Software and Localization Tools for Shopware: A Comprehensive Guide

If you're still thinking about expanding your online store to new locales, hurry up! Delaying your international expansion could mean missing crucial market opportunities. Online shoppers typically prefer to browse in their native language, and global e-commerce growth is outpacing domestic markets. As such, choosing software and localization tools for Shopware 6 is not a 'maybe' any more.

This comprehensive guide will explore some of the more prominent and suitable localization solutions for Shopware, although the market looks different to other e-commerce platforms. We'll examine various options and also provide insights into making your Shopware store truly global before your competitors capture these valuable markets.

The Difference Between Translation and Localization

Before diving into specific tools, it's essential to understand that localization encompasses far more than simple translation. While translation converts text from one language to another, localization adapts your entire store experience to feel native to each target market.

Think of localization as creating a store that feels like it was built specifically for each local market, thanks to some or all of a number of elements:

• Converting currencies and adapting payment methods to local preferences.
• Adjusting date formats, measurements, and number conventions.
• Modifying images and design elements to reflect cultural sensitivities.
• Adapting product catalogs to match local shopping patterns.
• Ensuring compliance with regional regulations and requirements.

For Shopware stores, this comprehensive approach to localization can bring you success. A high number of consumers prefer to purchase products with information in their native language. Additionally, proper localization can reduce cart abandonment rates and increase conversion rates in target markets.

Getting Started with Shopware Localization

Expanding an open-source Shopware store into international markets will present a few unique challenges that require careful consideration. There are various technical and cultural hurdles between you and a seamless shopping experience across every market you sell in.

Understanding the Challenges Localization Will Give You

When implementing localization for Shopware, you'll face several key challenges. Some are technical in nature, while others take the customer into account:

• Content synchronization. You'll need to keep product information, descriptions, and marketing materials consistent across different languages.
• Technical implementation. Proper URL structures, hreflang tags, and search considerations need careful attention for each market, as each will be different and adaptive.
• User experience. The shopping experience must remain intuitive and natural whatever the chosen language or region.
• Maintenance overhead. Updates and changes need accuracy and consistency across all language versions without convolution.

These challenges highlight why choosing the right software localization tools for Shopware is crucial for success. This is where Shopware's own marketplace could help.

Shopware's Extension Marketplace: Your Likely First Stop

The Shopware Store, the platform's official extension marketplace, serves as the primary source for adding functionality to your shop. In this case, it's localization tools.

However, this marketplace differs from what you might find with platforms such as WordPress. None of the typical 'players'—Polylang, WPML, and TranslatePress—have Shopware tools.

Instead, Shopware's extensions are often built specifically for its unique requirements and development approach. These are typically specialized solutions that integrate deeply with the platform's architecture, which differs to tools such as Weglot.

Comparing 3 Localization Tools for Shopware

Let's examine three leading solutions for Shopware localization. In a moment, we'll get into each one in detail. If you want a quick overview though, check out our summary table:

Each tool has a different pricing model. Ultimately, Weglot's pricing scales with usage but includes all functionality; Auto Translation Pro requires multiple purchases for the same functionality; Automatic Translation by novu has a lower base price but comes with additional API costs.

Let's now take a look at each of the three localization tools for Shopware—we'll start with our natural favorite!

1. Weglot Translate: Full Integration with Shopware

Weglot is as comprehensive a solution you can find for not only Shopware, but any platform. It combines powerful automation with precise control over your multilingual content.

The platform offers several distinct advantages for Shopware stores, starting with its core content translation process:

• Complete content detection. Weglot automatically identifies and translates all storefront content, even as you add or modify it. This includes dynamic elements, custom fields, product variations, attributes, and technical specifications. It even translates checkout processes and error messages.
• First-layer neural translation. This automatic translation utilizes leading providers such as DeepL, Google Translate, and Microsoft Translator for initial high-quality translations. It will also translate fresh content to new languages as you add it to your site.

While there's a built-in translation list, the Visual Editor will enable context-aware translation management directly on your live site.

Weglot's enhanced Search Engine Optimization (SEO) implementation will also handle technical aspects on the backend by automatically adding hreflang tags, translating metadata, and housing your translated versions under subdomains or subdirectories, for example. This is good news, as these are notorious for being complex to implement.

The setup process with Weglot is straightforward too, taking only minutes to implement. This includes connecting your store, choosing target languages, and beginning the initial translation process. We'll run through this later on!

Pricing

You have five premium tiers that scale the number of words you can translate and languages you support:

• Starter. $17 per month for 10,000 words and a single language.
• Business. $32 per month for 50,000 words and three languages.
• Pro. $87 per month for 200,000 words and five languages.
• Advanced. $329 per month for 1,000,000 words and ten languages.
• Extended. $769 per month for 5,000,000 words and 20 languages.

Each plan includes the full, core functionality. On higher tiers, you can also access functionality to add translation memories, enhanced analytics, and more. Note that there's also a 'free forever' tier that lets you translate 2,000 words and one language, which also includes all the functionality of the main premium plans.

2. Auto Translation Pro by Biloba IT

Auto Translation Pro takes a modular approach to Shopware localization through a series of interconnected apps. At the core, you have API Integration with DeepL or Google Translate. You're able to select a source language for each target language.

The extension also provides translation of product descriptions, variants, and even custom fields with the right support. Some of this is thanks to a wealth of other available add-ons that handle batch processing, expanded language options, terminology management, and much more.

Auto Translation Pro's modular structure means you can choose which functionality to implement based on your needs. However, there are drawbacks to this approach:

• Each module will require a separate purchase and config.
• The base version only includes English as a target language.
• Some of the technical SEO additions have limitations in comparison to comprehensive solutions.

While Auto Translation Pro offers solid functionality, its modular approach might see your costs spiral. Even so, we think this extension is best for stores with specific translation needs that don't require full-scale localization.

Pricing

The base extension costs €33 per month (€299 per year). However, you'll need to spend more to include extra functionality. For instance, the More Areas Extension is €199 per year and the Language Pack is €99 per year.

This will skyrocket your total potential cost into potentially hundreds of dollars per year for full functionality.

3. Automatic translation by novu

The Automatic translation extension does what it says on the tin. It focuses on a streamlined approach using automatic translation through DeepL—one of the best machine translation options available. When it comes to core functionality, it carries out translations for main copy, product, and category content. It will also translate any new content for you.

Technically, the extension is solid, too. For instance, you can integrate a glossary for consistency with your terminology and phrases and select precisely which text fields get translated. While automatic translation is literally the name of the plugin, there's the option to trigger these on a case-by-case basis.

However, the solution arguably has more limitations than both Auto Translation Pro and Weglot:

• You'll need a DeepL Pro license for extensive use, although the extension does work with the DeepL Free tier.
• There are limited manual refinement options, and the basic SEO functionality may not suit larger international stores.
• One big drawback is that you can't prevent translated content from being overwritten due to the integration with DeepL.
• There's no visual editing user interface.

Automatic Translation will work best if you run a smaller store and want to translate without complex requirements. While it provides a good foundation for basic multilingual functionality, it may not scale well or meet more sophisticated localization needs.

Pricing

Automatic Translation by novu costs €9 per month or €99 per year. In addition, you'll likely need a DeepL API Pro subscription at €4.99 per month. Note that this works based on translation usage, which means your costs could vary depending on volume.

Other Localization Tools for Shopware

You'll spot a number of other software and localization tools for Shopware in the official store. Many of these tackle one job, such as switching or converting currencies, localizing exchange rates, or setting tax per locale.

The Shopware Store showing various extensions relating to tax and exchange rates.

However, some of these extensions offer translation functionality with a narrow definition. For instance, Google Auto-Translate Auto-Language Recognition simply adds a language switcher to your header to use Google Translate:

The Google Auto-Translate Auto-Language Recognition extension on the front end of a website.

Others, such as Automatic translations with DeepL give you the basic connectability to DeepL or other services. The work of translating and localizing your site is down to you.

How to Implement Your Localization Strategy With Weglot

Implementing Weglot with your Shopware store takes a few minutes with a minimal number of steps. We cover the general process in a dedicated tutorial, but here's a summary:

• Create your Weglot account and choose Shopware as the website technology.
• Select your primary language and target languages from the drop-down menus.
• Add a domain URL and choose your URL type (either subdomains or subdirectories).
• Set up and validate your DNS entries.
• Add a JavaScript snippet to the head section of your Shopware site.

From here, Weglot will add a language switcher to your site, and you can begin to work on translating your entire store's content within the dedicated dashboard:

During this phase, Weglot handles some of the most crucial technical implementations:

• Generates the correct URL structure for each language version
• Implements hreflang tags for proper SEO signals
• Creates translated metadata for improved search visibility
• Sets up proper redirections based on user language preferences

Once the initial setup is complete, you can focus on refining your content, such as setting up glossary rules for consistent brand terminology, creating any content exclusion rules, and configuring user redirection.

For your products, look to review your product titles and descriptions and verify that technical specifications maintain accuracy across languages. The goal is to make sure the correct translations for variations, attributes, pricing, and categories are all in place.

Quick Tips On Growing Your Business Globally

If success was only about implementing the right software localization tools for Shopware, you'd be home and dry! However, considering and working on your store's growth is a cornerstone of e-commerce.

A good approach is to concentrate on the regions that show the strongest interest in your products. This way, you can perfect your localization strategy then expand. To do this, you can analyze your current traffic sources to look for growth potential. It's a good idea to evaluate the competition in your chosen region too, especially in relation to shipping and logistics feasibility.

For marketing, strategies that work in one region may fall flat in another. This means you should customize your copy for cultural relevance, while being mindful of suitable social media and sales channels too.  This could be as simple as adapting to seasonal differences or adjusting your email marketing messages.

Finally, consider networking with other partners, suppliers, businesses, and social influencers. Creating these connections is an 'old school' yet vital way to build a presence, and putting in the hard yards here will pay off many times in the future.

Frequently Asked Questions About Shopware Localization

Let's wrap up with some questions and answers related to choosing a Shopware localization tool. If you have your own question, feel free to suggest it in the comments section at the end of the post.

How long does setting up a solution typically take?

With Weglot, your translated site will be ready to go live within minutes. However, refining translations and optimizing content for specific markets may take several days to weeks, depending on the size of your catalog and the markets you’re targeting.

What determines the cost of localization tools?

Pricing varies by provider. Weglot bases pricing on word count and number of languages, while solutions like Auto Translation Pro charge per module and language pack. You should consider your store's size and growth plans when evaluating costs.

What kind of support can I expect?

Support levels vary significantly between providers. Weglot offers comprehensive documentation, highly-rated email support, and access to experts. Other solutions may provide more limited support options or require additional fees for priority assistance.

Is there a trial period available?

Yes, Weglot offers a ten-day free trial that includes full functionality. This lets you test the platform's capabilities with your Shopware store before committing to a subscription.

Weglot and Shopware Work as One for Your Store's Localization

Choosing the right software localization tools for Shopware will matter more than you realize. While several solutions exist, Weglot offers the most comprehensive approach. It combines powerful automation with precise control over your multilingual content—all with transparent, predictable pricing that scales with your business.

If you're ready to take your Shopware store global, try Weglot free for 10 days and experience how professional localization can transform your international presence.