--- title: "Weglot vs WPML: a hosted proxy or a WordPress plugin?" description: "Weglot translates through a hosted proxy and bills monthly by translated words; WPML is a yearly WordPress licence. How they differ, priced October 2026." url: "https://www.langrelay.com/weglot-vs-wpml" --- 1. [Home](https://www.langrelay.com/) 2. [Compare](https://www.langrelay.com/best-website-translation-software-compared-2026) 3. Weglot vs WPML: a hosted proxy or a WordPress plugin? ComparisonCost and buying # Weglot vs WPML: a hosted proxy or a WordPress plugin? Weglot translates through a hosted proxy and bills monthly by translated words; WPML is a yearly WordPress licence. How they differ, priced October 2026. [Chris Jayden](https://www.langrelay.com/about) Founder Published 7 October 2026 Reading time 5 min read ![Two visitors share an umbrella on snowy steps through a red temple gate decorated with green and orange leaf tiles.](https://www.langrelay.com/img/vs/weglot-vs-wpml/cover-1536.d697ccf9c4.webp) On this page 1. Where the translations live 2. How each one charges 3. Engines and publishing 4. Slugs, languages, sites and human translators 5. A worked example: the first year of a 15,000-word site 6. Picking between them 7. Where LangRelay fits ## At a glance - Weglot Translating proxy for any platform €15 a month Unique translated words across all your languages: a fixed total that does not renew. Languages and projects are capped per plan. Prices exclude VAT. Free: 2,000 words, 1 language, 1 project. Checked 7 October 2026. What it does well - Works on almost any platform: Weglot says it connects natively to more than 70 platforms, including custom-built websites. - Server-side translation with hreflang and translated metadata, so search engines see every language. - Editing tools for teams: a visual editor, translators and teammates in the dashboard, and professional translation ordered inside Weglot. - A free plan for up to 2,000 words, and a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. - MCP-powered assistance in Weglot 2.0, so AI assistants can find projects, review translations and update content. - WPML WordPress plugin, one post per language €39 a year A yearly licence by number of sites. AI translation counts source words once per target language; after the included words and 500 free words a month, pay as you go from €3.00 per 1,000 words, down to €0.40 with volume. Free: No free plan. 30-day money-back guarantee. Checked 7 October 2026. What it does well - Each translation is a WordPress post in your own database, linked to the original. - Translations keep showing on your site if you stop renewing. - Review controls: hold AI translations as drafts for a Translation Manager, or publish and queue them for review. - hreflang with x-default in the page head and in Yoast or Rank Math sitemaps, with settings for translated slugs. - Translates page builder designs, such as Elementor, and WooCommerce sites with popular extensions. - Multiple currencies and payment gateways for WooCommerce stores. - Sends content to more than 70 professional translation services from the WordPress admin. - Its own LLM-based engine, PTC, that learns from the edits you make. Weglot and WPML both translate WordPress sites, but they sit in different places. Weglot is a hosted service: Weglot keeps the translations in its own database, its WordPress plugin serves them on a URL per language, and you pay each month for the total number of words your translated site holds. WPML is a plugin that runs inside WordPress, stores each translation as a post in your database, and is sold as a yearly licence with AI words on top. If you run sites on other platforms as well, Weglot covers them and WPML does not. I make LangRelay, which the comparison tables further down include alongside both. Weglot's and WPML's facts come from their own websites and help pages as published on 7 October 2026. ## Where the translations live Weglot's developer docs say its WordPress plugin creates a URL for each language and returns the translated content there, without creating pages in the WordPress backend. Its technical presentation says translations are stored in Weglot's database, and describes the reverse proxy and CDN that serve them for its subdomain and subdirectory integrations. WPML writes each translation into your WordPress database as a post linked to the original. So with WPML the translated posts sit in your own database, and WPML says they keep showing if you stop renewing the licence. With Weglot, nothing translated sits in WordPress, and the same service works on the other platforms Weglot supports: its integrations page lists WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, Wix, Squarespace and Framer. ## How each one charges Weglot's plans, excluding VAT: a free plan for 2,000 words and one language, then Starter at €15 a month (one language, 10,000 words), Business €29 (three languages, 50,000 words), Pro €79 (five, 200,000), Advanced €299 (ten, 1,000,000) and Extended €699 (twenty, 5,000,000). The word limit counts unique translated words across all languages and does not renew; Weglot's own example is an 8,000-word site in three languages, about 24,000 words. WPML's licences are yearly, excluding VAT: Multilingual Blog €39 (one site, no AI translation), Multilingual CMS €99 (three sites, 22,500 AI words) and Multilingual Agency €199 (unlimited sites, 45,000 AI words). AI words beyond those, and beyond the 500 free each month, are priced in monthly volume bands, from €3.00 per 1,000 down to €0.40 only past 2,500,000 words in a month. The two meters behave differently over time. Weglot's total grows as you add pages or languages, and once it passes the plan's limit, a plan change follows. WPML charges for words translated, and with Translate Everything Automatically and its PTC engine, later edits to a page cost only the new words above the highest count already paid for it. ## Engines and publishing Weglot picks DeepL when it supports the language pair, otherwise Google Translate or Microsoft, and offers AI Suggestions to rephrase or shorten a translation. WPML uses PTC, its own LLM-based engine, by default, with DeepL, Google and Microsoft kept as legacy options. Weglot publishes by default: its help center says languages are public and new text is translated automatically, unless you turn off automatic content translation and approve new items, or keep a language in private mode. WPML's PTC settings offer three modes: publish at once, hold drafts for a Translation Manager, or publish and queue for review. ## Slugs, languages, sites and human translators | | Weglot | WPML | | --- | --- | --- | | Translated URL slugs | Pro plan and up | Translated by default, and editable | | Languages | More than 110 | 65 pre-configured, plus custom languages | | Websites per plan | 1 on Free, Starter and Business; 3 on Pro; 10 on Advanced; 20 on Extended | 1 on Blog, 3 on CMS, unlimited on Agency | | Professional translation | Ordered from the Weglot Dashboard at extra cost: from Starter in Weglot's help center, from Business on its pricing page | Sent to more than 70 translation services from the WordPress admin | ## A worked example: the first year of a 15,000-word site A worked example: a 15,000-word WordPress site translated into three languages, priced from Weglot's and WPML's pages on 7 October 2026. Weglot counts 15,000 words times three languages, 45,000 words. Business covers three languages and 50,000 words, at €29 a month or €290 for a year paid upfront. Adding a fourth language, or about 1,700 more words of source text, moves the site to Pro at €79 a month. WPML needs Multilingual CMS for AI translation, at €99 a year with 22,500 AI words. That leaves 22,500 pay-as-you-go words. At WPML's monthly volume bands (500 free, then €3.00, €2.80, €2.40 and €2.00 per 1,000 as the month's volume grows), translating them in one month costs about €52, so the first year comes to about €151. That assumes the included words do not count toward the bands, which WPML's pricing page does not say. With Translate Everything Automatically and PTC, later edits cost only new words above what each page already paid for. On these numbers WPML costs less in year one. Weglot keeps nothing translated inside WordPress and also works on sites outside it. ## Picking between them Choose Weglot when WordPress is one of several platforms you translate, when you would rather not keep translations in your WordPress database, or when you want professional translators ordered from the same dashboard. Budget for the word total rising as the site grows, since each new page and each new language adds to it. Choose WPML when everything you translate runs on WordPress and you want the translated posts in your own database, where they stay if you stop renewing. Its licence is priced per site rather than by words held, and with Translate Everything Automatically and PTC a large site with few changes costs little to keep current, and a Translation Manager can approve AI output before it goes live. ## Where LangRelay fits LangRelay is a WordPress plugin like WPML, and keeps one post per page like Weglot. It translates the page WordPress renders, keeps the translations in its own service, and its plugin serves approved ones from your server under `/fr/`-style paths with hreflang and a canonical per language. 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, choose Ask me first. Edits are picked up from the plugin within about a minute. During the pilot LangRelay supports nine languages, and on sites outside WordPress its script embed translates in the browser without SEO value. See [LangRelay vs Weglot](https://www.langrelay.com/langrelay-vs-weglot) and [LangRelay vs WPML](https://www.langrelay.com/langrelay-vs-wpml) for each pairing, or the [Weglot alternatives](https://www.langrelay.com/weglot-alternatives) page for the wider list. ## Weglot and WPML 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. | | [Weglot](https://www.langrelay.com/langrelay-vs-weglot) | : Weglot’s reverse proxy and CDN serve translated HTML on a subdomain or subdirectory. A JavaScript option translates in the browser, which search engines do not see. | : The WordPress plugin creates a URL per language without creating pages in the WordPress backend. | : hreflang added automatically (x-default only by hand). Titles, meta descriptions, alt text and structured data translated. | Partly: Pro plan and up. | | [WPML](https://www.langrelay.com/langrelay-vs-wpml) | : WordPress plugin. Translations are WordPress content served by your site, in directories, (sub)domains or a ?lang= parameter. | No: Each translation is its own WordPress post, linked to the original. | : hreflang with x-default in the page head and in Yoast and Rank Math sitemaps. | : Translated by default, and editable. | | 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. | | [Weglot](https://www.langrelay.com/langrelay-vs-weglot) | : New and changed text is translated when a visitor or search engine opens the translated page. | Partly: With automatic content translation turned off, new content waits in a list until you approve it; then its translation shows. | : Edits translations on a preview copy of your site, with an SEO tags panel. | : “Always translate” and “never translate” rules of up to five words each. | | [WPML](https://www.langrelay.com/langrelay-vs-wpml) | : With Translate Everything Automatically on, new posts and edits are picked up and translated. Otherwise you send them to translation yourself. | : PTC can publish at once, hold drafts for a Translation Manager’s approval, or publish and queue for review. | Partly: The Advanced Translation Editor is side by side, with a front-end preview you can click to edit. Not on the Blog plan. | : Glossary for product names and terms to keep untranslated, with PTC and DeepL. | | 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. | | [Weglot](https://www.langrelay.com/langrelay-vs-weglot) | : DeepL when it supports the language pair, otherwise Google Translate or Microsoft. AI Suggestions, generated with OpenAI, rephrase or shorten a translation. | Partly: In Weglot 2.0, the AI Translation Quality Checker points your team to the content that deserves a closer look. People do the review. | Not found: No built-in chat assistant found. | : Weglot 2.0 lists MCP-powered assistance: an AI assistant can find projects, review translations and update content. Plans and setup are not published. | : REST API with an API key. Which plans include it is not published. | | [WPML](https://www.langrelay.com/langrelay-vs-wpml) | : PTC, WPML’s own LLM-based engine, by default. DeepL, Google and Microsoft remain as legacy engines. | Partly: PTC learns from your repeated edits and suggests fixes. No separate reviewer found. | Not found: No chat assistant found. | Not found: Not found on wpml.org. | Partly: PHP filter and action hooks for themes and plugins. No public REST API for site translation found. | - 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 Weglot - [www.weglot.com/solutions/weglot-2-for-web-agencies](https://www.weglot.com/solutions/weglot-2-for-web-agencies) (checked 7 October 2026) - [developers.weglot.com/api/reference](https://developers.weglot.com/api/reference) (checked 7 October 2026) - [support.weglot.com/article/59-total-number-translated-words](https://support.weglot.com/article/59-total-number-translated-words) (checked 7 October 2026) - [www.weglot.com/technical-presentation](https://www.weglot.com/technical-presentation) (checked 7 October 2026) - [support.weglot.com/article/402-can-i-choose-my-translation](https://support.weglot.com/article/402-can-i-choose-my-translation) (checked 7 October 2026) - [support.weglot.com/article/130-translations-exceptions](https://support.weglot.com/article/130-translations-exceptions) (checked 7 October 2026) - [support.weglot.com/article/406-how-to-manage-automatic-translations](https://support.weglot.com/article/406-how-to-manage-automatic-translations) (checked 7 October 2026) - [support.weglot.com/article/293-how-does-weglot-manage-the-seo](https://support.weglot.com/article/293-how-does-weglot-manage-the-seo) (checked 7 October 2026) - [support.weglot.com/article/148-can-i-translate-my-urls](https://support.weglot.com/article/148-can-i-translate-my-urls) (checked 7 October 2026) - [developers.weglot.com/wordpress/getting-started](https://developers.weglot.com/wordpress/getting-started) (checked 7 October 2026) - [support.weglot.com/article/409-how-to-use-the-visual-editor](https://support.weglot.com/article/409-how-to-use-the-visual-editor) (checked 7 October 2026) - [www.weglot.com/pricing](https://www.weglot.com/pricing) (checked 7 October 2026) - [www.weglot.com/product/ai-translation-quality](https://www.weglot.com/product/ai-translation-quality) (checked 7 October 2026) - [www.weglot.com/documentation/available-languages](https://www.weglot.com/documentation/available-languages) (checked 7 October 2026) - [www.weglot.com/integrations](https://www.weglot.com/integrations) (checked 7 October 2026) - [www.weglot.com](https://www.weglot.com/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [www.weglot.com/features](https://www.weglot.com/features) (checked 7 October 2026) - [support.weglot.com/article/238-what-is-the-private-mode](https://support.weglot.com/article/238-what-is-the-private-mode) (checked 7 October 2026) - [support.weglot.com/article/266-how-to-disable-automatic-translations](https://support.weglot.com/article/266-how-to-disable-automatic-translations) (checked 7 October 2026) - [www.weglot.com/integrations/translation-plugin-for-wordpress](https://www.weglot.com/integrations/translation-plugin-for-wordpress) (checked 7 October 2026) - [support.weglot.com/article/105-weglot-multiple-websites](https://support.weglot.com/article/105-weglot-multiple-websites) (checked 7 October 2026) - [support.weglot.com/article/198-how-to-order-professional-translations](https://support.weglot.com/article/198-how-to-order-professional-translations) (checked 7 October 2026) WPML - [wpml.org/documentation/customizing-wpml/ai-translation-settings/](https://wpml.org/documentation/customizing-wpml/ai-translation-settings/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [wpml.org/documentation/support/wpml-coding-api/](https://wpml.org/documentation/support/wpml-coding-api/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/posts-and-custom-post-types/](https://wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/posts-and-custom-post-types/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/language-setup/language-url-options/](https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/language-setup/language-url-options/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/glossary/](https://wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/glossary/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/multilingual-seo/](https://wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/multilingual-seo/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [wpml.org/home/how-to-build-a-multilingual-wordpress-website/](https://wpml.org/home/how-to-build-a-multilingual-wordpress-website/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [wpml.org/documentation/support/wpml-tables/](https://wpml.org/documentation/support/wpml-tables/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/advanced-translation-editor/](https://wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/advanced-translation-editor/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [app.wpml.org/purchase](https://app.wpml.org/purchase) (checked 7 October 2026) - [wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/language-setup/](https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/language-setup/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/multi-currency-and-payment-gateways-for-woocommerce/](https://wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/multi-currency-and-payment-gateways-for-woocommerce/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/professional-translation-via-wpml/](https://wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/professional-translation-via-wpml/) (checked 7 October 2026) - [wpml.org/documentation/automatic-translation/automatic-translation-pricing/](https://wpml.org/documentation/automatic-translation/automatic-translation-pricing/) (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[Weglot, Pricing](https://www.weglot.com/pricing)weglot.com, checked 7 October 2026 2. 02[Weglot Help Center, What is the number of translated words and how is it calculated?](https://support.weglot.com/article/59-total-number-translated-words)support.weglot.com, checked 7 October 2026 3. 03[Weglot, Technical presentation](https://www.weglot.com/technical-presentation)weglot.com, checked 7 October 2026 4. 04[Weglot for WordPress, Getting started](https://developers.weglot.com/wordpress/getting-started)developers.weglot.com, checked 7 October 2026 5. 05[Weglot Help Center, How can I use AI Suggestions to edit my translations?](https://support.weglot.com/article/402-can-i-choose-my-translation)support.weglot.com, checked 7 October 2026 6. 06[Weglot Help Center, What is the private mode?](https://support.weglot.com/article/238-what-is-the-private-mode)support.weglot.com, checked 7 October 2026 7. 07[Weglot Help Center, How to manage automatic translations](https://support.weglot.com/article/406-how-to-manage-automatic-translations)support.weglot.com, checked 7 October 2026 8. 08[Weglot Help Center, Can I translate my URLs?](https://support.weglot.com/article/148-can-i-translate-my-urls)support.weglot.com, checked 7 October 2026 9. 09[Weglot Help Center, Weglot on multiple websites](https://support.weglot.com/article/105-weglot-multiple-websites)support.weglot.com, checked 7 October 2026 10. 10[Weglot Help Center, How to order professional translations](https://support.weglot.com/article/198-how-to-order-professional-translations)support.weglot.com, checked 7 October 2026 11. 11[Weglot, Available languages](https://www.weglot.com/documentation/available-languages)weglot.com, checked 7 October 2026 12. 12[Weglot, Integrations](https://www.weglot.com/integrations)weglot.com, checked 7 October 2026 13. 13[WPML, Purchase](https://app.wpml.org/purchase)app.wpml.org, checked 7 October 2026 14. 14[WPML documentation, Automatic translation pricing](https://wpml.org/documentation/automatic-translation/automatic-translation-pricing/)wpml.org, checked 7 October 2026 15. 15[WPML documentation, Database tables](https://wpml.org/documentation/support/wpml-tables/)wpml.org, checked 7 October 2026 16. 16[WPML documentation, AI translation settings](https://wpml.org/documentation/customizing-wpml/ai-translation-settings/)wpml.org, checked 7 October 2026 17. 17[WPML, How to build a multilingual WordPress website](https://wpml.org/home/how-to-build-a-multilingual-wordpress-website/)wpml.org, checked 7 October 2026 18. 18[WPML documentation, Language setup](https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/language-setup/)wpml.org, checked 7 October 2026 19. 19[WPML documentation, Professional translation via WPML](https://wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/professional-translation-via-wpml/)wpml.org, 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. Where the translations live 2. How each one charges 3. Engines and publishing 4. Slugs, languages, sites and human translators 5. A worked example: the first year of a 15,000-word site 6. Picking between them 7. 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%2Fweglot-vs-wpml) - [Share on X (opens in a new tab)](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.langrelay.com%2Fweglot-vs-wpml&text=Weglot%20vs%20WPML%3A%20a%20hosted%20proxy%20or%20a%20WordPress%20plugin%3F) See it on your site A 30-minute walkthrough on one of your pages. [Book a demo](https://www.langrelay.com/book-a-demo) - Weglot - WPML - website translation software ## Keep reading - Alternatives ### [Weglot alternatives: six options and who each one fits](https://www.langrelay.com/weglot-alternatives) Six Weglot alternatives for WordPress and other platforms, with the prices their own sites listed on 7 October 2026 and the kind of site each one suits. - Alternatives ### [WPML alternatives: five plugins and services compared](https://www.langrelay.com/wpml-alternatives) WPML alternatives for WordPress, from Polylang to hosted services, with dated prices and a worked example of what editing a translated page costs in each. - Comparison ### [WPML vs Polylang: two post-per-language plugins compared](https://www.langrelay.com/wpml-vs-polylang) WPML and Polylang both store each language as its own WordPress post. How their prices, machine translation, review and WooCommerce support differ in 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)