Website translation

Website translation tools put a translated version of your site online without building a second site by hand. Most work in one of three ways. A plugin inside your content system, such as WordPress or Shopify, stores translations next to your pages. A JavaScript snippet translates text as the page loads in the visitor's browser. A proxy sits in front of your site and serves translated pages from its own servers on a subdirectory or subdomain.

The tools here cover all three. TranslatePress, WPML and Polylang are WordPress plugins, ranging from manual translation with optional machine help to automatic translation of every post. Weglot, ConveyThis, Linguise and GTranslate work across many site builders and can translate a site automatically within minutes, then let you edit the result. Bablic and Localize add visual editors and options for web apps. MotionPoint runs a managed proxy service for large sites that want the vendor to handle translation and hosting of language versions.

Search is the first thing to check. If you want people searching in German to find your German pages, each language needs its own crawlable URL, translated title and meta description, and hreflang tags that tell search engines which pages are versions of each other. Tools that only translate in the browser after load may not give search engines anything to index. Ask each vendor how URLs are structured and whether translated pages are served as real HTML.

Next, check what gets translated. Menus, buttons and page text are easy. Product variants, checkout pages, emails, form messages, image text and content loaded by scripts are where gaps appear. Click through the whole path a customer takes, including the order confirmation, in each language before you launch.

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10 AI translation tools in website translation

Localize

Website and web app translation through a JavaScript snippet or API, with machine and human translation options.

  • Developer API
  • Human translators or interpreters available

Weglot

Website translation service that detects page text, translates it by machine and serves language versions you can edit.

  • Glossary or termbase support
  • Human translators or interpreters available
  • Free plan or free tier

ConveyThis

Website translation plugin and script for WordPress, Shopify and other builders, with a visual editor for corrections.

  • Free plan or free tier

Bablic

Website translation with a visual editor for changing translated text, images and styles per language.

Linguise

Automatic website translation for WordPress, Joomla, Shopify and other platforms, with a front-end editor for fixes.

  • Free plan or free tier

GTranslate

Website translation widget and plugin, from a simple language switcher up to translated, indexable URLs per language.

  • Free plan or free tier

TranslatePress

by Cozmoslabs

WordPress plugin for translating a site from the front end, with optional automatic translation through DeepL or Google.

  • Free plan or free tier
  • Open source

WPML

by OnTheGoSystems

Multilingual plugin for WordPress that handles translated posts, menus and themes, with automatic translation credits.

MotionPoint

Managed website translation for large sites, run as a proxy, with human and machine translation options.

  • Human translators or interpreters available

Polylang

by WP SYNTEX

WordPress plugin for building a multilingual site by hand, with machine translation through DeepL in the Pro version.

  • Free plan or free tier
  • Open source

Plan for edits. Automatic translation gets a site live quickly, but brand names, slogans and legal pages need a person. Use a glossary to keep product names untranslated, and have a fluent reviewer read your most important pages. Some tools let you order professional translation for selected pages from the dashboard.

Last, read the pricing model carefully even if it looks simple. Plans are often limited by translated words, languages or page views, and a large product catalog can pass a word limit quickly. Also check what happens to your translations if you cancel: with plugin tools they usually stay in your database, while with proxy and snippet tools they may disappear with the subscription.

Think about what each market needs beyond words. Currency, dates, units, phone formats, shipping details and local payment methods are part of a site working for a new audience, and most of them sit outside a translation tool. Pick the markets that matter first, translate fewer pages well, and add languages as you see traffic and orders from them.

Finally, measure the result. Set up analytics views by language, watch for pages with high exits in one language only, and check search reports for each language version a few weeks after launch. These signals tell you where a human review or a better translation will pay back first.

Questions about website translation

Will a translated site rank in search engines?

It can, if each language has its own crawlable URL, translated titles and descriptions, and hreflang tags. Check that the tool serves translated pages as real HTML that search engines can read without running scripts. Ranking still depends on content quality and links like any other page.

Is automatic website translation good enough?

For getting a site live in a new language, often yes. For brand messages, product claims, checkout text and legal pages, have a fluent reviewer check the output. Use a glossary so product and brand names are handled consistently.

What is the difference between a plugin and a proxy?

A plugin stores translations inside your own site, such as your WordPress database, so you keep them if you leave. A proxy service hosts translated pages on its servers in front of your site, which is simpler to set up but ties the translated versions to the subscription.

Do these tools translate checkout and emails?

Some do and some only translate page text. Test the full customer path, including cart, checkout, confirmation pages and transactional emails, in each language before launch, and ask the vendor about content loaded by scripts or apps.

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