Lingvit vs Polylang
Polylang's core workflow relies on authored language versions. Lingvit automates the entire process: automatic translation, zero content duplication, and cached translations that are served without extra cost.
Polylang is free — but your time isn't
The cost of Polylang isn't in the license fee. It's in the hours spent translating every post, page, product, widget, and menu item — and then doing it again every time you publish something new.
Days of manual work
A 100-page site in 3 languages means 300 translated copies to write, paste, and maintain. Polylang doesn't write them for you.
Ongoing maintenance
Every new blog post, product update, or page change needs a manual translated copy in every language. Forever.
Database bloat
Every translated post is a separate database entry. A 500-post site in 5 languages = 2,500+ entries. Performance degrades.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Lingvit | Polylang |
|---|---|---|
| Works on | Any website, web app, SaaS, or CRM | WordPress only |
| Cost | Monthly or annual plans with word capacity and monthly generation | Free core plus paid editions — verify current vendor pricing |
| Setup approach | Guided plugin connection | Plugin plus per-language content setup |
| Translation approach | Automatic MT — all content translated without manual work | Manual — you write or paste every translation yourself |
| Machine translation | Configured machine-translation provider plus editorial review | Not included (manually input or use a separate service) |
| New content | Auto-detected and translated on publish | Must manually create translated copy for each new post/page |
| Database overhead | None — no content duplication | Significant — each translated post is a separate DB entry |
| WooCommerce | Yes — automatic | Yes — via Polylang for WooCommerce add-on |
| General SEO URL routing | Use platform locale routing — not included at launch | Yes — included |
| Glossary | Yes | No built-in glossary |
Swipe horizontally to compare every column.
Based on publicly available documentation. Polylang Pro features may vary by tier.
See also: WordPress translation guide → · Best WordPress translation plugins →
When Polylang might be the right choice
Polylang is genuinely appropriate if you have a very small, stable WordPress site (under 20 pages), you have a native translator for each language who will write content from scratch, and machine translation is not acceptable in your use case.
For the vast majority of sites — especially those with ongoing publishing, WooCommerce stores, or a team without dedicated translators — Lingvit's automatic approach delivers results in hours instead of months.
FAQ
What is Polylang?
Polylang is a WordPress plugin for creating multilingual sites. It lets you create separate translated versions of each post, page, and custom post type. The core and paid editions differ, so verify current packaging and pricing on the vendor site.
Is Polylang really free?
Polylang's core plugin is free and covers basic multilingual WordPress sites. WooCommerce support and some advanced features require Polylang Pro. Lingvit plans include a monthly word generation allowance for new translations.
What's the biggest downside of Polylang?
Polylang requires you to manually write or paste every translation for every post, page, and product. There's no automatic translation — you're the translator. For a site with hundreds of pieces of content, this is an enormous amount of work. And every new piece of content needs a manual translation too.
Can I migrate from Polylang to Lingvit?
Yes. Deactivate Polylang, install the Lingvit WordPress plugin, and your site gets automatic translations immediately. You can review any string in the Lingvit dashboard and import existing human-translated text if you want to preserve specific manual translations.
Does Lingvit work with Advanced Custom Fields (ACF)?
Yes. Lingvit translates rendered HTML output — so ACF field values that appear on the page are translated automatically, regardless of field type or where they're output. No ACF-specific configuration needed.
Go multilingual without the manual work
Simple monthly plans · Cached delivery included · Guided setup · Automatic translation