- Webflow Localization — what it means
- Webflow Localization is the multilingual feature that became standard in Webflow with the update at the end of 2023. It is available for an additional $9 per month per language and supports changing styles per language.
Hi, I’m Masato, a Webflow specialist. I have been using Webflow since 2021 and I explain how to use it for free. It has been about a year since Webflow’s multilingual feature launched and I started using it.
The pair I translate is Japanese → Korean.
In this article I am publishing, for free, the knowledge and experience of a year of running the multilingual feature. I share the SEO data, and I also cover how to set up Webflow Localization, how to use it, and what it costs.
Let us get straight into it.
For going multilingual in Webflow, Localization is the only choice
Before 2023, going multilingual in Webflow meant depending on an external tool called Weglot. But the update at the end of 2023 made the multilingual feature standard in Webflow.
The 2024 update then made it possible to change styles per language, which widened the range of expression in a multilingual site considerably. So if you are adding a multilingual feature in Webflow, Localization is the only choice. (as of November 2024)
What you really want to know, though, is what it costs to set up, how long it takes, whether it works for SEO, and how worried to be about machine translation. I will go through each of those.
What it costs to set up Webflow’s multilingual feature
Going multilingual costs +$9 per month per language. Translating into three languages means +$27 per month. Over the long term it does feel expensive.
But localizing everything by hand takes a great deal of time, so I decided to try translating into Korean, localize the site, and carry on past the first year if it went well. I judge whether it “went well” by SEO traffic, inquiries, and Webflow affiliate revenue.
At present I use Webflow’s multilingual feature for Korean, but even if a website inquiry came in, I could not handle it in Korean, so for now I am only tracking SEO traffic. (There is enough traffic that if I had someone who speaks Korean and Japanese, a Korean division could turn a profit. Details below.)
How long it takes to set up Webflow’s multilingual feature
Setup time: 30 minutes.
It is so quick that you will want to go looking for something else to do, but honestly there is barely anything to it. If you want to be thorough, adjust the design per language. Going from Japanese to English in particular shifts where the lines break, which can make the site harder to read.
I cover the specific steps in the next section, “How to set up Webflow’s multilingual feature”.
How to set up Webflow’s multilingual feature
Setting up Webflow’s multilingual feature takes about 30 minutes including payment. I will go through the steps in order.
- Open the billing page and choose a plan
- Add and configure the language
- Translate every page
- Adjust the CMS and the images
- Done
Where to pay for Webflow’s multilingual feature
Open the Webflow settings and go to the PLAN page. Then open the ADD ONS tab and scroll down and you will find it
The options are there, so select Localization from among them, choose how many languages to unlock, and pay. There are two plans, but the benefits of the more expensive one looked thin, so I started with the cheaper plan only.
The setup steps (screenshots)
Open the Webflow Designer and click the gear at the bottom left of the screen.
From there, add two languages.
One is JA, the language code for Japanese.
For the other, enter the target language and its code. Fill in the remaining fields according to the list below.
- Locale: the language and region setting, which lets the site serve different locales (combinations of language and region). Here, Japanese (ja) is set as the primary locale and Korean (Korea — ko-KR) is added as a secondary locale.
- Display name: the field for showing the language or region name. It is used when the locale appears in a list. In this image it has not been filled in yet.
- Display image: an option for setting an image associated with the language or locale. Flags are a common choice.
- Subdirectory for this locale: the field that specifies the site’s subdirectory. It is set so that the Korean pages publish under the subdirectory “/ko” (for example,
www.non-haru.com/ko). - Enable publishing to the subdirectory: turning this switch on lets you publish content to the specified subdirectory. Here it is set so that Korean content can be published under the
/kosubdirectory.
Now translate every page. Pick the language from the globe icon at the top left of the screen. Open each page, right-click, and repeat the translation.
Beyond that, put a language switcher in place, translate the CMS, change the images appropriately in each spot, and the whole site is finally translated.
The SEO results of Webflow Localization, and the honest outcome of a year of running it
Here is the honest result of running Webflow’s multilingual feature from Japanese into Korean for a little over a year.
- SEO traffic grew. Pageviews from Korea genuinely increased
- Webflow affiliate revenue: a handful of conversions
- Inquiries: zero. It did not lead to revenue
In other words, the traffic came but the business side misfired. I think there were several causes.
- In Korea, NAVER is stronger than Google, so the pool of Google searches is small in the first place. SEO aimed only at Google may have had limited reach
- The accuracy of Webflow Localization’s machine translation was not very high, and parts of it read unnaturally as Korean
- Even if a Korean-language inquiry had arrived, we had no capacity to handle it
If I go multilingual again, I will pick a different language rather than Korean. And I will change the way I translate as well.
[The 2026 conclusion] If you are going multilingual now, have AI translate it and run it yourself
The biggest lesson of this year of operation was the cost. On the Webflow subscription with localization alone I was paying close to ¥100,000 a year. After switching the site itself to AI production, the running cost became just the domain fee of ¥1,500 a year.
Today’s AI translates well, so for going multilingual the realistic route is not to pay a tool a monthly fee but to have AI translate every page and run your own translated version yourself. The reason to be tied to a translation tool’s monthly fee has honestly gone.
One caveat. However much you translate with AI, you cannot make the final check on whether the translation is correct without someone who reads the language. If you are serious about that market, budget for at least some outsourced native review.
This very site was fully rebuilt with AI (Claude Code). The whole production process is published in this article. If you are torn between going multilingual in Webflow and switching to an AI-built site, we will judge which suits you and report back free of charge, so come to a free consultation. Details of our AI website production are here.
FAQ
How much does Webflow Localization cost?
It is +$9 per month per language (+$27 per month for three languages). The author was paying close to ¥100,000 a year on the Webflow subscription with localization, and now pays only the ¥1,500 a year domain fee after switching to an AI-operated site.
Did the Korean translation deliver SEO results?
Traffic grew and pageviews from Korea increased, but inquiries were zero and Webflow affiliate conversions were only a handful, so it did not lead to revenue.
Why did the Korean translation not work out?
NAVER is stronger than Google in Korea so the pool of Google searches is small; the machine translation accuracy fell short and parts read unnaturally as Korean; and there was no capacity to handle a Korean-language inquiry.
What would you recommend for going multilingual now?
The realistic route is to have AI translate every page and run your own translated version yourself. Do budget for a native check by someone who reads the language. If you want to keep everything inside Webflow, Localization is the only choice.
