"Shopify has its own translation app. Isn't that enough?" We hear this question as soon as a multilingual store comes up. The app is called Translate & Adapt, it's free and it comes from Shopify itself. Next to it there are subscription services that sit in front of the store as a layer and swap the text only on the way out.
Our answer: Translate & Adapt is the right foundation, because the app writes into Shopify's own translation fields. For many stores it's enough on its own. Where it stops is the automatic part: a glossary for brand terms, a check before publishing, a short update cycle and a way back. This article shows what the app does, where its limits are and what we add on top when more is needed.
Service in front of the store
- Shopifyonly knows the source language
- Translation serviceswaps text on the way out
- Customers abroad
The translations live with the provider, can only be edited there, and the service costs money every month.
Translate & Adapt
- Translate & Adaptfree, by Shopify
- Shopifystores every language itself
- Customers abroad
The translations live in the store. Shopify serves them, with a URL per language.
Translate & Adapt plus automation
- Automationglossary, checks, log, rollback
- Shopifythe same fields as the app
- Customers abroad
Same foundation, same fields. The app stays for corrections, the automation keeps everything current.
What Translate & Adapt does
Translate & Adapt is Shopify's own app for translating and adapting content. It costs nothing, not even on the smallest plan. You can translate products, collections, pages, blog posts, legal policies and theme text by hand. Content can be adapted for individual markets, for example spelling for Switzerland or Austria, without adding another language.
Since 9 October 2026, the app automatically translates up to eight languages for stores in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and nine other European countries. On top of that comes Auto-sync: once a week, Shopify translates new and updated content by itself. Stores in other countries get two automatic languages and no Auto-sync. So it depends on the country the store is located in, not on the Shopify plan.
- is what the app costs, on every Shopify plan
- 0 €
- languages automatically in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and nine other European countries, otherwise 2
- 8
- a week, Auto-sync translates new and updated content, otherwise at the push of a button
- 1×
- languages per store in total, up to 30 on Shopify Plus
- 20
As of 15 October 2026. Sources: Shopify changelog, 9 October 2026, Shopify Help on automatic translation, app requirements, languages in Shopify.
Two questions come up almost every time. Are your own corrections overwritten? No, manually edited translations stay. And where do the translations live? In Shopify. They stay even if the app is uninstalled.
A common question in the Shopify Community used to be how to translate more than two languages automatically. For stores in German-speaking countries, the limit has moved a lot since October.
Why native translation is the right foundation
Translate & Adapt writes into Shopify's own translation fields. That sounds like a technical detail, but it decides three things:
- Shopify serves the translations itself. Every language gets its own URL, for example with /fr at the start of the path, plus hreflang and sitemap for Google. No extra service in between.
- The translations belong to the store. If you remove the app, you keep them. With a service in front of the store, they live with the provider.
- Other tools write into the same fields. Shopify itself says the app works with other translation solutions that use Shopify's translation API. What an automation writes shows up in Translate & Adapt, and you can correct it there.
The third point matters most. You don't have to choose between the app and a solution of your own. Both work on the same foundation.
Where Translate & Adapt stops
Almost all the limits are in the automatic part. A lot can be maintained by hand in the app. Automatically and checked, not so much:
Not described in Shopify's help
- Glossary for brand and technical termsYou can't define in advance how a product name is translated or whether it stays.
- Check before publishingFor example for placeholders, numbers or links.
By hand only
- Legal policies
- Page addresses (URL handles)Per language.
With limits
- Update cycleOnce a week with Auto-sync, the first run can take up to a week.
- Theme textFor some text, the app only adds missing translations and doesn't update existing ones.
- Content from other appsOnly if that app stores its text in Shopify's translation fields or locale files.
- Switching languagesAn automatically translated language takes one of the eight slots, even after you remove it.
Not through the app
- Filters and tags
- Product images
- Shopify Forms
Sources as above, plus Shopify Help on manual translation.
For a store with few brand terms and a manageable catalog, none of this is a problem. It gets hard when product names, material names or sizes have to stay the same in every language, when a lot of text changes all the time, or when a broken placeholder in the cart would show up in seven languages at once. Then what's missing isn't the translating, it's everything before and after.
Another common question in the community: why a translation sits on "Translating into German" for days. With a log for every run, you see what was translated and what wasn't.
Is the app enough for your store?
New and changed text in every language, with glossary, checks and a way back
Worth it with many languages, many changes or terms that must never be translated.
Automate
An automation fills the same fields, checked and reversible.
- Store translations
- A URL per language
- hreflang and sitemap
- Correct by hand
- Adapt content per market
- Up to 8 languages automatically
Translate & Adapt
Free and by Shopify. Use the app for this.
Honestly: many stores don't need more than the app. If you sell in two or three languages, your catalog rarely changes and someone reads the translations over once, use Translate & Adapt and save the money. A subscription service then gives you nothing the app can't do as well.
You need more when at least two of these apply. Tick what fits your store:
The automation on top: how LOULEX does it
At LOULEX, translation ran through a service in front of the store, for 299 € a month. Today a bot of our own writes seven languages directly into Shopify's translation fields, the same fields Translate & Adapt uses. Once an hour, it runs like this:
- Fetchchanged text
- Translateagainst the glossary
- SafeguardCheckelse quarantine
- Writeinto Shopify's fields
The check covers what translation can break: HTML and Liquid code, links, numbers and placeholders must stay unchanged. Anything odd goes to quarantine instead of the store. Every run is logged and can be undone. Whatever the team corrects in the Shopify admin themselves stays untouched.
The LOULEX store in French, the language switcher at the top right open: seven languages, maintained from the German source text.
Not everything runs automatically there either. Legal texts, page addresses, email templates, shipping copy and image descriptions are left alone by the bot. How it's built is in the article Translate Shopify without a translation app. Numbers and results of the whole project: LOULEX: six apps out, seven languages in our own hands.
The Shopify-Check shows how much text in your language versions is still in the source language: enter your store address, first results in seconds.
Frequently asked questions
Is Translate & Adapt free?
Yes. The app comes from Shopify and costs nothing on any plan, including automatic translation. How many languages are translated automatically depends on the country the store is located in.
How many languages does Translate & Adapt translate automatically?
Since October 2026, up to eight languages for stores in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and nine other European countries, otherwise two. By hand you can maintain every language in the store, up to 20, or up to 30 on Shopify Plus.
Does Translate & Adapt update translations when the text changes?
With Auto-sync, Shopify translates new and updated content once a week, in the European countries listed. Without Auto-sync you have to trigger the translation again. Your own corrections are not overwritten.
Does Translate & Adapt have a glossary?
Shopify's help pages don't describe one. If you want to define how brand and technical terms are translated, or which are never translated, you need a solution of your own that writes into the same fields.
Can I combine Translate & Adapt with another translation solution?
Yes. Solutions that use Shopify's translation API write into the same fields. What they translate shows up in Translate & Adapt, and you can edit it there.
