WordPress Multi Language Websites options – WordPress Website Translation

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With nearly 1.2 million downloads is qTranslateX (before qTranslate) is a WordPress Website Translation that is by far the most popular free translation software for WordPress. This plugin saves all language options for each post in the same post.

Advantages: It is available for free and you can switch to WordPress from one language to another using simple tabs.
It doesn’t create additional tables in the WordPress database.
Disadvantages: There is limited support (qTranslate was only created by one developer). When a new WordPress version appears, it may take some time till qTranslate is fully compatible again.
For sites without too much content and only a few languages, it may be a very good solution, but you should make clear the disadvantages before you decide with this variant.

Conclusion: It is the most famous plugin for multilingual websites, but unfortunately not the best.

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Polylang is a free plugin that is easy to use and provides a great support. User Rating is very good (4.8 of 5 points), which gives you an idea of the quality of this plugin.

Advantages: It’s free and small in scale. Provides a good support. You can Translate posts, pages, widgets, categories, tags, media, menus, created post types, notes and all standard WordPress widgets.

Disadvantages: This plugin is developed by one person only. If the developer does not have the time for it to update the plugin, it is possible that it will be incompatible with your current updated version of WordPress. The documentation can be improved though. Some templates may not work properly with this plugin.

Conclusion: The best free multi-language plugin in single install WordPress environment.

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Sometimes it can happen that free WordPress plugins do not offer exactly what you need: regular updates, technical support or functionality. Or they just do not look as good.

WPML is an affordable premium plugin (between $ 29 and $ 79). In my opinion, this is the best option to translate a website in WordPress because you don’t need to be concerned for updates and support.

Behind WPML is a company and a professional development team. The plugin is behind in ranking against free options. Therefore, it is the best option for serious multilingual WordPress websites.

Advantages: You don’t need to worry about support or updates. The documentation for the correct use of the plugin is complete. It is very easy in use. With WPML you can translate your website and easily add domains, subdomains and subdirectories in several languages. You can also use it to translate all SEO options. WPML would allow you to separately create the SEO for each language with WordPress SEO by Yoast or other plugins.

It supports all major themes, Studio Press, most themes from Themeforest, Elegant Themes, etc. The plugin allows to create multilingual e-commerce sites with WooCommerce.

It includes a translation management plugin that allows XLIFF interface. You can have other users make your translations or leave it to professionals translators. Commission on favorable terms (about $ 0.09 / word). You will benefit from a simple workflow.

The license is valid for an unlimited number of pages.

You can get a refund for 30 days after purchase. 100% of the purchase price will be refunded.

Disadvantages: It is a commercial plugin that costs 29$ in the blog version (The annual renewal costs 15$) and 79$ in the multilingual CMS version (Annual renewal 39$). If you want to have a full license, it costs 195$.

It creates additional tables in the database and sometimes slows the admin panel, but not your website.

Conclusion: WPML is the best plugin to create a multilingual site in a WordPress environment.