Webflow Localization: How Translated Sites Work

Webflow Localization adds one or more translated versions of your site — called locales — that live alongside your original site, usually at a subdirectory like /fr/, and that you can translate by machine, by hand, or both. It covers your static pages and your CMS content, not just a handful of strings, and it sets up the SEO routing (hreflang) that tells search engines how the locales relate to each other. Here's the structure, sourced from Webflow's own product and developer pages.

What is a locale in Webflow?

Webflow defines a locale as a specific language, optionally combined with a region: "A locale represents a combination of: A language (e.g., French, Spanish, Arabic)" and, optionally, "a country (e.g., Canada, Mexico, France)" (Webflow, "Localization" — The Webflow Way, checked September 2026). Every site has exactly one primary locale — "the default language/country for your Webflow project. It's the base site you design first" — and one or more secondary locales, which represent "all other translated, localized, or transcreated versions of your site content." Webflow's developer documentation gives the same split more formally: "The default language for your site. There can only be one primary locale per site," while "the number of secondary locales you can have is limited by your Webflow plan" (Webflow Developer Documentation, "Working with Localization APIs", checked September 2026).

Locale identifiers follow a language or language-region code, like en-US or fr-FR. Webflow's structure guide gives worked examples of when to use which: a language-only locale like /fr/ "when your content applies broadly to all speakers of a language, regardless of location," versus a language-plus-region locale like /fr-ca/ or /es-mx/ "when content varies by country or region (e.g., vocabulary, imagery, content availability, compliance)."

Where do translated pages actually live?

By default, Webflow serves locales as subdirectories of your existing domain rather than separate subdomains or domains: a French locale at example.com/fr/, a Canadian French locale at example.com/fr-ca/, alongside your primary locale. You also choose whether the primary locale itself sits at your domain's root (mydomain.com) or under its own folder (mydomain.com/en/) — Webflow frames the root option as fitting when "your primary market is dominant" and the folder option as fitting when you want "structural consistency across all locales... no default bias." That decision, per Webflow, affects "SEO structure," "user perception," and "scalability of your localization strategy."

What actually gets translated — static pages, CMS content, or both?

Both. Webflow's own breakdown of "Static & CMS Content" describes primary static and CMS pages as automatically duplicating into secondary locales, after which you "translate elements, components, and CMS fields manually or with machine assistance, while preserving the original meaning." If your original content changes later, the same guide describes resetting the affected elements and fields "when original content changes, to translate again", so stale translations don't linger.

Design isn't left out either — Webflow's guide covers adapting typography, layout, and images per locale, including swapping "images, videos, and icons to reflect regional culture and preferences" and using locale-specific style variables so text that expands or contracts in translation doesn't break your layout.

Is translation automatic, machine-powered, or manual?

You can use either, or both together. Webflow's own localization feature page states plainly: "Streamline your first pass at total site or individual element localization with machine-powered translation — then go manual for more granular control" (Webflow, "Website translation and localization tools", checked September 2026). For teams that need a dedicated translation workflow, Webflow also documents "direct integrations with translation management systems through our vetted Webflow Apps," plus "flexible APIs to connect a TMS of your choice" for anyone using an outside translation vendor.

What plan or add-on do I need?

Localize isn't bundled free into every site plan. Webflow's pricing page lists it as a paid add-on on Basic and Premium site plans, sold per locale, in two tiers: Localize Essential at $9/mo (based on number of locales, up to a shown range), including "AI-powered translation," "CMS localization," "Static page localization," "Localized SEO," and "Style localization"; and Localize Advanced at $29/mo, adding "Asset localization," "Localize URLs," and "Automatic visitor routing" on top of everything in Essential (Webflow, Pricing, checked September 2026). On the platform-level Team plan, Webflow Localize is included outright rather than sold as an add-on — that plan's feature list reads "Everything in Premium, plus" and names Webflow Localize among the additions Webflow also offers a way to try the feature before paying: "You can try out basic Localize functionality for free, no matter what plan you're on. Pay only when you're ready to publish."

What SEO does Localization set up automatically?

Locale structure directly feeds Webflow's SEO handling. Per Webflow's own overview, locales configure "URL structure (e.g., /fr/, /fr-ca/)" and "URL routing and hreflang behaviour" — hreflang being the markup search engines use to serve the right language version of a page to the right visitor. Webflow's feature page separately lists "Localized URLs and subdirectories," "Localized metadata," "Localized sitemap," and "Site visitor routing" as parts of its SEO toolset for localized sites, alongside translated titles, descriptions, and page slugs that Webflow's structure guide says can be translated literally, adapted for regional search behavior, or fully rewritten depending on how far you take the localization (translation vs. full localization vs. transcreation).

Is there API access to locales and translated content?

Yes. Webflow's Data API supports localization directly: pages and components are addressed by a localeId, and CMS operations use a separate cmsLocaleId — "the unique identifier of the locale for CMS operations," per Webflow's developer documentation. If you don't pass a locale identifier on a supported request, "the request will return information from the primary locale" by default. This is the same API surface a script, integration, or translation-management connection would use to read or write locale-specific content programmatically rather than through the Designer.

Localization is one piece of a wider SEO setup, not a replacement for it — our Webflow SEO settings guide covers the per-page title, meta description, canonical, and sitemap settings that apply on top of whatever locales you add. And if you're weighing Webflow's CMS-plus-localization stack against a plugin-driven alternative for a multilingual site, Webflow vs WordPress covers the platform-level trade-offs.

A quick checklist before you localize

• Decide your primary locale's URL structure first — root domain or a subdirectory — since Webflow frames this as a structural decision, not something to change casually later.
• Choose language-only locales (/fr/) for broad reach, or language-plus-region locales (/fr-ca/, /es-mx/) if content genuinely differs by country.
• Decide your translation approach per locale: machine translation for a fast first pass, manual review for anything customer-facing, or a connected TMS for larger, ongoing translation work.
• Check whether Localize Essential (translation, CMS/static localization, localized SEO) covers your need, or whether you need Advanced for asset localization and automatic visitor routing.
• Confirm your site plan or add-on actually includes the number of secondary locales you're planning — Webflow states this cap is plan-based.
• If you're integrating locales via the API, use localeId for pages/components and cmsLocaleId for CMS operations — they aren't interchangeable.

Bottom line: Webflow Localization is a structural feature, not a translation widget bolted onto existing pages. It defines a primary and secondary locales, serves them from subdirectories by default, covers static and CMS content together, supports machine or manual translation (or both), and wires up hreflang-based SEO routing automatically. It's a paid add-on on standard site plans, or included on Webflow's Team platform plan — check the current pricing page for what your plan includes before you commit to a locale count.