The short answer
Kobold vs Langify: the short answer
Langify (langify GmbH & Co. KG, on Shopify since 2014) is a translation app with a free manual plan and paid plans from $17.50 to $59.95 every 30 days. Machine translation uses word packs that cost about $0.29 to $0.50 per 1,000 words, and it runs only when you start it. Kobold (usekobold.com) is a paid tool, from $79 a month, that makes Shopify theme code changes and translates your store. Its auto-translate, once you turn it on for a language, translates new and changed store content and theme content by itself and either adds it or holds it for your review. If you only need translation and don't mind starting each update yourself, Langify costs less.
Pick Langify for
Low cost and hands-on control
A free manual plan, paid plans from $17.50 every 30 days and cheap word packs. Text from other apps can be translated too.
Pick Kobold for
Translations that keep up by themselves
From $79 a month. Turn on auto-translate per language, and new and changed store content and theme content is translated, checked, and added or held for review. The same credits pay for theme code changes.
What do Kobold and Langify each do?
Langify is a Shopify app for translating a store, listed on the App Store since 24 March 2014 [1]. Langify says more than 10,000 stores use it [15]. It rates 4.6 out of 5 from 727 reviews, and Shopify's summary of those reviews singles out its support [13]. You can translate by hand or by machine:
- By hand
Unlimited manual translations on every plan, the Free plan included, entered field by field in langify's editor [3]. It covers the theme, products, collections, pages, navigation, blogs, articles, metaobjects, metafields, images, checkout, notifications, shop policies and third-party apps [10].
Kobold (usekobold.com) is a web app for Shopify theme code and translations. It translates four areas into the languages you've added in Shopify [20]:
- Theme text
Buttons, labels and cart text from your theme's language files.
- Theme content
Text you typed into sections and theme settings.
- Store content
Products, collections, pages, blog posts, menus and image alt text.
- Metafields
The metafield and metaobject fields you choose, field by field. Off until you turn it on.
Kobold never translates URL handles (unless you ask), tags, checkout and email notifications, payment and delivery names, or market-specific translations. Shop policies are translated only when you ask, and each one is approved on its own. Metafields and metaobject fields are translated only after you choose them, one field at a time; URL, file, number and reference fields never are [20]. Kobold never changes your original content: it only adds translations next to it [22].
Does Langify translate new and changed content automatically?
No. Langify's help center says its machine-translation tools “will only apply translations when prompted. They will not automatically translate your store without your input.” [5] This is the main difference between the two tools.
When you add a product or edit a description, you start a translation for it: one item at a time on Basic, where the machine-translate button can also replace existing translations, or with Bulk Translation on Growth and Premium [5]. By default, Bulk Translation adds translations only for content that has none. To update translations that went out of date after you edited the original, you turn on the Translate outdated option [7]. In a bulk run you choose the target language and the content, Langify counts the words, and then you start the translation [5][7].
Auto-translate keeps a language up to date while your store changes. It is off by default and set per language, and an owner turns it on. A language can use it once a translation you started for it, covering store content or theme content, has gone live. It only handles changes made after you turn it on: text that was already missing stays with Translate missing [20].
- Two modes
Apply automatically adds each translation once it passes Kobold's checks. Turning it on is the owner's approval for that language. Hold for my review keeps the drafts on the Translations page until someone approves them, with one email a day. Held drafts nobody decides within 14 days are dropped [20].
- Two timings
30 minutes after the first change (later changes join the same batch), or once a day at 03:00 in your store's timezone [20].
- What it covers
Store content and theme content (section and settings text, on your live theme). Theme text from your language files is never auto-translated: use Translate missing for it. Theme settings the theme matches on, such as swatch or option names, are never translated at all [20].
- Large changes are held
A batch over 20,000 words across its languages waits for review even in Apply automatically, and owners get an email [20].
- Credits
The same 12 credits per 1,000 words per language as any translation, an optional monthly limit per store, and a pause instead of a negative balance [20].
One trade-off: Moss's page check, which looks at how translated text fits on the page, runs only on translations you start. Automatic translations get the format checks but not the page check, so look at the language on your store now and then, or use Hold for my review where that matters [20].
What does Langify's bulk translation leave out?
In Langify's Bulk Translation settings you pick the fields for products, collections, pages, articles and blogs: title, description, summary, meta title, meta description, handle and product type (handle and product type are off by default) [6].
Kobold's Translate missing covers theme text, theme content, store content and the metafields you chose in one run, on every plan, after a sample of 10 strings per language that you approve first [20]. Auto-translate then keeps store content, theme content and those metafields current.
Metafields work differently in the two apps. Langify translates them one resource at a time, and leaves them out of bulk translation because they may hold codes [9]. Kobold translates them by field: on its Metafields tab you tick the fields that hold copy, like care instructions or FAQ answers, and Kobold translates that field on every product or entry, in Translate missing and in auto-translate. Only text types can be ticked, JSON gets its text values translated with keys and structure unchanged, and app fields start off [20]. If you want to translate a metafield on a single product only, Langify's way fits better.
Langify is also ahead on text that other apps add to the page. Some common apps integrate with langify directly [14]. For the rest, its Custom Content tool (Basic and up) applies translations in the browser with JavaScript, or also through Liquid if you add its Polyfill code [3][11]. It can't reach content loaded in iframes or shadow roots from outside sources, checkout, notifications or the new customer account pages, and langify warns against more than 250 Custom Content translations per subsection [11]. Kobold doesn't translate text that other apps render themselves.
How do Kobold and Langify check a translation?
Langify's paid plans include a glossary for terms such as brand names: 3 entries on Basic, 50 on Growth and 100 on Premium [3][5]. For DeepL languages you can choose a formal or informal tone; Google Cloud Translation has no such setting [6]. A words log records word purchases and machine-translation runs for 7 to 90 days by plan, and import and export are on Basic and up [3]. Langify protects HTML tags, Liquid variables and placeholders during machine translation [5][8]. Before you machine-translate an item, a dialog lists the fields, the word count and the cost [5]. The translations are then added to your store directly. Langify advises checking legal text, product specs and page layout afterwards [5]. We found no draft or approval step in its help pages.
In a run you start, Nib first translates 10 strings per language. You approve, edit or reject them, and your choices guide the rest. Then every draft goes through checks, and the review table shows the original, the current translation and Kobold's draft side by side [20][23]:
- Format
Placeholders, Liquid, links, emails and phone numbers must match the original, and no number can appear that the original doesn't have. HTML keeps its tags and attributes (only alt text and titles change). Every plural form the language needs is there.
- Glossary
Terms you keep as is, or always translate the same way per language. A draft that breaks the glossary can't be approved until it's fixed.
- Brand voice
The brand copy in your store memory guides every draft, along with the sample rows you approved. Auto-translate keeps up to 10 translations you approved in your first run as examples.
- On the page
Moss opens Kobold's copy of your theme at phone and desktop widths and flags theme text that overflows, gets cut off or wasn't translated (runs you start only).
In a run you start, theme text and theme content go to Kobold's copy of your theme first, so you can preview them before anything goes live. Auto-translate writes theme content to your live theme after saving what was there. Any run, started or automatic, can be undone for 30 days [20].
Where do the translations live, and what happens if you cancel?
Kobold writes native Shopify translations, so the translations you approved stay in Shopify if you cancel or remove Kobold. Undo ends, because Kobold's saved copies are deleted with your store's data, and auto-translate turns off for every language [20].
Langify's App Store listing asks for access to translations and locales [1], and a 2023 answer on the Shopify Community says that “deleting Langify will not delete your translations, no. Only custom content” [16]. Langify's current help pages don't say it directly. Before you uninstall, langify asks you to remove any code you added by hand, such as switcher tags or the Polyfill code. Uninstalling doesn't remove languages from Shopify [12].
How much do Langify and Kobold cost?
Langify bills in US dollars every 30 days. No free trial is listed; there is a permanent Free plan [1][2]:
The free words are credited once, at sign-up, not every month [14]. More words come in one-time packs that don't change the monthly price: 10,000 words cost $4.99 on any plan, and 1,000,000 words cost $394.99 on Basic, $339.99 on Growth and $289.99 on Premium. That's about $0.29 to $0.50 per 1,000 words [4]. Langify is also testing an AI Translation option for Bulk Translation, in a closed beta on Growth and Premium that you join through support. It has no word charge, and stores with more than 10,000 products need Premium for it [8].
Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial with 250 credits. Credits reset on the 1st of each month and don't roll over. Prices exclude VAT [21].
Starter
$79a month
1,000 credits a month
1 store · 1 seat
Growth
$249a month
4,000 credits a month
1 store · 3 seats with roles
Agency
$699a month
12,000 credits a month
Up to 15 stores · 5 seats · client approval links
Translation costs 12 credits per 1,000 words per language, counted on your store's original text. Translating a 250-word product description into German and French is 500 words, so 6 credits. A redraft isn't charged again. Translation credits come out of the same monthly pool as theme code work, and you can top up 500 credits for $40 at any time [21]. A credit is worth $0.058 on Agency to $0.08 as a top-up, so 1,000 words into one language costs about $0.70 to $0.96 in credits.
What does translating a real store cost with Kobold or Langify?
How we worked it out: year 1 is a full first translation plus 11 months in which 8% of the words change, year 2 is 12 months of 8% change, words count once per language on both sides, Kobold is 12 credits per 1,000 words valued at $0.058 to $0.08 a credit, and Langify is Growth at 12 × $29.95 with its 50,000 free words in year 1 and the cheapest mix of its listed word packs for the rest [2][4].
Scroll sideways to see all three columns
| Store size | Langify | Shopify Translate & Adapt | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30,000 words · 1 language | Year 1: 677 credits ($39–$54). Year 2: 346 credits ($20–$28) | Year 1: $364. Year 2: $374 | Free. Click Auto-translate again after changes, or weekly Auto-sync in 12 European countries |
| 30,000 words · 3 languages | Year 1: 2,030 credits ($118–$162). Year 2: 1,037 credits ($60–$83) | Year 1: $411. Year 2: $399 | Free for 2 languages (8 in 12 European countries). The third by hand or with another app |
| 70,000 words · 1 language | Year 1: 1,579 credits ($92–$126). Year 2: 806 credits ($47–$65) | Year 1: $399. Year 2: $390 | Free. Click Auto-translate again after changes, or weekly Auto-sync in 12 European countries |
| 70,000 words · 3 languages | Year 1: 4,738 credits ($275–$379). Year 2: 2,419 credits ($140–$194) | Year 1: $505. Year 2: $446 | Free for 2 languages (8 in 12 European countries). The third by hand or with another app |
| 200,000 words · 1 language | Year 1: 4,512 credits ($262–$361). Year 2: 2,304 credits ($134–$184) | Year 1: $498. Year 2: $441 | Free. Click Auto-translate again after changes, or weekly Auto-sync in 12 European countries |
| 200,000 words · 3 languages | Year 1: 13,536 credits ($785–$1,083). Year 2: 6,912 credits ($401–$553) | Year 1: $735. Year 2: $570 | Free for 2 languages (8 in 12 European countries). The third by hand or with another app |
Read the Kobold column as credit value, not as a bill. Kobold is a subscription from $79 a month ($948 a year), and translation credits come out of the same monthly pool as theme work. If translation is all you need, Langify costs less in every row. Kobold makes sense on price when you already use it for theme changes, or when the time saved by auto-translate matters more than the difference.
- Big first runs need room
Starter's 1,000 credits a month cover the first run only for 30,000 or 70,000 words into 1 language. 30,000 words into 3 languages is 1,080 credits, 200,000 into 1 is 2,400 and 70,000 into 3 is 2,520: Growth's 4,000, top-ups, or one language at a time over a few months. 200,000 words into 3 languages is 7,200 credits: Agency, or Growth plus top-ups [21].
- Page checks
Runs you start in Kobold also pay for Moss's page checks, charged like other QA; the table leaves that out. Auto-translate has no checks fee [20].
- Langify's AI beta
If your store is in langify's AI Translation beta for bulk runs, there's no word charge, so Growth costs $359.40 a year in every row [8].
- Langify's in-between packs
Langify also sells packs in 10,000-word steps between the listed sizes. Its own example prices 30,000 words at $13.79 on Growth [2]. Our mix of listed packs can overstate its cost by a few dollars a year.
- Translate & Adapt
Shopify's own app is free. It auto-translates up to 2 languages, or up to 8 in 12 European countries, where a weekly Auto-sync is also available. Elsewhere you click Auto-translate again after each change [17][18]. Its translations are stored in Shopify and kept if you uninstall it, but it can't translate app text that isn't stored as Shopify translatable content [19].
Kobold vs Langify vs Translate & Adapt: comparison table
Scroll sideways to see all three columns
| Feature | Langify | Shopify Translate & Adapt | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | From $79 a month; credits shared with theme work | Free (manual, 5 languages); $17.50 to $59.95 every 30 days | Free |
| Machine translation cost | 12 credits per 1,000 words per language (about $0.70 to $0.96) | Word packs, about $0.29 to $0.50 per 1,000 words; 10,000 to 200,000 free words once; an AI option with no word charge is in closed beta on Growth and Premium | Included |
| Languages translated by machine | Every language you've added in Shopify | Up to 20 on paid plans | 2, or 8 in 12 European countries |
| New and changed content | Auto-translate per language: 30 minutes after a change or daily at 03:00; apply or hold for review | Only when you start it; Translate outdated option in Bulk Translation | Click Auto-translate again; weekly Auto-sync in 12 European countries |
| Bulk translation | Translate missing, on every plan | Growth and Premium; Basic one item at a time | Yes, within its language limit |
| Theme content | Theme text and theme content; auto-translate keeps theme content current | Translatable by hand, or by machine when you start it | Theme content and settings |
| Text added by other apps | Not text that apps render themselves | Some apps directly; others with Custom Content on Basic and up (JavaScript, or Liquid with the Polyfill code) | Only if the app uses Shopify's translatable resources |
| Glossary | Keep as is or fixed per language; a draft that breaks it can't be approved | 3, 50 or 100 entries on paid plans | None documented |
| Tone and brand voice | Brand copy from store memory and approved examples | Formal or informal for DeepL languages | None documented |
| Review before it goes live | Sample of 10 per language, then a review table; auto-translate applies or holds for review, per language | No draft step; added directly, and langify advises checking afterwards | Not described; Shopify advises reviewing before you publish |
| Format checks | Placeholders, links, numbers, HTML, plurals and glossary on every draft | Protects HTML, Liquid and placeholders; no check of the result described | Not described |
| Undo | Any run, for 30 days | Not described; import and export on Basic and up | Not described |
| Where translations live | Native Shopify translations; they stay if you cancel | Shopify's translations for standard content, by a 2023 community answer; Custom Content goes with the app | Native Shopify translations; kept after uninstall |
| Metafields and metaobjects | Yes, the fields you choose; text types only, JSON values only; in bulk and auto-translate | One resource at a time; not in Bulk Translation | Translated; no per-field choice, per Shopify staff |
| Theme code changes | Yes, from the same credits | No | No |
When should you use Langify instead of Kobold?
The better pick for a changing store
Use Kobold when
- Your catalogue changes every week
Once auto-translate is on, Kobold notices new and edited products and collections right away, pages, posts and theme content within the hour, and menus overnight, then translates them 30 minutes after the first change or once a day.
- Theme content should keep up too
Section and settings text is translated on your live theme after you change it, once Kobold has saved what was there.
- You want to check before it ships
A sample first, a review table, format and glossary checks, or Hold for my review per language.
- You already use Kobold for theme work
Translations come out of the same credits.
- You want a way back
Undo any translation run for 30 days.
Can you use Kobold and Langify together, or switch?
Yes. Kobold fills only missing translations and the ones Shopify marks as out of date. Translations made by you or another app count as existing, and Kobold replaces them only when you ask it to [20]. So if Langify already translated your products, Kobold leaves those translations alone until the original text changes and Shopify marks them out of date. If both tools machine-translate the same language, they'd work on the same text, so pick one per language.
If you move from Langify to Kobold, check the parts Langify translates through Custom Content first. Those are applied by langify's code on your storefront (JavaScript, or Liquid with the Polyfill code) rather than stored as Shopify translations [11], so plan how you'll replace them before you uninstall Langify.
Kobold and Langify: frequently asked questions
What is Kobold?
Kobold (usekobold.com) is a paid web app for Shopify merchants and agencies. It makes tested theme code changes, and it translates theme and store content into the languages you've added in Shopify, with auto-translate per language. Plans start at $79 a month with a 14-day free trial.
Kobold or Langify: which should I use?
Use Langify if translation is all you need and you're happy to start each machine translation yourself: it costs less, has a free manual plan, and translates text from other apps. Use Kobold if your store changes often and you want new and changed content translated by itself, checked and reviewed, or if you also want theme code changes from the same credits.
Does Langify translate new products automatically?
No. As of 7 October 2026, langify's help center says its machine-translation tools apply translations only when you start them. To update translations after you edit content, you run Bulk Translation with Translate outdated on Growth or Premium, or re-translate items one at a time on Basic.
Is Langify cheaper than Kobold?
For translation alone, yes. Langify's paid plans cost $17.50 to $59.95 every 30 days, and extra machine-translation words cost about $0.29 to $0.50 per 1,000. Kobold starts at $79 a month and charges 12 credits per 1,000 words per language, about $0.70 to $0.96 in credit value. Kobold's credits also pay for theme code changes.
Does Kobold translate theme content automatically?
Yes, for the languages you turn it on for. Auto-translate covers theme content, the text you typed into sections and theme settings, and writes it to your live theme after saving what was there, so you can undo it for 30 days. Theme text from your theme's language files isn't auto-translated; you translate it with Translate missing.
Does Kobold translate metafields?
Yes, the ones you choose. Kobold's Metafields tab lists the metafields defined in your store and your metaobjects' fields; you tick the ones that hold copy, and Kobold translates them on every product or entry, in Translate missing and in auto-translate. JSON fields get only their text values translated, URL, file, number and reference fields are never translated, and app fields start off. Langify translates metafields one resource at a time.
Do my translations stay if I cancel Kobold?
Yes. Kobold writes native Shopify translations, so the ones you approved stay in Shopify after you cancel or remove Kobold. Undo ends and auto-translate turns off.
Will Kobold overwrite my Langify translations?
Not while they're up to date. Kobold fills only missing translations and the ones Shopify marks as out of date because the original text changed. Translations made by another app count as existing, and Kobold replaces up-to-date ones only when you ask it to.
How much does Kobold cost?
Kobold costs $79 a month on Starter, $249 on Growth and $699 on Agency, excluding VAT, with 1,000, 4,000 and 12,000 credits a month. Translation costs 12 credits per 1,000 words per language. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial with 250 credits.
Sources
Langify and Translate & Adapt facts were checked against these pages on 7 October 2026. Numbers match the markers in the text.
Langify (primary)
- [1]langify on the Shopify App Storeapps.shopify.com
- [2]Plans overviewsupport.langify-app.com
- [3]Plan features overviewsupport.langify-app.com
- [4]Word packagessupport.langify-app.com
- [5]Machine translationssupport.langify-app.com
- [6]Machine translation settingssupport.langify-app.com
- [7]How to bulk translate your storesupport.langify-app.com
- [8]AI Translation for bulk translationssupport.langify-app.com
- [9]Metafield translationssupport.langify-app.com
- [10]Translate your storesupport.langify-app.com
- [11]Third-party app and Custom Content translationssupport.langify-app.com
- [12]Uninstall langifysupport.langify-app.com
- [13]langify reviews on the Shopify App Storeapps.shopify.com
- [14]langify pricinglp.langify-app.com
- [15]langify home pagelp.langify-app.com
Shopify
- [16]Shopify Community: Translate & Adapt inherits langify translationscommunity.shopify.com
- [17]Translate & Adapt on the Shopify App Storeapps.shopify.com
- [18]Translate & Adapt: automatic translationhelp.shopify.com
- [19]Translate & Adapt: requirements and limitationshelp.shopify.com
Kobold
- [20]Translationsdocs.usekobold.com
- [21]Creditsdocs.usekobold.com
- [22]Connect a store and permissionsdocs.usekobold.com
- [23]QA checksdocs.usekobold.com