Multilingual Portfolio Websites in 2026: What It Costs

A multilingual portfolio website sounds like a setting. On almost every platform it is a product, sold separately, and priced in a unit that grows with your site rather than sitting flat on your bill.

Webflow charges per locale as an add-on. Wix meters auto-translation by the word. Squarespace does not offer it natively at all and points you at a third-party integration. WordPress.com needs a plugin, which means its $25 a month tier.

For a photographer or filmmaker who works across two countries, that is a considerably more expensive answer than "tick a box in settings", and the pricing unit matters more than the headline because it keeps growing.

A multilingual website is a site that serves the same content in more than one language, with search engines told which version belongs to which audience so the right one appears in the right country's results.

Full disclosure: Framekit is our own product and it is the only entry here that includes translation in a plan, which makes this the rare comparison that flatters us. We have priced the others from their own documentation and linked it, and we say where each of them is better than us at the end.

What Each Platform Charges

In one linethe unit of pricing differs on every platform, and per-locale, per-word and per-plugin-tier are three very different bills for the same job.

Webflow. Its documentation describes Localize as a paid add-on on paid site plans, which you can try for free and pay for when you are ready to publish.

Pricing is per locale, and some capabilities such as automatic domain-level routing to a visitor's preferred locale sit on the Advanced and Enterprise Localize plans. Team bundles Localize, but a second language does not require Team.

Wix. Wix Multilingual is added to a site from the App Market. Auto-translating grants 3,000 word credits free, with additional credits purchasable. We could not find a plan-level requirement documented in the help articles we read, so we are not asserting one.

Squarespace. This is the finding most likely to change a decision.

On version 7.1, Squarespace's own help centre recommends the built-in Weglot integration rather than a native feature, with visitors switching languages through a drop-down in the site header.

Weglot is free for one language and up to 2,000 words, and paid beyond that.

Framer. Localization is an add-on that unlocks locales and the translation workflow. The free plan includes one free locale to try, and Basic allows up to one locale as an add-on.

AI translation consumes plan credits, but adding locales and entering translations by hand never requires credits, which is a sensible arrangement.

Framekit. Framekit is an AI website builder for photographers, filmmakers, designers, and creators, and translation is included on Pro at $19 a month and on Business, though not on Free or Starter.

Published sites emit hreflang links across the published locales only, so a translation you have not published never leaks into search results as a broken alternate.

Squarespace's Manual Route and What It Breaks

In one lineyou can build a multilingual Squarespace site by hand, and Squarespace's own documentation lists four things that stop working when you do.

This deserves its own section because "you can do it manually" is the answer people give in forums, and the limitations are specific and published rather than theoretical.

According to Squarespace's own help documentation, on a manually built multilingual site: built-in text such as the checkout page displays in only one language; certain metadata including dates on blog pages is affected; the site can sell products in only one currency at a time; and you cannot use different domains or subdomains for different languages.

Read those four in order and the picture is clear. A manual multilingual Squarespace site can present your work in two languages and cannot present your shop in two languages, because the checkout, the currency and the metadata all stay singular.

Who that is fine fora photographer with a bilingual portfolio and a contact form, selling nothing.

Who it is not fine foranyone selling into two markets, which is usually the reason for going multilingual in the first place.

The Pricing Unit Is the Real Story

In one lineper-locale pricing charges you for languages, per-word pricing charges you for content, and only a flat plan charges you for neither.

The headline number matters less than what it is multiplied by, and this category uses three different multipliers.

Per locale, as Webflow does. Two languages cost twice one language, regardless of how big the site is.

This suits a small site in several languages and punishes nobody in particular, and it means your bill is predictable from the day you decide how many markets you serve.

Per word, as Wix's auto-translation credits do and as Weglot does.

The cost scales with how much you write, which means a portfolio with long case studies costs more to translate than one with short captions, and a blog makes it grow forever.

Weglot's free tier at 2,000 words is generous for a landing page and small for a real portfolio: a single detailed case study can approach it.

Per plan tier, as WordPress.com does by putting plugins on the $25 Business plan. You pay a fixed step and then the plugin's own pricing on top, which is often per word again.

Flat, which in this comparison is only us, at $19 a month on Pro.

The practical instructionbefore choosing, count your words. Open your site, copy the text of every page into a document, and look at the word count. If it is under a couple of thousand, per-word pricing is cheap and possibly free.

If it is fifteen thousand because you write case studies, per-word pricing is the most expensive option on this page and a flat or per-locale arrangement will cost less.

The Part Everybody Gets Wrong: hreflang

In one linetranslating the pages is the easy half, and telling search engines which version belongs to which audience is the half that decides whether anyone finds the translation.

A multilingual site needs to emit hreflang annotations: a set of links on each page saying "this same content also exists at this URL for this language". Without them, search engines may treat your two language versions as duplicates, or serve the wrong one, or index only one.

Three practical points that matter more than the theory.

Reciprocity. Each language version should point at the others, including at itself. One-directional hreflang is a common and quiet failure.

Do not annotate what you have not published. A half-finished translation referenced in hreflang produces a broken alternate.

Our own implementation emits hreflang across published locales only for exactly this reason, which is a small detail that saves a specific and annoying problem.

Check it after any platform move. Migrations regenerate these files, so hreflang is one of the things to re-verify on the new platform. We cover the wider checklist in how to switch website builders.

The honest caveatalmost every platform here handles hreflang for you once you have set up locales properly. The reason to understand it is to recognise when it has gone wrong, not to write it by hand.

Do You Actually Need One

In one linea second language is worth it when a second market can hire you, and a poor use of money when it is aspirational.

This is judgement rather than measurement and it belongs in this article, because the cheapest multilingual site is the one you did not need.

Strong reasons. You already receive enquiries in another language. You work in a country whose clients brief in their own language. Your work is regional and the search terms clients use are not in English.

In each case the translation pays for itself with one job.

Weak reasons. You would like to seem international. You might expand later. A competitor has one. In each case you are adding a maintenance burden to every future page you publish, in exchange for traffic you have no evidence exists.

The cheap test before committing. Look at your analytics for the last twelve months and find the share of visitors from countries whose primary language is not yours.

If it is small and none of them ever enquired, translation is not your growth problem.

If it is meaningful, translate the three pages that matter, which are usually the home page, the services or about page, and the contact page, rather than the entire site.

And the maintenance point nobody mentionsevery page you publish afterwards needs translating too, forever. A multilingual site is a standing commitment rather than a project, which is the strongest argument for translating a small number of important pages rather than everything.

How to Choose

In one linework down these questions in order and stop at the first one that describes you, because word count and how many markets you serve settle this quickly.

1. Is your site under about 2,000 words in total? Squarespace with the Weglot integration is free for one additional language at that size, and Wix's 3,000 free word credits also cover you.
2. Do you have a large site and only one extra language? Webflow's per-locale Localize add-on is predictable and does not grow with your word count.
3. Do you write regularly, in long form? Avoid per-word pricing. A flat arrangement, ours at $19 a month on Pro, or a per-locale one costs less as the archive grows.
4. Do you sell into two markets with different currencies? Not a manual Squarespace build, which supports one currency at a time and shows checkout text in one language.
5. Do you need the WordPress plugin ecosystem anyway? WordPress.com Business at $25 a month gets you both, and the plugin's own pricing applies on top.
6. Are you unsure whether you need this at all? Translate three pages rather than the site, and revisit in six months.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Squarespace support multilingual sites?

Not natively on version 7.1. Squarespace's help centre recommends the built-in Weglot integration, which generates translated versions and adds a language drop-down to your header.

Weglot is free for one language up to 2,000 words and paid beyond that. A manual multilingual build is possible on 7.0 with published limitations.

What are the limits of a manual multilingual Squarespace site?

Squarespace's documentation lists four: built-in text such as the checkout page appears in only one language, certain metadata including blog dates is affected, the site can sell in only one currency at a time, and you cannot use different domains or subdomains for different languages.

Together those make it unsuitable for selling into two markets.

How much does Webflow localization cost?

Webflow Localize is a paid add-on priced per locale on paid site plans, free to try and charged when you publish.

Some features, such as automatic domain-level routing based on a visitor's browser language, sit on the Advanced and Enterprise Localize plans. The Team plan bundles Localize, but a second language does not require Team.

Is Wix Multilingual free?

Partly. Wix Multilingual is added from the App Market, and auto-translating your site grants 3,000 word credits free with more available to purchase. We could not find a documented plan-level requirement in the help articles we read, so check your own plan before assuming.

Does Framer support multiple languages?

Yes, through a Localization add-on that unlocks locales and the translation workflow. The free plan includes one free locale to try and Basic allows up to one locale as an add-on.

AI translation consumes plan credits, while adding locales and typing translations manually never does.

Which website builder includes translation in the plan?

Among the platforms compared here, only Framekit, on Pro at $19 a month and on Business. Everywhere else it is an add-on, an app with word credits, a third-party integration, or a plugin tier.

That is the exception rather than a general pattern, and it is the one place this comparison favours our own product.

What is hreflang and do I need it?

It is a set of annotations telling search engines that the same content exists in another language at another URL, so the right version is served to the right audience.

You need it on any multilingual site, and most platforms generate it once locales are configured. The failures to watch for are non-reciprocal links and annotations pointing at unpublished translations.

Should I use machine translation for my portfolio?

For navigation, captions and boilerplate, it is usually fine and getting better. For the writing clients judge you on, such as an about page or a case study, have a person read it.

A portfolio is a demonstration of care, and an awkward machine sentence in your second language undermines the work it is describing.

Do I need to translate my whole site?

Usually not, and often you should not. Translating the home page, the about or services page, and the contact page captures most of the value, and it keeps the ongoing maintenance small. Every page you add afterwards needs translating too, which is the cost people underestimate.

Will a second language help my SEO?

It can, if there is search demand in that language for what you do, and it does nothing if there is not. Check your analytics for visitors from countries where another language dominates, and whether any of them ever enquired.

Translation is a way to serve demand you can see rather than a way to create it.

The Short Version

Count your words before you choose. Under a couple of thousand and the free tiers of Weglot on Squarespace or Wix's word credits will cover you.

Fifteen thousand and per-word pricing becomes the most expensive option available, at which point a per-locale add-on like Webflow's or a flat plan makes more sense.

Do not build a manual multilingual Squarespace site if you sell anything, because the checkout, the currency and the metadata all stay in one language.

And translate three pages rather than the whole site until you have evidence the second market is real, because every page you publish afterwards joins the commitment.

Where the others beat us. Webflow's per-locale pricing is more predictable than ours for a very large site in one extra language, and its Advanced Localize plans do domain-level routing we do not offer.

Wix and Squarespace both have free routes for a small site that cost nothing at all, where our translation sits on a $19 plan. And Framer lets you try a locale on a completely free plan, which we do not.

Related readingthe best website builders for SEO, how to switch website builders, and the best no-code website builders.