Google Website Translator vs Loco Translate
Compare WordPress plugins and tools side by side. Pick products with “Compare” in the software directory.
| Feature | Google Website Translator v1.4.15 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.5/5 Visit Details | Loco Translate v2.8.9 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free · ★ 4.8/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 8,000+ | 1M+ |
| Last updated | August 18, 2026 | September 30, 2026 |
| Editions | Prisna GWT - Google Website Translator | Loco Translate |
| Pros | Free automatic translation into a long list of languages; Language selector with flags, banner or shortcode placement; Simple settings for which languages to offer | In-admin PO editor, no desktop translation tools needed; Extracts strings and builds POT templates from source code; Compiles MO and JSON files without gettext installed; Machine translation through your own API keys |
| Cons | Translations are generated in the browser and are not stored; Same URL for every language, so no SEO gain from translated pages; Relies on Google's widget, so output quality is machine-level | Machine translation needs keys from DeepL, OpenAI, Gemini or OpenRouter; Translates interface strings only, not site content; Not a multilingual content plugin; no translated URLs |
| Mentioned in our posts | 2 | 2 |
| Features (Translation plugins checklist) | ||
| Machine translation | Yes | Yes |
| Visual editor | No | Yes |
| SEO-friendly URLs | No | No |
| WooCommerce | — | No |
| Languages limit | 100+ | — |
| Free version | Yes | Yes |
| More features | ||
| Other features | Google Translate element that translates the page in the browser, Shortcode for placing the translator, Automatic footer display in tabbed mode, Language flags with generated styles, Banner with the language selector, Choose all or specific languages to offer, Google Analytics code for the translator | In-admin PO editor, String extraction to POT templates, Native MO compilation, JSON (Jed) file export for script translations, Protected languages directory, WP-CLI commands for extract, fetch and sync, Fetch official translations from translate.wordpress.org |
| Integrations | ||
| Analytics | Google Analytics | — |
| Other | Google Translate element | OpenAI, Google Gemini, OpenRouter, DeepL, WordPress.org translations (GlotPress) |
| Requires WordPress | 3.3 | 6.6 |
| Requires PHP | 5.6 | 7.4 |
| Tested up to | 7.1 | 7.1.2 |
| Phones home | No | No |
| External services | — | translate.wordpress.org, api.openai.com, generativelanguage.googleapis.com, openrouter.ai |