What is Weglot? How it works and when to use it

A localized website is essential for any global brand seeking to connect with prospective customers around the world. Digital website translation tools help you localize your website quickly, converting existing copy into dozens (or even hundreds) of languages.

Weglot is a popular digital translation solution that integrates with various CMS platforms. This guide will explain what Weglot is and explore its features, pricing, and how it compares to other leading translation providers (like Smartling) to help you decide whether it’s right for your business.

Using Weglot for multilingual website translation: 9 key features

Weglot offers numerous tools to help businesses translate digital content into multiple languages. Here’s a breakdown of Weglot’s primary features and how they support website localization strategies.

Seamless platform integration

Weglot first launched as a WordPress translation plugin. In 2022, the Weglot plugin expanded its compatibility to other CMS platforms, including Squarespace, Wix, and Weebly, as well as e-commerce shops like Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and Square. Weglot also links to popular tech tools (e.g., Salesforce, Zendeck, and Hubspot) and several programming languages, including Javascript, PHP, and Ruby. In addition, it enables custom-built integration options for more complex setups.

Integrations are necessary for fast and cost-effective localization. They allow businesses to automate translation workflows on the platforms they’re already using. Although Weglot integrates with major CMS and e-commerce platforms, Smartling offers more comprehensive integration options. With prebuilt connections to over 50 platforms, including design, marketing, and project management solutions, Smartling supports translation across your entire business. 

Automatic translations

Weglot can automatically translate website content using three major machine translation engines: DeepL, Google Translate, and Microsoft Translator. Weglot also integrates with AI translation tools to suggest alternative words and phrases that suit your desired tone. 

Weglot utilizes built-in translation memory to keep phrasing consistent across your entire site. You can also build a glossary of frequently used words and phrases to maintain consistency and reduce editing times.

Weglot lets you manually review and edit machine translations to better align with your branding. You can add multiple team members to your account so the proper stakeholders can review each translation before it goes live.

Professional translation options

For complex documents and web content, automated translation may not be enough. Weglot also provides professional website translation services and translation review to fill these gaps. These translation services are offered through a partnership with TextMaster, which uses freelance professional translators. 

Customers can make professional translation requests directly from the Weglot dashboard. Completed professional translations are sent back within 24–48 hours. Weglot’s pricing for professional translations varies based on the requested language pair. 

Support for over 110 languages

Weglot translation supports over 110 languages, so you can make your website accessible to audiences worldwide. You can also use Weglot’s custom language option to create different translations for regional dialects and variations. For example, you could create distinct translations for U.S. and U.K. English or Mexican and South American Spanish.

If your brand needs more language options than Weglot provides, Smartling might be the solution for you. Smartling translates web pages into over 450 languages and locales, with support for regional variants.

SEO-friendly features

Multilingual SEO strategies help you appear in global clients’ search engine results. Weglot offers tools to increase the ranking of your translated pages so you can reach a broader international audience. 

Weglot conducts all automatic translations server-side, creates dedicated subdomains for each language you use, and adds hreflang tags to your site. These features make it easier for Google to index your multilingual pages. 

Finally, Weglot automatically translates metadata and image alt tags into your target language. It also detects and translates content from menus, widgets, footers, and more. These components are crucial for both search visibility and accessibility. 

Customizable language switcher

With Weglot, you can add a language switcher menu or widget to your site. This allows visitors to choose their preferred language for a user-friendly experience. A language switcher is especially helpful for businesses that operate in areas where multiple languages are widely spoken.

All Weglot users get access to a simple language switcher by default. However, you can customize the language switcher to match your preferences and branding. Weglot has several templates to choose from, or you can create a custom switcher. 

Team collaboration

Many teams use collaborative translation strategies to improve their multilingual sites. Weglot allows multiple team members to access the dashboard and work on translation projects. You can even use Weglot to assign translations to specific team members and organize your localization projects.

Visual editor

Weglot’s visual editor lets you see how changes will appear in your website’s layout. This streamlined layout means you don’t need to go back and forth between documents or web pages. The tool also supports built-in SEO features, letting you edit translated meta tags and descriptions directly in the visual editor. 

Smartling’s computer-assisted translation (CAT) tool also provides visual context via an integrated translation interface. The CAT tool offers advanced functions like version control, keyboard shortcuts, integrated quality checks, and more.

Content detection

Weglot’s content detection tool continuously scans your site for updates and automatically translates new content. These continuous updates ensure every version of your site is up to date.

Smartling’s Global Delivery Network offers similar benefits, automatically translating your website whenever a localized request comes through. This powerful tool supports websites with thousands of pages and offers fast speeds, advanced security, and full SEO compatibility. The Global Delivery Network works with any CMS, supporting everything from WordPress website translation to custom-built sites.

How much does the Weglot plugin cost? 

Weglot offers six pricing tiers, including a free version. Here’s a breakdown of the translation costs for each tier:

• Free: $0/month; 1 translated language; 2,000 translated words. Does not offer access to professional translation. 
• Starter: $17/month; 1 translated language; 10,000 translated words.
• Business: $32/month; 3 translated languages; 50,000 translated words.
• Pro: $87/month; 5 translated languages; 200,000 translated words.
• Advanced: $329/month; 10 translated languages; 1,000,000 translated words.
• Extended: $769/month; 20 translated languages; 5,000,000 translated words.
• Enterprise: Pricing available on request; access to enterprise-grade support and security features.

Weglot users get two months free if they choose to pay annually. Weglot also offers a 14-day free trial period.

When not to use Weglot as your website translation solution

Weglot reviews note that this tool is best for small- to mid-sized businesses that need to translate their web pages for a global audience. It’s straightforward and easy to use, even without much technical knowledge, and it integrates with a wide variety of platforms. 

However, Weglot has limitations when handling high volumes of content, so it may not be powerful enough to meet the needs of large global enterprises. Even Weglot’s higher-level plans offer a relatively low number of languages, words, and website projects for translation. This can be restricting for sites with extensive content libraries that need frequent updates. 

Weglot also doesn’t provide advanced quality assurance or analytics—something enterprise brands need. 

If you have complex, high-volume translation needs, consider a translation tool like Smartling, which is geared toward larger organizations. Smartling provides an enterprise-focused translation alternative for your website globalization strategy. With Smartling, you can access customizable translation workflows, advanced project management features, and AI-powered translation options for more than 450 languages. 

Smartling helps you translate large volumes of text for your customers around the world without compromising on speed or user experience. It also offers Language Quality Assurance, analytics, and reporting to meet strict compliance and quality standards. 

Since Smartling is designed for enterprise-level translation, it requires a larger investment than Weglot. However, Smartling’s advanced features are likely to be more cost-effective in the long run for large organizations. With Smartling, there’s no limit to how much you can translate. Its advanced, AI-powered tools help you get translations done faster. 

Simplify your translation with Smartling’s all-in-one solution

Weglot’s strong platform integrations and multilingual SEO features make it a popular choice for small- to medium-sized businesses seeking website translation. However, Smartling’s translation management system is better suited to scaling businesses, with hundreds of languages, AI-powered workflows, and a global content delivery network.

Smartling also provides outstanding quality assurance, analytics, and customer support to help you build a multilingual website that resonates with audiences worldwide. These advanced features make Smartling ideal for businesses that need reliable, scalable, and cost-effective translations.

Download our free eBook, “What to Look for in a Translation Solution: A Buyer’s Guide,” to learn more about finding the right translation partner for your business.