WPML is the most complete multilingual suite for WordPress: language routing, string translation, WooCommerce multi-currency, translation management. Its automatic translation is billed in words beyond what the plan includes. AI Translate BYOK does only the translation, with a model you pay for directly, and the full version registers every translation in WPML.
| WPML | AI Translate BYOK | |
|---|---|---|
| Free | No free version | Unlimited: any post or page into any language, one post at a time (your key) |
| Paid | First year: Blog €39 (no automatic translation words), CMS €99 (22,500 AI words), Agency €199 (45,000 AI words) | $27.99 once for the full version; no renewal |
| Extra AI words | €3.00 down to €0.40 per 1,000 words, or prepaid packs from €50 for 10K words | None: your provider bills per token |
| Cost of 30,000 words × 3 languages | €99 + credits for the 67,500 words beyond the included 22,500 | About $0.25 once with gpt-4o-mini, about $2 with Claude Haiku 4.5, paid to your provider |
| Where your content goes | WPML’s translation service | Straight from your site to the AI provider you configured |
| Which AI | Their choice | Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint: OpenAI, Claude, OpenRouter, local models |
| If you stop paying | Site and translations keep working; no updates | Nothing to stop: translations are normal WordPress posts and stay |
| Strings, WooCommerce multi-currency, agency workflow | Yes (CMS and Agency) | No: content translation only |
| Works together | — | Yes: the full version registers each translation in WPML’s language groups |
If you need string translation of every theme and plugin, WooCommerce multi-currency or a workflow with human translators, WPML covers all of it and nothing here replaces that.
If you already run WPML and the recurring cost is the automatic-translation words: keep WPML for routing and strings, and let AI Translate BYOK write the translations with your own key. They land in WPML as the translation of their source, so the switcher just works.
A WordPress plugin that translates a post, page or product into any language with an AI model you choose and pay for directly (bring your own key). HTML, shortcodes and Gutenberg blocks are preserved and every translation lands as a draft for review. The free version is the one-button translator in the editor sidebar, without limits. The full version, a one-time $27.99, adds bulk translation in the background, Yoast and Rank Math fields, categories and tags, translated menus, WooCommerce variations and attributes, outdated-translation refresh, a glossary, auto-translate on publish, and linking to Polylang or WPML for the language switcher.
See AI Translate BYOK → or download the free version
Yes. The full version registers each translated post and term in WPML as the translation of its source, so the WPML language switcher and URLs work as usual.
WPML CMS is €99 for the first year with 22,500 AI words; beyond that words cost €0.40–€3.00 per 1,000. With your own key, 100,000 words cost about $0.30 with gpt-4o-mini or about $2.20 with Claude Haiku 4.5.
Not for string translation, multi-currency or agency workflows. For content translation plus a language switcher, the free Polylang plus AI Translate BYOK covers most sites.
WPML details were checked on its public pricing page on 30 September 2026, before tax. API estimates assume 1.4 input and 2 output tokens per word per language, doubled for prompts and re-runs, at OpenAI and Anthropic list prices. Prices change: check their page before deciding. Spotted something out of date? deus@lumnika.com. WPML is a trademark of its owner; this page isn’t affiliated with it.
WPML alternative · WordPress translation cost calculator · All products