WPML licences (€39–€199/yr) include 22,500 or 45,000 automatic-translation words; beyond that you buy credits. AI Translate BYOK does the translation with your own AI API key, so the words cost what your provider charges — a few cents per thousand. It is not an either/or: the full version links each translation to WPML (or Polylang), so you can keep WPML for languages and URLs and stop paying for its credits.
| AI Translate BYOK | WPML | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free plugin; full version $27.99 once. AI cost paid to your provider | Yearly licence (€39–€199) + AI words: 22,500 or 45,000 included, then credits |
| 30,000 words × 3 languages | ~$0.25 once (gpt-4o-mini) or ~$2 (Claude Haiku 4.5) | €99/yr + credits for 67,500 words |
| Which AI | Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint: OpenAI, Claude, OpenRouter, local models | Their choice |
| Where your content goes | Straight from your site to the AI provider you chose | WPML's translation service |
| Review before publishing | Every translation is a draft | Translation editor |
| Works with WPML | Yes: the full version registers each translation in WPML's language groups | — |
| If you stop paying | Nothing changes: the posts stay | Existing translations stay; no updates or new AI words |
Point by point, with what WPML does better: AI Translate BYOK vs WPML.
100 posts of about 1,000 words into one language is ~100,000 words. With your own API key that is roughly $0.30 with gpt-4o-mini or $2.20 with Claude Haiku 4.5, paid once to the provider — then nothing until you translate more. Try your own numbers in the WordPress translation cost calculator.
If you need WooCommerce multi-currency, string translation of every theme and plugin, or a translation-agency workflow, WPML covers it. Many sites keep WPML for that and use AI Translate BYOK only for the words, which is where the recurring cost is.
Prices from the vendors' public pages checked 29–30 September 2026 (WPML, OpenAI, Claude), before tax. API estimates assume 1.4 input and 2 output tokens per word per language, doubled for prompts and re-runs. Also compared: Weglot alternative. Trademarks belong to their owners; this page isn't affiliated with them.