If you’re running a multilingual website, language switcher plugins are crucial to enhance user experience and ensure seamless navigation for visitors. These plugins help users select their preferred language, making your site more accessible to a global audience. Here’s a list of the best WordPress plugins with language switcher functionality to help you choose the right one for your needs.
Using Dedicated Language Switcher Plugins
I researched the WordPress.org plugin repository, independent developer sites, and premium plugin platforms for dedicated language switcher plugins with no extra features, and here are the results: three simple plugins that are perfect for the job.
Multisite Language Switcher
The Multisite Language Switcher plugin gives you the ability to select the alternative versions of your pages (in terms of language) from the post editor. Based on your selection, the plugin will show in the posts links to the alternative versions of your page.
Note that this is a WordPress Multisite/Network only plugin. If installed on a standard WordPress setup, the plugin will not function and will display a notification message stating that it requires WordPress Multisite/Network.
Getting Started
The plugin will add a Multisite Language Switcher menu to each subsite of the network. For each site of the network configure the blog language and customize the display options.
Once you have configured all the sites in the network, the Multisite Language Switcher meta box will appear in the post editor.
Language Switcher
The Language Switcher plugin generates a language selector on any page of your site by adding a shortcode.
Getting Started
Let’s see how to set up the plugin. From the plugin options under Languages → Settings, first configure the languages used in the site. Here, adding all the languages you might use on the site is essential. The languages enabled in this menu will be those for which you can configure the alternate page URLs in the post editor.
In the Settings tab configure in which post types and taxonomies you want to enable the language switcher.
Now edit the specific posts that have alternate versions in another language and enter the URLs of these alternate versions using the fields available in the Languages meta box.
Next, add the [language-switcher] shortcode to your post at the exact position where you want the language selector to appear. Keep in mind that this step needs to be repeated for every post where the language switcher is needed.
To conclude, verify that the language switcher is functioning correctly by visiting a post where you added the shortcode. Ensure it appears as expected and provides the desired functionality for your visitors.
Hreflang Flags
This Hreflang Flags plugin generates a language and region selector based on the hreflang data already available in the page HTML.
Getting Started
This plugin detects hreflang tags available in the source code of your web pages and automatically generates the language selector. Consequently, the first step is to implement hreflang in your WordPress site. Hreflang can be added with your favorite method, for example, by programmatically adding hreflang tags in your source code, using multilanguage plugins, or with a dedicated hreflang plugin like Hreflang Manager.
Next, proceed to the Hreflang Flags plugin options and configure the plugin functionalities and behavior. This menu is helpful for configuring a couple of important aspects, namely the position of the flags and the mapping between languages and flags.
If the language switcher has been configured to be positioned in a fixed position on the screen, there are no additional configuration steps required. If you disable the fixed positioning of the language switcher, you need to add it to a widget area using the Hreflang Flags dedicated widget or the shortcode [hreflang-flags].
To conclude, proceed to test the plugin on the front end by visiting a page with hreflang tags. The language switcher should automatically appear over your content.
Add a Language Switcher Using Popular Translations Plugins
While the following are not strictly language switcher plugins, they still offer the option to include a language switcher in the front end of WordPress, usually within posts, in template files, and in widget areas.
Polylang
Polylang is a comprehensive solution that allows you to easily add language translations of your posts to your WordPress site.
Getting Started
With Polylang, the first step is to add the languages used in the site with the dedicated Languages options.
You can now create your language switcher. One method is to visit the Widgets menu and then add the Language Switcher block in a custom widget area. Here, you will find the option to display the language switcher as a dropdown, display the language names, display the flags, hide the current language page, and more.
Next, from the Languages meta box, click the plus icon to add a new translation or the pencil icon to edit an existing translation.
Once you have finished configuring the language switcher, visit a front-end page that has a translation to see the language switcher appear on the site.
For more details on adding a language switcher with Polylang, refer to the official guide.
GTranslate
GTranslate provides automatic translation of your pages using Google Translate. This means that with this plugin, there is no need to actually create the translated versions of your pages because the plugin creates them on the fly for you.
Getting Started
To add a language switcher with the plugin, proceed to the Settings → GTranslate settings page and select the type of language switcher, which can be for example displayed in a menu, or added in a floating position in one of the corners of the page.
After that, select the language for which you want to have the translated version.
On the front end selecting one of the translated version will translate the page without actually visiting a new URL.
Other Plugins With a Language Switcher
Not satisfied with the plugins listed so far? Then it might be worth checking out these additional plugins for WordPress that include a language switcher feature.
WPML
WPML is a comprehensive tool designed for creating and managing multilingual WordPress websites. It is widely recognized as one of the most powerful plugins in the multilingual category. WPML enables you to translate all aspects of your website, including posts, pages, custom post types, taxonomies, menus, and even the text strings used in themes and plugins.
In terms of language switcher, WPML lets you add a language switcher to your website’s menu, as a widget, or in the footer. You can also include flags, display languages in their native names, and add custom styling.
To add and customize language switchers to these specific areas, go to WPML → Languages in the WordPress dashboard. From here, you can configure new language switchers.
For more implementation methods, see this article from WPML.
TranslatePress
TranslatePress is a user-friendly WordPress plugin that allows you to translate your entire website directly from the front end using a visual editor. It supports both manual and automatic translations powered by Google Translate or DeepL, giving you flexibility in how you manage multilingual content.
To add a language switcher with TranslatePress see the guide for adding a language switcher.
WeGlot
If you’re a WeGlot user, follow their dedicated guide for implementing a language switcher.
MultilingualPress
MultilingualPress, a powerful multilingual plugin for WordPress, enables seamless site translation management across multiple sites. It also features a language switcher.