# AX Check: wpml.org
Checked 2026-09-19.

WPML pricing is clear, but there's no quickstart guide for AI agents
Pricing shows openly: €39/€99/€199 tiers plus per-word AI translation rates. But there's no llms.txt index or Markdown version of the docs, so agents must parse the full HTML site.

## End-to-end onboarding not demonstrated

## Coding sessions
All three independent sessions (DeepSeek V4 Pro, Kimi K3, Qwen 3.8 Max) completed the task, each pulling the same €39/€99/€199 tiered annual pricing from wpml.org and correctly noting assumptions like per-site limits and separate translation-word credits.

### DeepSeek V4 Pro
[View public run](https://agents.withgauge.com/p/runs/18a94aee-8b47-459f-ae02-a6765071a523) · [Read transcript](https://www.ax-check.com/wpml.org/sessions/deepseek.json)
Final output lists Blog/CMS/Agency tiers at €39/€99/€199 with assumptions stated: annual EUR subscription, per-site limits, translation credits as separate add-on, VAT excluded.
#### End-to-end onboarding
- **End-to-end onboarding not demonstrated**: No credential acquisition or authenticated product operation occurred. The agent only performed unauthenticated curl fetches of public wpml.org pages to scrape pricing text, then wrote a local PHP file that was never executed against any WordPress/WPML instance. No sign-up, API key, or login flow was attempted or completed.
  Event 22:

  ```text
  "name": "WPML Multilingual CMS",\n            "price": "99",\n            "priceCurrency": "EUR"
  ```
  Event 29:

  ```text
  I cannot run or verify this example here. Executing it requires a WordPress + MySQL + WPML site — exactly the kind of local service stack you told me not to start up.
  ```

#### Hallucinated URLs
None identified in this transcript.

#### Blockers
- **No hosted API/SDK exists for WPML**: WPML is distributed as a PHP plugin that runs inside a self-hosted WordPress install; it exposes no public hosted REST API or SDK that can be called remotely. This is a product characteristic, not an environment or agent error, and it directly conflicts with the session's requirement to use the hosted product via SDK/API without starting local service stacks.
  Event 29:

  ```text
  WPML is **not a hosted product with an SDK/API I can call from here**. It's a paid **PHP plugin that runs inside your own WordPress install**, and its "API" is a set of PHP hooks/filters.
  ```
  Event 29:

  ```text
  There is no public hosted REST API on wpml.org I can hit with `curl`, and no npm/PHP SDK to install and run.
  ```
- **Verifying the example requires a full WordPress+MySQL+WPML stack**: To actually execute or test the written plugin file, a running WordPress site with MySQL and WPML installed is needed, which the session's instructions explicitly forbade (no local service stacks, no long-running commands). The agent correctly identified this and stopped rather than spinning up a stack.
  Event 29:

  ```text
  Executing it requires a WordPress + MySQL + WPML site — exactly the kind of local service stack you told me not to start up. There's no quickstart I could complete without that.
  ```
  Event 29:

  ```text
  the file above is **written but unverified** — it follows the documented API and defends against WPML being absent, but I couldn't test it.
  ```

#### Suggested Changes
- **Add a hosted sandbox or API for developers to test WPML integrations**: Developers currently have no way to exercise WPML's PHP hook API without provisioning a full WordPress+MySQL+WPML stack. Providing a hosted demo/sandbox site or a lightweight API endpoint (even for read-only string/language queries) on wpml.org would let developers validate example code without local infrastructure. Check success by having a developer call the new endpoint or sandbox from a fresh session and confirm a real response without spinning up WordPress locally.
  Event 29:

  ```text
  WPML is **not a hosted product with an SDK/API I can call from here**. It's a paid **PHP plugin that runs inside your own WordPress install**, and its "API" is a set of PHP hooks/filters.
  ```

### Kimi K3
[View public run](https://agents.withgauge.com/p/runs/03e69839-863c-4aa7-8ad5-b3db5fd24e84) · [Read transcript](https://www.ax-check.com/wpml.org/sessions/kimi.json)
Final output lists tiered annual pricing (Blog ~€39/yr, CMS ~€99/yr, Agency ~€199/yr) with stated assumptions (per-site limits, 1yr support/updates, pay-as-you-go translation credits) and flags the figures as approximate/to verify.
#### End-to-end onboarding
- **End-to-end onboarding not demonstrated**: Agent never attempted to obtain or use credentials. It determined via a package registry lookup that WPML has no hosted API/SDK — it is a WordPress plugin whose developer surface (PHP hooks/filters) only exists inside a running WordPress installation. Per explicit user instructions to avoid local service stacks, the agent stopped before any onboarding attempt.
  Event 7:

  ```text
  Markup Language for Web Publications
  ---
  wpml
  Markup Language for Web Publications
  Version 0.3.1 published 2016-05-12 by dogada
  ```
  Event 9:

  ```text
  Its developer surface is **PHP hooks and filters that only exist inside a running WordPress installation** (`wpml_translate_string`, `wpml_element_trid`, ICL_* constants, etc.). Any example I build would require standing up WordPress + PHP + MySQL, installing the plugin, and activating a license.
  ```

#### Hallucinated URLs
None identified in this transcript.

#### Blockers
- **WPML has no hosted API/SDK to call**: WPML is a WordPress plugin, not a hosted product. Its only developer interface is PHP hooks/filters that run inside a live WordPress + MySQL installation with an activated license. This is inherent product behavior, not agent error or missing credentials — there is no lightweight SDK/API path the agent could have used instead, and building an example would have required exactly the local service stack the session's instructions prohibited.
  Event 9:

  ```text
  That means WPML's quickstart **requires a local service stack**, which you asked me not to do — so per your instructions, **this product has no lightweight developer workflow I can act on, and I'm stopping here** rather than starting WordPress locally.
  ```

#### Suggested Changes
None identified in this transcript.

### Qwen 3.8 Max
[View public run](https://agents.withgauge.com/p/runs/dbb4cd5f-cb2c-415a-a926-0d83d9186024) · [Read transcript](https://www.ax-check.com/wpml.org/sessions/qwen.json)
Final output gives a pricing table (€39/€99/€199) explicitly labeled 'verified today from wpml.org/purchase, annual plans, EUR' naming plan tier, currency, and billing period as assumptions.
#### End-to-end onboarding
- **End-to-end onboarding not demonstrated**: The agent never attempted to obtain WPML product credentials or perform any authenticated operation. It only fetched the public pricing page and searched public package registries (Packagist, npm) for SDKs. It concluded WPML is a WordPress plugin with no REST API/CLI/hosted product to onboard into, and stopped without attempting signup, purchase, or any authenticated call.
  Event 5:

  ```text
  https://wpml.org/purchase/
  ```
  Event 34:

  ```text
  WPML has no developer workflow I can act on.
  ```
  Event 34:

  ```text
  Subscription/site registration is done by pasting a subscription key from a paid wpml.org account into wp-admin — an account + payment flow I can't act on.
  ```

#### Hallucinated URLs
None identified in this transcript.

#### Blockers
- **No hosted API/SDK exists for WPML**: Product behavior, not agent error: WPML is a WordPress plugin managed entirely inside wp-admin via PHP hooks and config files, not a hosted product with a REST API or CLI. The agent confirmed this by searching Packagist and npm and finding only internal libraries used by the plugin's own code, not a public SDK.
  Event 32:

  ```text
  wpml/wp - Class and utilities to interface with WordPress from WPML
  ```
  Event 34:

  ```text
  There is no public REST API, no CLI, no provisioning endpoint. The `wpml/*` Composer packages I found are internal libraries used by the plugin's own code, not an external SDK.
  ```
- **Building an example requires a live WordPress install and paid license**: Test-environment/product constraint: to build a working example the agent would need a running WordPress site (a local service stack or remote host) plus a paid WPML subscription key entered into wp-admin, both of which fall outside the session's 'stay light, no local stacks' instruction. This is an unresolved need for a real environment and credentials, not something the agent could self-serve.
  Event 34:

  ```text
  Building a working example would require (a) a running WordPress site — a local service stack or remote host, which your constraints exclude — and (b) a paid subscription key to download and activate the plugin.
  ```

#### Suggested Changes
- **Publish a lightweight headless/API path for WPML translation data**: Developers evaluating WPML from outside a WordPress install have no way to interact with translations programmatically; the agent found only internal Composer packages (wpml/wp, wpml/core-api) with no public-facing SDK or REST documentation. Adding a documented REST/GraphQL endpoint or official SDK (checkable by searching npm/Packagist for an official 'wpml-sdk' style package) would let evaluators build a quick example without provisioning a full WordPress site.
  Event 32:

  ```text
  wpml/core-api - Class and utilities to interface with WPML core functionality
  ```
  Event 34:

  ```text
  There is no public REST API, no CLI, no provisioning endpoint.
  ```

### Task given to each agent
Help me build a simple example using WPML. Tell me how pricing works, and briefly tell me whether this product will be easy for you to manage. Let me know if you get blocked. If this product has no developer workflow you can act on, say so plainly and stop. Stay light: use the hosted product through its SDK or API. Do not start local service stacks or wait for long-running commands; if the quickstart requires either, say so plainly and stop.

No product credentials were supplied and no purchases were authorized.

## Score: C · 55/100 (provisional)
Grades come from completed site checks. Coding sessions and skipped checks do not affect the score.

### Clarity
- **Failed** — Homepage answers Markdown requests

  ```text
  Homepage returned text/html for a Markdown Accept header; no Markdown representation offered.
  ```

- **Failed** — llms.txt provides an actionable documentation index

  ```text
  https://wpml.org/llms.txt returns HTTP 404, so no documentation index exists.
  ```

- **Failed** — A compact guide representation exists

  ```text
  No site-published Markdown guide; /llms.txt returns 404 and homepage ignores Markdown negotiation.
  ```

- **Skipped** — llms.txt provides navigation guidance

  ```text
  llms.txt is 404, so its navigation guidance cannot be evaluated.
  ```

- **Skipped** — llms.txt mentions offered API, MCP, and skills

  ```text
  llms.txt is 404, so any API, MCP or skills mentions cannot be evaluated.
  ```

- **Pass** — A focused guide is directly retrievable

  ```text
  Getting Started guide is directly retrievable with five concrete steps from install to translation.
  ```

- **Pass** — Equivalent instructions fit a token budget

  ```text
  Guide is a compact five-step workflow well within the 8000-token budget.
  ```

- **Skipped** — Product-docs links survive format changes

  ```text
  Homepage Markdown is unsupported, so link preservation across formats cannot be measured.
  ```

- **Pass** — The compact guide is independently actionable

  ```text
  Getting Started guide gives five concrete steps: install OTGS Installer, activate, setup wizard, switcher, translate.
  ```

- **Pass** — Install and next-step links resolve

  ```text
  Getting-started and WPML 5 pages fetched successfully, so sampled install and next-step links resolve.
  ```


### Onboarding
- **Pass** — Docs lead to a relevant quickstart

  ```text
  Getting Started guide gives five concrete steps from install to translating content.
  ```

- **Pass** — Installation commands are extractable

  ```text
  Download-and-install page gives concrete steps: download OTGS Installer ZIP, upload via Plugins > Add Plugin.
  ```

- **Skipped** — Code examples are available without interaction

  ```text
  Fetched pages are WordPress plugin setup guides; no code examples offered or needed.
  ```

- **Pass** — Prerequisites and auth boundaries are explicit

  ```text
  Activate step requires registering a site key; account login and Downloads section are named.
  ```


### Pricing
- **Pass** — Pricing is readable without interaction

  ```text
  Pricing page renders plan table with €39/€99/€199 tiers and feature rows without interaction.
  ```

- **Pass** — Prices are stated, not gated

  ```text
  Plan prices €39, €99, €199 and AI word rates are stated openly on the page.
  ```

- **Pass** — Pricing units and limits are explicit

  ```text
  Units explicit: per-plan sites, 22,500/45,000 AI words, €3.00–€0.40 per 1,000 words.
  ```

- **Pass** — Agents identify pricing and its assumptions

  ```text
  3 of 3 sessions were judged on pricing; 0 fell short. DeepSeek V4 Pro: Final output lists Blog/CMS/Agency tiers at €39/€99/€199 with assumptions stated: annual EUR subscription, per-site limits, translation credits as separate add-on, VAT excluded. Kimi K3: Final output lists tiered annual pricing (Blog ~€39/yr, CMS ~€99/yr, Agency ~€199/yr) with stated assumptions (per-site limits, 1yr support/updates, pay-as-you-go translation credits) and flags the figures as approximate/to verify. Qwen 3.8 Max: Final output gives a pricing table (€39/€99/€199) explicitly labeled 'verified today from wpml.org/purchase, annual plans, EUR' naming plan tier, currency, and billing period as assumptions. This behavioural item does not affect the fast grade.
  ```


### Activation
- **Skipped** — An API reference or OpenAPI spec is reachable

  ```text
  No API reference or OpenAPI spec appears in the fetched WPML documentation pages.
  ```

- **Skipped** — An MCP server is documented and well-formed

  ```text
  No MCP server documentation found in any fetched WPML page.
  ```

- **Skipped** — A CLI install path is documented

  ```text
  WPML installs as a WordPress plugin via OTGS Installer; no CLI install path documented.
  ```

- **Skipped** — SDK packages resolve on their registries

  ```text
  No SDK or developer package registry lookup was supplied for WPML.
  ```

- **Skipped** — Agent skills are published

  ```text
  No agent skills are published or referenced in the fetched WPML pages.
  ```



[Full report data](https://www.ax-check.com/wpml.org/report.json)