--- title: "TranslatePress vs Polylang: translated strings or posts" description: "TranslatePress and Polylang both keep translations in your WordPress database, as strings or as posts. Free versions, 2026 prices, AI and WooCommerce costs." url: "https://www.langrelay.com/translatepress-vs-polylang" --- 1. [Home](https://www.langrelay.com/) 2. [Compare](https://www.langrelay.com/best-website-translation-software-compared-2026) 3. TranslatePress vs Polylang: translated strings or posts ComparisonCost and buying # TranslatePress vs Polylang: translated strings or posts TranslatePress and Polylang both keep translations in your WordPress database, as strings or as posts. Free versions, 2026 prices, AI and WooCommerce costs. [Chris Jayden](https://www.langrelay.com/about) Founder Published 7 October 2026 Reading time 5 min read ![A guide points out the savanna at sunrise to three visitors standing on a lodge veranda laid in green and orange leaf tiles.](https://www.langrelay.com/img/vs/translatepress-vs-polylang/cover-1536.50ec3d9821.webp) On this page 1. Strings on the page, or a post per language 2. The free versions 3. Paid plans and machine translation 4. When a page changes 5. Terms, people and URLs 6. A worked example: a WooCommerce store with 200 products 7. Which one fits 8. Where LangRelay fits ## At a glance - TranslatePress WordPress plugin, translates the rendered page €99 a year A yearly licence by number of sites, renewed each year. Each licence and renewal includes a quota of AI words; more can be bought from your account. Free: Free plugin: one extra language, the visual editor, Google Translate with your own key and 2,000 AI words. Checked 7 October 2026. What it does well - Translates the whole page at once, output from shortcodes, forms and page builders included. - A front-end visual editor with live preview in the free plugin. - Translations live in your own database, and the plugin keeps working as configured if the licence expires. - Translated slugs, metadata and multilingual sitemaps with the SEO Pack, in every paid plan. - As many languages as you need on every paid plan, through the Multiple Languages add-on. - A glossary for TranslatePress AI, and search and replace across translations already stored. - Polylang WordPress plugin, one post per language €99 a year A yearly licence priced by number of sites. Machine translation runs on your own DeepL API key and its quota. Free: Polylang on WordPress.org, with no limit on the number of languages. Checked 7 October 2026. What it does well - A free plugin with no limit on the number of languages, and 900,000+ active installations on WordPress.org. - A subdirectory, subdomain or separate domain per language, in the free version too. - Translations are ordinary WordPress posts, linked to the original. - A Pro licence that is not renewed keeps working, without updates or support. - Pro exports and imports XLIFF files for outside translators. 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. | | TranslatePress | Polylang (free) | Polylang Pro with DeepL | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | What needs translating | 60,000 AI words, counted per language | 400 product translations and the pages, by hand | 400 product translations made with DeepL one at a time; the Elementor home page by hand | | Licences | Personal (€99) plus a 100,000-word pack (€24); or Business at €199 with 200,000 words | Polylang for WooCommerce, €99 a year for one site | Polylang Pro (€99) plus Polylang for WooCommerce (€99) | | Year one, as listed | €123 | €99 | €198, plus DeepL usage on your account | | A product description edited | Its changed strings translated on the next visit | Both translated products updated by hand | Edited by hand or regenerated with DeepL | 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](https://www.langrelay.com/pricing). See [LangRelay vs TranslatePress](https://www.langrelay.com/langrelay-vs-translatepress) and [LangRelay vs Polylang](https://www.langrelay.com/langrelay-vs-polylang) for each pairing. For other routes, [TranslatePress alternatives](https://www.langrelay.com/translatepress-alternatives), [Polylang alternatives](https://www.langrelay.com/polylang-alternatives) and the [WooCommerce translation guide](https://www.langrelay.com/guides/translate-woocommerce-store). ## TranslatePress and Polylang side by side From each vendor's own pages, on the dates in the sources below. | Tool | DeliveryHow translated pages are servedHow the translated page reaches visitors: from your own server, through a proxy, or swapped in by the browser. | No duplicate postsWordPress: one post, no copies per languageWhether WordPress keeps one post per page, instead of a separate copy for every language. | hreflanghreflang and per-language URLsA URL per language with hreflang tags, so search engines find and index each language. | Translated slugsTranslated URL slugsURLs in the visitor’s language, like /fr/a-propos instead of /fr/about. | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [LangRelay](https://www.langrelay.com/pricing) | : WordPress plugin serves translated HTML from your server. A script tag works on any other site, without SEO. | : Translates the rendered page. Your posts stay as they are. | : Subdirectories (/fr/), hreflang with x-default, a canonical per language, and translated titles and meta. | Partly: Set by hand per page and language. Automatic slug translation is on the way. | | [TranslatePress](https://www.langrelay.com/langrelay-vs-translatepress) | : WordPress plugin. Translations are stored in your database and served by your site, with a language slug in the URL such as /fr/. | : One post. Translations are saved per string in the plugin’s own database tables. | : hreflang for every page. Translated metadata and multilingual sitemaps need the SEO Pack, in every paid plan. | Partly: SEO Pack, in every paid plan: by hand or automatically. | | [Polylang](https://www.langrelay.com/langrelay-vs-polylang) | : WordPress plugin. A subdirectory, subdomain or separate domain per language. | No: Each translation is a separate post, linked to the original. | : hreflang tags and language-dependent meta tags. | Partly: Pro only: translates URL slugs for post types, taxonomies, categories, tags and author pages. | | Tool | Follows editsPicks up edits to the originalWhen you edit the original page, whether the tool notices and translates what changed. | Approval stepApprove before it goes liveWhether a person can check a translation before visitors see it. | Visual editorVisual editorEditing translations on the page itself, rather than in a list of strings. | GlossaryGlossaryFixed translations for names and terms, applied every time they appear. | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [LangRelay](https://www.langrelay.com/pricing) | : The WordPress plugin reports an edit about a minute later, and only the new text is translated. Other sites can call a change hook from their CMS or deploy. | : When you choose Ask me first. By default pages go live as they are ready, and free checks hold a page with untranslated text, the wrong language or a changed price. Legal pages, pricing pages and sweeping changes always wait for you. | : Click text on the rendered page to edit, at desktop, tablet and mobile widths. | : Per-language terms, “keep as source”, and match case. Paid plans. | | [TranslatePress](https://www.langrelay.com/langrelay-vs-translatepress) | : An edited string counts as new and needs translating again. With automatic translation on, it is translated when a visitor next opens the page in that language. | Partly: No approval step per translation found. The Multiple Languages add-on, in every paid plan, can keep a whole language hidden until you publish it. | : Front-end editor with a live preview, in the free plugin. | : Applies to new automatic translations when TranslatePress AI is the engine. | | [Polylang](https://www.langrelay.com/langrelay-vs-polylang) | No: Editing the original does not update its DeepL translation; you edit it by hand or regenerate it. | Partly: DeepL output is saved as a draft that a person publishes. No approval workflow found. | Not found: No front-end editor found. | Partly: Pro: choose a DeepL glossary, managed in your DeepL account. | | Tool | Machine translationMachine translationThe machine or AI translation the tool uses. | AI reviewAI quality reviewAI that checks translations for mistakes, not only writes them. | AI assistantAI assistant in the productAn assistant inside the product that you can ask in plain language. | MCPMCP server for your own AILets your own AI assistant, such as Claude or ChatGPT, work with the tool directly. | APIAPIProgrammatic access for developers. | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [LangRelay](https://www.langrelay.com/pricing) | : AI translation that follows your glossary and each language’s formality. | : Relay reviews any page you ask it to, the way a language expert would, quoted in AI credits first. It reviews legal pages, pricing pages and sweeping changes on its own while you have AI credits. | : Relay, a chat agent that reads your Site’s pages and translations and drafts changes for your approval. | Planned: On the way: connect Claude or ChatGPT to your Sites. | Planned: On the way, for the Growth plan and up. | | [TranslatePress](https://www.langrelay.com/langrelay-vs-translatepress) | : TranslatePress AI picks between LLMs (such as Gemini and GPT) and DeepL or Google Translate per language pair and context. Google with your own key works on every plan, DeepL with your own key on Business and Developer. | Not found: No AI quality score or review queue found. | Not found: No AI assistant found. | Not found: Not found on translatepress.com. | Partly: PHP functions and hooks. No public REST API for managing translations found. | | [Polylang](https://www.langrelay.com/langrelay-vs-polylang) | Partly: Pro only: DeepL with your own API key, one post, page or product at a time. Not for Elementor or Divi content. | Not found: No AI review found. | Not found: No AI assistant found. | Not found: Not found on polylang.pro. | Partly: Pro only: REST API support for languages and translations. | - No · Not offered - Partly · With a limit - Planned · Announced, not shipped - Not found · Not on the vendor’s own pages when we checked - Yes · Included ### Where the table comes from TranslatePress - [translatepress.com/docs/translation-function/](https://translatepress.com/docs/translation-function/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [translatepress.com/docs/frequently-asked-questions/](https://translatepress.com/docs/frequently-asked-questions/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [translatepress.com/docs/settings/](https://translatepress.com/docs/settings/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [translatepress.com/pricing/](https://translatepress.com/pricing/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [translatepress.com/docs/translation-glossary/](https://translatepress.com/docs/translation-glossary/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [translatepress.com/docs/addons/multiple-languages/](https://translatepress.com/docs/addons/multiple-languages/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [translatepress.com/multilingual-seo/](https://translatepress.com/multilingual-seo/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [translatepress.com/docs/translation-editor/url-slug-translation/](https://translatepress.com/docs/translation-editor/url-slug-translation/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [wordpress.org/plugins/translatepress-multilingual/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/translatepress-multilingual/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [translatepress.com/](https://translatepress.com/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [translatepress.com/docs/addons/seo-pack/](https://translatepress.com/docs/addons/seo-pack/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [translatepress.com/ai/](https://translatepress.com/ai/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [translatepress.com/docs/automatic-translation/translatepress-ai/](https://translatepress.com/docs/automatic-translation/translatepress-ai/) (checked 7 October 2026) Polylang - [polylang.pro/documentation/support/developers/rest-api/](https://polylang.pro/documentation/support/developers/rest-api/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [polylang.pro/documentation/support/guides/how-to-use-deepl-machine-translation-with-polylang-pro/](https://polylang.pro/documentation/support/guides/how-to-use-deepl-machine-translation-with-polylang-pro/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [polylang.pro/features/](https://polylang.pro/features/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [polylang.pro/documentation/support/guides/translating-urls-slugs/](https://polylang.pro/documentation/support/guides/translating-urls-slugs/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [polylang.pro/pricing/polylang-pro/](https://polylang.pro/pricing/polylang-pro/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [polylang.pro/](https://polylang.pro/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [wordpress.org/plugins/polylang/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/polylang/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [polylang.pro/pricing/](https://polylang.pro/pricing/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [polylang.pro/documentation/support/guides/how-to-manage-language-capabilities-in-polylang-pro/](https://polylang.pro/documentation/support/guides/how-to-manage-language-capabilities-in-polylang-pro/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [polylang.pro/documentation/support/guides/synchronized-posts/](https://polylang.pro/documentation/support/guides/synchronized-posts/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [polylang.pro/documentation/support/developers/polylang-cli/](https://polylang.pro/documentation/support/developers/polylang-cli/) (checked 7 October 2026) Product names and logos belong to their owners; shown to identify them for comparison, no affiliation or endorsement. ## Sources The pages this one cites, with the day each was read. 1. 01[TranslatePress, Pricing](https://translatepress.com/pricing/)translatepress.com, checked 7 October 2026 2. 02[TranslatePress, Frequently asked questions](https://translatepress.com/docs/frequently-asked-questions/)translatepress.com, checked 7 October 2026 3. 03[TranslatePress, AI translation](https://translatepress.com/ai/)translatepress.com, checked 7 October 2026 4. 04[TranslatePress documentation, TranslatePress AI](https://translatepress.com/docs/automatic-translation/translatepress-ai/)translatepress.com, checked 7 October 2026 5. 05[TranslatePress documentation, Multiple Languages add-on](https://translatepress.com/docs/addons/multiple-languages/)translatepress.com, checked 7 October 2026 6. 06[TranslatePress documentation, SEO Pack add-on](https://translatepress.com/docs/addons/seo-pack/)translatepress.com, checked 7 October 2026 7. 07[TranslatePress documentation, Translation glossary](https://translatepress.com/docs/translation-glossary/)translatepress.com, checked 7 October 2026 8. 08[TranslatePress documentation, Settings](https://translatepress.com/docs/settings/)translatepress.com, checked 7 October 2026 9. 09[TranslatePress on WordPress.org](https://wordpress.org/plugins/translatepress-multilingual/)wordpress.org, checked 7 October 2026 10. 10[Polylang on WordPress.org](https://wordpress.org/plugins/polylang/)wordpress.org, checked 7 October 2026 11. 11[Polylang, Features](https://polylang.pro/features/)polylang.pro, checked 7 October 2026 12. 12[Polylang, Pricing](https://polylang.pro/pricing/)polylang.pro, checked 7 October 2026 13. 13[Polylang, Polylang Pro pricing](https://polylang.pro/pricing/polylang-pro/)polylang.pro, checked 7 October 2026 14. 14[Polylang, Polylang for WooCommerce pricing](https://polylang.pro/pricing/polylang-for-woocommerce/)polylang.pro, checked 7 October 2026 15. 15[Polylang documentation, How to use DeepL machine translation with Polylang Pro](https://polylang.pro/documentation/support/guides/how-to-use-deepl-machine-translation-with-polylang-pro/)polylang.pro, checked 7 October 2026 16. 16[Polylang documentation, REST API](https://polylang.pro/documentation/support/developers/rest-api/)polylang.pro, checked 7 October 2026 17. 17[Polylang documentation, How to manage language capabilities in Polylang Pro](https://polylang.pro/documentation/support/guides/how-to-manage-language-capabilities-in-polylang-pro/)polylang.pro, checked 7 October 2026 18. 18[Polylang documentation, Translating URL slugs](https://polylang.pro/documentation/support/guides/translating-urls-slugs/)polylang.pro, checked 7 October 2026 19. 19[TranslatePress, Multilingual SEO](https://translatepress.com/multilingual-seo/)translatepress.com, checked 7 October 2026 20. 20[TranslatePress documentation, URL slug translation](https://translatepress.com/docs/translation-editor/url-slug-translation/)translatepress.com, checked 7 October 2026 [Chris Jayden](https://www.langrelay.com/about) Founder, LangRelay Chris Jayden is the founder of LangRelay. Chris has worked on websites of every size, from large e-commerce stores to small sites with a handful of pages, and started LangRelay after years of translating them the hard way. On this page 1. Strings on the page, or a post per language 2. The free versions 3. Paid plans and machine translation 4. When a page changes 5. Terms, people and URLs 6. A worked example: a WooCommerce store with 200 products 7. Which one fits 8. Where LangRelay fits Share - [Share on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.langrelay.com%2Ftranslatepress-vs-polylang) - [Share on X (opens in a new tab)](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.langrelay.com%2Ftranslatepress-vs-polylang&text=TranslatePress%20vs%20Polylang%3A%20translated%20strings%20or%20posts) See it on your site A 30-minute walkthrough on one of your pages. [Book a demo](https://www.langrelay.com/book-a-demo) - TranslatePress - Polylang - translation plugins ## Keep reading - Alternatives ### [TranslatePress alternatives: five options for WordPress](https://www.langrelay.com/translatepress-alternatives) Five TranslatePress alternatives, from WPML and Polylang to hosted services, with prices checked 7 October 2026 and a sample site's first translation. - Alternatives ### [Polylang alternatives when manual translation gets slow](https://www.langrelay.com/polylang-alternatives) Five Polylang alternatives for sites that publish often, with prices dated 7 October 2026 and a worked example of a year of new posts in three languages. - Comparison ### [TranslatePress vs WPML: one post or a post per language](https://www.langrelay.com/translatepress-vs-wpml) TranslatePress keeps one post and stores translated strings; WPML adds a post per language. Editors, review, AI words and prices, checked 7 October 2026. Book a demo ## See LangRelay on your own site Book 30 minutes with the team. We translate one of your pages live and walk through review, publishing and multilingual SEO. [Book a demo](https://www.langrelay.com/book-a-demo)[See pricing](https://www.langrelay.com/pricing)