Shopify Translate & Adapt Review (2025): All The Pros & Cons

Shopify Translation & Adapt app is totally free, but is it a genuine solution for a thriving international store, or just a starter tool you’ll quickly outgrow? 

This review will analyze the Translate & Adapt app’s real-world usability, SEO impact, and hidden limitations, which you won’t find on the app store page.

We’ll also give you a clear framework for deciding when this free tool is the perfect solution – and when it’s time to upgrade to a paid translation app.

What is Shopify Translate & Adapt?

Shopify Translate & Adapt is a free, native app designed to be the simplest first step into selling internationally. It allows you to add different languages to your store, letting you manually or automatically translate your product descriptions, blog posts, and checkout.

It’s the ideal tool for merchants who want to test a new market by offering a basic localized experience without the immediate cost or complexity of a more advanced translation platform.

Here are some key features of Shopify Translate & Adapt:

• Automatic translation: Up to two languages included for free
• Localization: Adapt content, spelling, and measurements per market
• Shopify Markets integration: Sync languages and content by region
• Translation management: Centralized translation editor in Shopify admin
• Customer experience: Automatic language detection and built-in language switcher

Pros of Shopify Translate & Adapt

Now that we’ve covered what the app can do, let’s take a closer look at where Shopify Translate & Adapt really shines

1. It’s 100% free

The Shopify Translation & Adapt app is completely free to install and use. For merchants, particularly new businesses and those operating on a lean budget, this is a significant advantage.

There are no subscription fees, word-count limits, or hidden costs associated with the core translation features. This allows store owners to enable multilingual shopping experiences without any initial financial investment, making it an accessible entry point into global markets.

2. It’s a native application built by Shopify

Since it’s a native Shopify app, Translate & Adapt integrates seamlessly into your store. You don’t need to worry about compatibility issues or relying on an external vendor.

Shopify also updates the app regularly, which means you can expect long-term stability and support. For many merchants, this reassurance matters more than extra bells and whistles from smaller third-party apps.

3. The app is easy to use

Thanks to its integration within the Shopify admin, the app is generally considered easy to use. The setup is simple, and the interface is familiar to anyone who has worked with Shopify.

Most users find the side-by-side translation editor intuitive for making manual changes. The rating is slightly reduced because the manual workflows, as noted in the automation section, can detract from the overall user experience for stores operating at scale.

Shopify Translate & Adapt Limitations

While Shopify Translate and Adapt gives newbies a free, simple tool to translate their web store, most merchants complain that they quickly run into numerous setbacks when scaling or need more advanced localization features.

So if you are serious about expanding globally, here are the 10 shortcomings of Shopify Translate and Adapt you might find off-putting:

1. It only supports automatic translation for 2 languages 

You can only automatically translate their store’s content into a maximum of two additional languages for free. Any further languages require manual translation, which can be a time-consuming process for larger stores.

Indeed, many merchants said that it’s a decent app. Too bad, the number of languages supported is too limited.

2. The app has a 100,000,000-character limit for auto-translations per year

Shopify Translate & Adapt caps automatic translations at 100,000,000 characters per year. That may sound like a lot, but in practice, it can run out quickly. For example, a medium-sized store with 200 products, each with detailed descriptions, can easily hit this limit.

And the bad news is that once you exceed this limit, you’ll need to handle all new translations manually, which can be time-consuming and inconvenient for growing businesses.

3. It doesn’t support image translation

A significant limitation observed by nearly all users is the app’s complete inability to handle text embedded within images. There is no feature to detect, translate, or swap images for different languages.

The only workaround is a manual one: merchants must create and upload different versions of an image for each language and then use custom code or a compatible theme to display the correct one. This makes true image localization impractical for most users of this app.

4. The app doesn’t allow setting custom translation rules

One notable drawback of Shopify Translate & Adapt is that it lacks custom translation rules (glossary). This means you can’t control how specific words or phrases – such as brand names, product collections, or industry-specific terms are handled during translation.

For example, if your store name or a unique product line is automatically translated into another language, it may lose meaning or appear inconsistent across different pages. Without the ability to lock or define those terms, you have to manually review and edit translations to maintain brand accuracy and consistency.

5. It has several SEO localization limitations

Shopify Translate and Adapt offers basic SEO localization functions. Specifically, the app allows you to translate URL slugs, meta titles, and meta descriptions, and auto-add hreflang tags to your web pages.

Nevertheless, it comes with several technical constraints that can negatively affect your international SEO and localization strategy. These include:

• Partial URL translation only: You can translate product slugs (e.g., “summer-dress” to “robe-d-ete”), but not the default Shopify URL paths like /products/ or /collections/. These remain in your store’s original language, limiting full localization.
• Same slug across all regions: If multiple countries use the same language (e.g., France and Canada for French), you can’t create unique URL slugs for each region. This restricts market-specific content and hinders localized SEO targeting by country.
• Hreflang tag limitations: The app auto-generates hreflang tags, but these are locked to fixed country-language pairs (like en-FR for English in France). You can’t manually adjust them, and changing defaults requires contacting Shopify Support, which may prevent proper indexing of region-specific pages.
• Canonical URL conflicts: Some users have reported issues with canonical tags not updating correctly across language versions, potentially leading to duplicate content warnings in search engines.
• No metadata controls: The app does not provide built-in tools for translating or customizing meta titles and descriptions per language, which means missed SEO opportunities unless handled manually through theme customization.

6. There is no language switcher customization

Another drawback of Shopify Translate & Adapt is the limited customization of the language switcher – the feature that lets customers choose their preferred language on your site. The app provides a basic, built-in language selector that works, but it doesn’t offer much flexibility in terms of design or placement.

Hence, for brands that rely on custom storefronts or have strict design guidelines, this can be frustrating. This is because you can’t easily match the language switcher to your site’s look and feel, or place it exactly where you want it, such as in the header, footer, or a floating button.

This might seem like a small detail, but it affects user experience, especially for global shoppers. If visitors struggle to find or use the switcher, they may miss out on localized content entirely. Inconsistent or hard-to-access language toggles can also reduce trust and lead to lower conversion rates in non-English markets.

7. It lacks automatic translation of new content

One big drawback of Shopify Translate & Adapt is that it doesn’t automatically translate new content. Whenever you add a new product, blog post, or update a page, you have to manually trigger the translation. That might be fine for a small store, but for larger businesses with lots of updates, it quickly becomes time-consuming and easy to miss.

Another problem is when you change your store’s default language. Doing this wipes out all existing translations tied to the old default language, meaning you’d have to start over from scratch. This can cause serious headaches for merchants managing multiple languages.

8. Third-party app incompatibility

One of the more frustrating limitations of Shopify Translate & Adapt is how it handles content from third-party apps. While it works fine for translating the core parts of your Shopify store, it only supports external apps that are built using Shopify’s official translatable resource types. In simple terms, unless the app is specifically designed to integrate with Shopify’s translation system, Translate & Adapt won’t be able to access or translate the content it generates.

This becomes a real issue because many Shopify merchants rely on third-party apps to power key parts of their storefront – such as product reviews, search filters, chat widgets, pop-ups, loyalty programs, or upsell features. If these apps don’t support Shopify’s native translation framework, the content they add to your site will stay in your store’s default language. As a result, even if the rest of your store is translated, visitors might still see important features or messages in the wrong language, which can hurt trust and lead to a confusing customer experience.

9. The market-specific content options are limited

Shopify Translate & Adapt offers basic tools for customizing content by market, but it has clear limitations when it comes to running fully localized campaigns. While you can edit text for different regions or languages, the level of control is fairly limited.

You can’t easily tailor content like homepage banners, promotional sections, or product highlights specifically for each market beyond just changing the wording. This makes it harder to run region-specific campaigns, seasonal promotions, or localized brand messaging that truly resonates with different audiences.

10. Lack of translation backup functions

Unlike some third-party translation apps that store backup versions or allow you to export and restore translations, Shopify’s native app doesn’t offer that kind of safety net. Merchants are left to rely on manual backups or hope that nothing goes wrong. Without a backup system in place, one mistake or technical problem could undo all your localization efforts – which is both costly and time-consuming to fix.

Who should use Shopify Translate & Adapt?

Shopify Translate & Adapt is suitable for

• Small merchants testing international sales for the first time.
• Stores with only one or two target languages.
• Merchants who are cost-sensitive and don’t need advanced features.

Shopify Translate & Adapt isn’t suitable for

• Brands targeting multiple regions.
• Stores with large product catalogs.
• Merchants who need full automation, visual editing, or professional-quality translations.

If you want more advanced capabilities, you’ll need to explore premium translation apps that offer unlimited languages, image translation, translation memory, and automation.

Transcy is a great example of an app that goes beyond Shopify’s default solution, offering advanced translation features designed to support real global growth. Unlike Translate & Adapt, it’s designed to handle full-scale localization for stores of any size.

Shopify Translate & Adapt alternatives

While Shopify Translate & Adapt is a good starting point, its limits (only two languages, no automation, no image translation) make it less practical for growing businesses. If you need more flexibility, scalability, and quality, you’ll want to look at others.

Below is a side-by-side comparison of Shopify Translate & Adapt and top-rated translation apps to help you find the best fit for your multilingual store:

Final thoughts

Shopify Translate & Adapt is a good starter tool. It is free, simple, and natively built into Shopify. It works fine for small stores testing one or two markets, but its limits in automation, SEO, and scalability make it less suitable for serious international growth. For merchants ready to expand globally, advanced apps like Transcy provide the automation, flexibility, and features needed to scale with confidence.

Frequently asked questions

1. Is Shopify Translate & Adapt really free?

Yes. The app is completely free to install and use, with no subscription fees. However, there is a 100,000-character annual limit on automatic translations.

2. How many languages does Shopify Translate & Adapt support?

It only allows automatic translations into two languages. Any additional languages must be added manually.

3. Does the app automatically translate new content?

No. Every time you add or update products, blogs, or pages, you’ll need to manually trigger translations.

4. Can Shopify Translate & Adapt translate images or media?

No. The app does not support image or media translation. You’ll need to manually upload localized versions of images if you want text in graphics to appear in different languages.

5. Does it help with SEO?

Partially. It can translate URL slugs, meta titles, and descriptions, and adds hreflang tags automatically. But it has SEO limitations, like no full control over metadata and restricted URL structures.