Native or proxy?
Does the app write translations into Shopify’s own translation layer, or serve them from its own? This decides what uninstalling costs you, whether a storefront script can flicker, and whether your next app can import anything.
Comparison · 12 September 2026
Shopify translation apps, compared honestly
We build one of these apps, so treat this the way you would treat any comparison written by a competitor: check it. Every number below comes from the app’s own public listing, our row included, and the cases where you should install something else are on this page too.
- Listing prices, dated
- Our own weak spots
- No affiliate links
Before the table
Four questions that settle it faster than a feature list
Feature lists all look alike on this category page. These four answers do not, and they are what merchants end up writing reviews about a year later.
What are you metered on?
Words, credits, AI tokens, products, languages — or several at once. Ask whether you can count the unit yourself. Words and products you can estimate from your catalogue; tokens you cannot.
Who writes your hreflang?
On a Shopify Markets store, Shopify already does. An app that adds its own has to agree with Shopify forever. Also ask whether URL handles get translated by default, because that changes the address of pages you rank for.
What can you control on the plan you would pay for?
Tone, formal or informal register, a glossary, do-not-translate terms. These are what stop a store sounding machine-made, and on several apps they sit two tiers above the entry plan.
The table
Eight apps, cheapest paid plan first
Ratings, prices and plan contents as published on each app’s Shopify App Store listing. Pricing in this category changes often — open the listing before you decide anything.
| App | Rating | Entry paid plan | What it meters | Where translations live | Quality controls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify Translate & Adapt | 4.5 · 1,435 | Free only | Two auto-translated languages, full stop | Native — Shopify’s Translations API | Manual editing only |
| Hextom AI Translate & Currency | 4.7 · 1,236 | $9.99/mo | Languages by plan, plus credits for “Advanced AI” | Visual editor overlay | Better engine sits behind AI credits |
| LangShop | 4.5 · 479 | $10/mo | Per language and per product | Mostly native, optional client-side layer | 5 glossary rules on the entry plan |
| T Lab | 4.9 · 1,029 | $11.99/mo | Resource counts — 3,000 products on entry | Native — Shopify’s Translations API | “Store Context” and Autopilot |
| Transcy | 4.5 · 2,595 | $14.90/mo | Monthly AI tokens, languages and currencies | Injected storefront snippet | Glossary from the $29 tier (20 rules) |
| Weglot | 4.5 · 827 | $17/mo | Words across the whole store | Proxy and JS layer, DNS subdomains | Glossary; formal/informal on the top tier |
| langify | 4.6 · 728 | $17.50/mo | Words, as credits, by plan | Theme code injection | Not published on the listing |
| Lingomatic | 5.0 · 1 | $19/mo | Credits — 1 credit = 1 Standard word | Native — Translations API and Markets | Brand voice, register, unlimited glossary — every plan |
Architecture is as described by each developer on its listing and by merchants in public reviews; we have not audited anyone else’s code. Browse the full category on the Shopify App Store.
Shortlisting
Who each one is actually for
- Shopify Translate & Adapt
- Two languages, no budget, no fuss. The right first move for almost every store, and the reason most merchants only start shopping when they need a third market.
- T Lab
- The closest native competitor and the best-reviewed app in the category. Counts resources rather than words, which suits large catalogues of short text.
- Weglot
- Stores with text outside Shopify’s reach — embedded widgets, headless front ends — where a proxy earns its price and its DNS record.
- Transcy
- Stores that want language, currency and a geolocation switcher from a single app and bill.
- Hextom
- Translation plus currency on a small budget, if you can live with the better engine sitting behind credits.
- LangShop
- Smaller catalogues on the $10 plan, where per-product caps are not yet a constraint.
- langify
- Long-standing, theme-level control for complex or heavily customised themes.
- Lingomatic
- Stores going past two languages that care how the output sounds: brand voice, per-language register, glossary and do-not-translate rules are on every plan, and existing Shopify translations import free.
In their words
What the decision sounds like from the inside
Three verbatim reviews, two of them five-star. Together they describe the whole trade: the free app runs out, the cheap apps can miss text, and the expensive ones are expensive for a reason.
“I had read other app that support more languages but they are all limited. I would be more then happy to pay $10-20 if this app supported more languages.”
“it auto translates only 2 languages. No obvious way to translate more. This is not mentioned anywhere, only when you reach the limit.”
“Diese konnten jedoch nur 30 bis 70 % unserer Texte übersetzen und stießen schnell an technische Grenzen.” — The cheaper ones could only translate 30 to 70% of our text and hit technical limits fast.
Quoted verbatim and anonymised — store names left out on purpose. Browse the translation category and read them yourself ↗
Where we are the weakest app in this table
Reviews. Lingomatic launched in March 2026 and has one review. Transcy has 2,595 and T Lab has 1,029 at 4.9 stars. Review count is a real signal and we do not have it yet.
Reach. Native means bounded by what Shopify exposes. A proxy app can translate text we cannot see, and for some stores that difference decides it.
Currency. We do language and images. Shopify Markets handles pricing and currency, and we think that is right, but it means we are not the one-app answer that Transcy or Hextom can be.
The free tier. Ours is two languages, the same cap as Shopify’s own free app. If two languages is all you need, install Translate & Adapt instead of us and keep the $19.
FAQ
Choosing a Shopify translation app
What is the best translation app for a Shopify store?
There is no single answer, but there is a shortcut: decide first whether you want a native app or a proxy. Native apps write into Shopify’s own translation layer, so Shopify serves the translated text, owns hreflang and canonicals, and keeps the translations if you uninstall. Proxy apps assemble translated pages themselves, which lets them reach text Shopify does not expose but makes them harder to leave. Everything else — price, glossary, quality — is secondary to that.
Is Shopify Translate & Adapt enough on its own?
If you need two languages, yes. It is free, it is built by Shopify, and hreflang is handled for you. Its limit is hard: it auto-translates two languages only, and it counts any language that already holds machine-translated content, including content another app created. Merchants usually discover this at the moment they add the third market.
Why do translation apps meter so differently?
Because each one is protecting a different cost. Word and credit meters track how much text goes through a model. Token allowances track model calls. Per-product and per-language caps track nothing but your plan tier. The practical test is whether you can count the unit yourself before you buy: you can count words and products, and you cannot count tokens.
Will a translation app hurt my SEO?
It can, in three specific ways: by writing its own hreflang or canonical tags alongside Shopify’s, by translating URL handles so pages you rank for change address, and by leaving redirects behind after uninstall. Ask those three questions of any app before installing it. On a Shopify Markets store the safe answers are that Shopify writes the tags, handles are left alone by default, and uninstalling removes everything.
Can I move my translations from one app to another?
Only if they were published into Shopify’s translation layer. Translations stored on an app’s own servers or rendered by a storefront script are not in Shopify, so a new app has nothing to import and you start again. Publish everything before you uninstall anything, and run the new app’s sync while the old one is still installed.
Keep reading
Switching without losing your translations
How to tell whether your next move is an import or a re-translation — before you uninstall anything.
Read it →Weglot alternative
DNS records, word counts that climb, and billing that outlives the install.
Read it →Transcy alternative
Hreflang conflicts, canonical tags and AI tokens: what changes when Shopify Markets owns the SEO.
Read it →Start free
The only comparison that counts is the one on your own products
Basic is free forever: 10,000 credits a month, 2 languages, 100 products, no card. Translate a handful of your real products and judge the output, not the table.