Google Website Translator vs Polylang
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 | Polylang v3.9.1 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.7/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 8,000+ | 900,000+ |
| Last updated | August 18, 2026 | October 21, 2026 |
| Editions | Prisna GWT - Google Website Translator | Polylang · Polylang Pro ($) |
| Pros | Free automatic translation into a long list of languages; Language selector with flags, banner or shortcode placement; Simple settings for which languages to offer | Unlimited languages with WordPress language packs; Language switcher widget and block; Language-specific URLs and multilingual sitemaps |
| Cons | Translations are generated in the browser and are not stored; Same URL for every language, so no SEO gain from translated pages; Relies on Google's widget, so output quality is machine-level | Translation is manual in the free version; Machine translation and translated slugs need Pro; WooCommerce support is a separate add-on |
| Mentioned in our posts | 2 | 1 |
| Features (Translation plugins checklist) | ||
| Machine translation | Yes | Paid |
| Visual editor | No | — |
| SEO-friendly URLs | No | Yes |
| WooCommerce | — | No |
| Languages limit | 100+ | unlimited |
| Free version | Yes | Yes |
| More features | ||
| Other features | Google Translate element that translates the page in the browser, Shortcode for placing the translator, Automatic footer display in tabbed mode, Language flags with generated styles, Banner with the language selector, Choose all or specific languages to offer, Google Analytics code for the translator | Language switcher widget and block, Multilingual sitemaps, Language-specific URLs, Translated slugs (preview, Pro) ($), Shared slugs (preview, Pro) ($), DeepL machine translation (preview, Pro) ($) |
| Integrations | ||
| Analytics | Google Analytics | — |
| Storage | — | WP Offload Media Lite |
| Plugins | — | Yoast SEO, Jetpack |
| Other | Google Translate element | polylang.pro licence server ($) |
| Requires WordPress | 3.3 | 6.8 |
| Requires PHP | 5.6 | 7.4 |
| Tested up to | 7.1 | 7.1 |
| Phones home | No | No |
| External services | — | polylang.pro |
| Blocks | — | 2 |