LangRelayVSWPML
The WPML alternative that keeps one post per page
WPML stores every language as its own WordPress post. LangRelay keeps one post, translates the rendered page, and holds every translation for your approval. Here is how they compare.
- Free plan, no card
- WordPress plugin
- Nothing publishes without you
- Built for
WordPress sites that keep changing
WordPress sites that want every language as its own post
- How languages are stored
One post, translated from the rendered page
- Asking for a change
Ask Relay in a sentence; it drafts the change for approval
- Price
Free, or from €19 a month
WPML gives every language its own post. LangRelay keeps one post and translates what WordPress renders.
WPML is the right tool if you want every language as its own WordPress post and the deepest plugin ecosystem. LangRelay suits sites that change often: one post translated from the rendered page, approval before anything goes live, and an agent that drafts the changes you ask for.
When to choose LangRelay, and when to choose WPML
Choose LangRelay if
- You would rather not manage a copy of every post in every language.
- You want an approval step on every translation by default.
- You want to ask an agent what needs doing, instead of working through job queues.
- You prefer a monthly plan with words included over a licence plus per-word fees.
Choose WPML if
- You want every translation stored as a WordPress post in your own database.
- You need to route work to professional translation services or a TMS.
- You run WooCommerce with multiple currencies.
- You want a domain per language or translated slugs everywhere today.
WPML is thorough until every post has a copy in every language
Every WPML translation is its own WordPress post. Here is what that, and the rest, means day to day.
01
One post, or one per language
WPML creates a separate WordPress post for each translation and links it to the original, so you manage every language as its own content. LangRelay keeps one post and translates the page WordPress renders, theme and page-builder text included.
02
Review before it goes live
Both let you approve before publishing. WPML’s PTC can publish at once, hold drafts for a Translation Manager, or publish and queue for review. LangRelay holds every translation until someone approves it.
03
How far the AI goes
WPML’s PTC is an LLM-based engine that learns from your repeated edits. LangRelay translates with AI too, and adds Relay: a built-in agent you can ask what still needs doing, or to rework a page, with every change drafted for approval.
04
How you pay
WPML is a yearly licence by number of sites, with AI translation paid per word after the included allowance. LangRelay is a monthly plan with a word allowance included; text that has not changed costs nothing again.
05
Where translations live
WPML’s translations live in your database and keep working if you stop renewing. LangRelay’s translations are served through LangRelay. If owning every translation as a WordPress post matters most, WPML is built for that.
06
Editing in context
WPML’s Advanced Translation Editor works side by side, with a front-end preview you can click to edit. In LangRelay you click the text on the rendered page and edit it there, at desktop, tablet or mobile width.
LangRelay and WPML, side by side
- 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
| Capability | LangRelay | |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery and SEOHow translated pages reach visitors and search engines. | ||
| How translated pages are servedHow the translated page reaches visitors: from your own server, through a proxy, or swapped in by the browser. | Yes: WordPress plugin serves translated HTML from your server. A script tag works on any other site, without SEO. | Yes: WordPress plugin. Translations are WordPress content served by your site, in directories, (sub)domains or a ?lang= parameter. Source, checked 5 October 2026 |
| WordPress: one post, no copies per languageWhether WordPress keeps one post per page, instead of a separate copy for every language. | Yes: Translates the rendered page. Your posts stay as they are. | No Each translation is its own WordPress post, linked to the original. Source, checked 5 October 2026 |
| hreflang and per-language URLsA URL per language with hreflang tags, so search engines find and index each language. | Yes: Subdirectories (/fr/), hreflang with x-default, a canonical per language, and translated titles and meta. | Yes: hreflang with x-default in the page head and in Yoast and Rank Math sitemaps. Source, checked 5 October 2026 |
| Translated URL slugsURLs in the visitor’s language, like /fr/a-propos instead of /fr/about. | Partly Set by hand per page and language. Automatic slug translation is on the way. | Yes: Translated by default, and editable. Source, checked 5 October 2026 |
| Workflow and reviewWhat happens when content changes, and who decides what goes live. | ||
| Picks up edits to the originalWhen you edit the original page, whether the tool notices and translates what changed. | Yes: 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. | Yes: With Translate Everything Automatically on, translations update right after the original is edited. Otherwise you resend by hand. Source, checked 5 October 2026 |
| Approve before it goes liveWhether a person can check a translation before visitors see it. | Yes: Nothing goes live until someone approves it. | Yes: PTC can publish at once, hold drafts for a Translation Manager’s approval, or publish and queue for review. Source, checked 5 October 2026 |
| Visual editorEditing translations on the page itself, rather than in a list of strings. | Yes: Click text on the rendered page to edit, at desktop, tablet and mobile widths. | Partly The Advanced Translation Editor is side by side, with a front-end preview you can click to edit. Not on the Blog plan. Source, checked 5 October 2026 |
| GlossaryFixed translations for names and terms, applied every time they appear. | Yes: Per-language terms, “keep as source”, and match case. Paid plans. | Yes: Glossary for product names and “do not translate” terms, with PTC and DeepL. Source, checked 5 October 2026 |
| AI and integrationsHow much of the work AI takes on, and how you reach it. | ||
| Machine translationThe machine or AI translation the tool uses. | Yes: AI translation that follows your glossary and each language’s formality. | Yes: PTC, WPML’s own LLM-based engine, by default. DeepL, Google and Microsoft remain as legacy engines. Source, checked 5 October 2026 |
| AI quality reviewAI that checks translations for mistakes, not only writes them. | Yes: A separate reviewer agent checks every change Relay drafts, the way a language expert would. Paid plans. | Partly PTC learns from your repeated edits and suggests fixes. No separate reviewer found. Source, checked 5 October 2026 |
| AI assistant in the productAn assistant inside the product that you can ask in plain language. | Yes: Relay, a chat agent that reads your Site’s pages and translations and drafts changes for your approval. | Not found No chat assistant found. |
| MCP server for your own AILets your own AI assistant, such as Claude or ChatGPT, work with the tool directly. | Planned On the way: connect Claude or ChatGPT to your Sites. | Not found Not found on wpml.org. |
| APIProgrammatic access for developers. | Planned On the way, for the Growth plan and up. | Partly PHP hooks and a WPGraphQL guide. No public REST API for site translation found. Source, checked 5 October 2026 |
Translation that waits for your yes
The translating is the easy part. LangRelay is built around what happens next: checking it, changing it, and deciding when it goes live.
01
Nothing goes live unapproved
Every translation waits for someone to approve it. Then activate one page, or everything approved at once.
02
Ask Relay in a sentence
Relay reads your Site’s pages and translations and drafts the change you describe, for you to approve. It can never approve or publish on its own.
03
A second agent checks Relay’s work
Every change Relay drafts goes to a separate reviewer agent, which checks it the way a language expert would.
04
Edit on the rendered page
Click any text in the visual editor to change it, at desktop, tablet or mobile width, with titles and meta in the same panel.
Your original pages are the starting point
LangRelay translates from your original pages, so WPML’s per-language posts aren’t imported. Install the plugin, connect your Site, and LangRelay crawls and translates it.
What comes across
- Every page the crawl finds, translated into your languages
- Theme, menu and page-builder text, from the rendered page
- hreflang, a canonical per language, and translated titles and meta
LangRelay serves languages under subdirectories such as /fr/. If WPML used translated slugs, a domain per language or ?lang=, set matching slugs or add redirects so links keep working.
What you pay, and what it counts
A yearly licence by number of sites. AI translation counts source words once per target language; after the included words, pay as you go from €3.00 per 1,000 words, falling with volume.
LangRelay Starter
€19a month
3 Sites, 3 languages per Site and 150K words a month. A word is a source word translated into one language; unchanged and reused text uses none.
Or start free: 1 Site, 1 language, 10K words a month.
WPML
€39a year
Multilingual Blog, €39 a year for 1 site, without AI translation. Multilingual CMS, €99 a year for 3 sites, with 22,500 AI words.
Free plan: No free plan. 30-day money-back guarantee.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask when they weigh WPML against LangRelay: how each one stores and publishes translations, what the prices count, and what moving involves.
Something we missed? Book a demo or write to us.
Does WPML create a separate post for each language?
Yes. WPML’s documentation describes each translation as its own WordPress post, linked to the original. That keeps translations in your database, and means each language is a separate post to manage. LangRelay keeps one post and translates the rendered page.
Does WPML update translations when I edit a page?
With Translate Everything Automatically on, WPML updates translations right after the original is edited, and re-translating a page it already translated is free up to the words you paid for. With it off, you resend the page by hand.
How does WPML pricing compare with LangRelay?
WPML’s Multilingual CMS licence is €99 a year for 3 sites and includes 22,500 AI words. After that, AI translation is pay as you go, from €3.00 per 1,000 words and falling with volume. LangRelay is a monthly plan with words included each month; see the pricing comparison above.
Can I switch from WPML to LangRelay?
Yes, but plan the URLs. LangRelay serves each language under a subdirectory such as /fr/, and translated slugs are set by hand. If WPML used translated slugs, a domain per language or ?lang=, set matching slugs or add redirects so existing links keep working.
Does WPML have an MCP server?
Not that we could find on wpml.org. LangRelay’s MCP is on the way; today you can ask Relay, LangRelay’s built-in agent, from inside the dashboard.
Keep comparing
LangRelay vs Weglot
The best-known translating proxy. It works on almost any platform; its help center describes machine translation going live automatically unless you switch on manual approval. Pricing caps the total number of translated words and languages.
LangRelay vs TranslatePress
A WordPress plugin that translates the rendered page, with a front-end visual editor even in the free version. Translations live in your database; automatic translations are served without review.
LangRelay vs Polylang
A popular free plugin for translating WordPress by hand. Each language is its own post; Pro adds DeepL, slug translation and more. Nothing is translated or updated automatically.
LangRelay vs Linguise
A hosted service that translates everything automatically and serves it straight away. Strong SEO output and unlimited languages; there is no review step before translations go live.
LangRelay vs GTranslate
Best known for its free Google Translate switcher, which translates in the browser without SEO. Paid plans add a translating proxy with indexable pages and no word limits.
LangRelay vs ConveyThis
A plugin and proxy for many platforms, with a visual editor on every plan and a read-only MCP server. Translations go live by default; subdirectories need a higher plan.
The 2026 buyer’s guide
Eight website translation tools compared on delivery, SEO, review, AI and pricing.
Sources
Every WPML claim on this page comes from WPML’s own pages: its website, its documentation or its WordPress.org listing. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we’ll correct it.
WPML
- wpml.org/documentation/customizing-wpml/ai-translation-settings/ (checked 5 October 2026)
- wpml.org/documentation/support/wpml-coding-api/ (checked 5 October 2026)
- wpml.org/documentation/automatic-translation/automatic-translation-pricing/ (checked 5 October 2026)
- wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/language-setup/language-url-options/ (checked 5 October 2026)
- wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/multilingual-seo/ (checked 5 October 2026)
- wpml.org/home/how-to-build-a-multilingual-wordpress-website/ (checked 5 October 2026)
- wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/translating-custom-posts/ (checked 5 October 2026)
- wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/advanced-translation-editor/ (checked 5 October 2026)
- app.wpml.org/purchase (checked 5 October 2026)
Start with one client site.
Pick one site and one language. See how LangRelay handles changes, review, and SEO on a real client workflow.