted by major brands like Atlassian and Cisco, Localize brings enterprise-level security and scalability. Whether you’re running a small site or a global e-commerce store, Localize gives you the speed and accuracy you need to confidently go multilingual.

Next Steps

Unlock the potential of multilingual websites with the Localize WordPress Translation Plugin. Expand your reach, enhance your online presence, and open doors to new growth opportunities.