TranslatePress vs Polylang: translated strings or posts

TranslatePress and Polylang both suit a site owner who wants translations inside WordPress rather than on someone else's server. Both have a free version on WordPress.org, both store everything in your own database, and both keep working if you stop paying. They store it in different shapes, though. TranslatePress keeps one post and saves a translation for each string of text it finds on the rendered page. Polylang creates a separate post for every language and links it to the original.

I build LangRelay, another WordPress plugin, and it appears at the end. The TranslatePress and Polylang facts are from their own sites and WordPress.org listings, read on 7 October 2026.

Strings on the page, or a post per language#

TranslatePress works on the front end. Its WordPress.org listing says it translates the whole page at once, output from shortcodes, forms and page builders included, in a visual editor with a live preview. Theme text, a footer or a form label are translated in the same place as the body copy, because the plugin sees the page the way a visitor does.

Polylang works in the back end. Its REST API documentation describes each translation as its own post, linked to the original, which you open and edit in the WordPress editor like any other post. That gives each language its own content to query or tailor, and it means four translated languages make five posts out of every page.

The free versions#

The free TranslatePress plugin adds one translation language, includes the visual editor, works with Google Translate on your own API key and comes with 2,000 TranslatePress AI words.

The free Polylang plugin sets no limit on languages and can put each language in a subdirectory, a subdomain or on a separate domain. It has no machine translation; a person writes each translated post.

Paid plans and machine translation#

TranslatePress sells three yearly licences: Personal at €99 for one site with 50,000 AI words, Business at €199 for three sites with 200,000, and Developer at €349 for unlimited sites with 500,000. Every paid plan includes the Multiple Languages add-on, for as many languages as you need, and the SEO Pack. TranslatePress AI picks among LLMs such as Gemini and GPT and DeepL or Google Translate for each language pair. AI words are counted per word, per language, and more can be bought from your account page, 100,000 for €24.

Polylang Pro is priced by sites, excluding VAT: €99 a year for one, €198 for three, €297 for five and €495 for 25. It adds DeepL on your own API key, one post, page or product at a time, saved as a draft. Polylang's features page says there is no one-click way to translate everything, and its DeepL guide says Elementor and Divi content is not supported.

When a page changes#

TranslatePress's FAQ says an edited string counts as new and has to be translated again. With automatic translation on, that happens the next time a visitor opens the page in that language.

Polylang's DeepL guide says editing the original does not update its translation: you edit the translated post by hand, or regenerate it with DeepL and spend credits again.

Terms, people and URLs#

TranslatePress has a glossary that applies to new automatic translations made by TranslatePress AI, and a search and replace across translations already stored. Polylang Pro lets you choose a DeepL glossary, which you manage in your DeepL account.

For teams, TranslatePress Business and Developer add translator accounts. Polylang Pro can restrict a user role to one language, and exports and imports XLIFF files for outside translators.

Translated slugs come with TranslatePress's SEO Pack, by hand or automatically, and with Polylang Pro for post types, taxonomies and author pages. TranslatePress outputs hreflang on every page; Polylang adds hreflang and language-dependent meta tags.

A worked example: a WooCommerce store with 200 products#

A worked example, priced from each vendor's page on 7 October 2026. A WooCommerce store has 200 products and an Elementor-built home page, about 30,000 words in all, and wants Dutch and French.

Polylang for WooCommerce works with either free Polylang or Polylang Pro, and its page lists €99 for one site, €198 for three, €297 for five and €495 for 25. Polylang Pro's prices exclude VAT; the other prices are as each page printed them.

The table puts the two plugins close on licence cost and far apart on effort. With TranslatePress the 400 product translations happen as shoppers browse; with Polylang each one is a post somebody creates and publishes. Polylang's model suits a store that wants to tailor products per market, since a translated product is a product you can edit on its own.

Which one fits#

TranslatePress fits a site where most of the work should be automatic, where page-builder and theme text needs translating with the content, and where one post per page is easier to manage. Polylang fits a site with translators or bilingual editors, where every language should be a full WordPress post, where a subdomain or separate domain per language is needed in a free plugin, or where unlimited languages matter without paying.

Where LangRelay fits#

LangRelay shares TranslatePress's starting point: one post per page, translated from what WordPress renders. It differs on two points. By default a translation goes live as soon as it is ready, and free checks hold a page with untranslated text, the wrong language or a changed price. To approve every page yourself, in a grid or in a visual editor at desktop, tablet and mobile widths, choose Ask me first. And the plugin reports an edit about a minute after you save it, so only the changed text is translated without waiting for a visitor. The approved translations are kept in LangRelay's service and served from your server, unlike both plugins here, which keep them in your database. During the pilot it translates between nine languages. Plans are on the pricing page.

See LangRelay vs TranslatePress and LangRelay vs Polylang for each pairing. For other routes, TranslatePress alternatives, Polylang alternatives and the WooCommerce translation guide.