Frequently Asked Questions About Free Translate & AI Content
Selling across borders starts with speaking the customer’s language. This FAQ gathers what PrestaShop merchants ask most about Free Translate & AI Content, from language coverage to translation quality, with clear answers drawn from real customer conversations.
Group 1: What the module is and what it costs
Q: What exactly does the Free Translate & AI Content module do?
A: Free Translate & AI Content (listed as "Free Translate & AI Content: Google, DeepL, ChatGPT") is a PrestaShop translation module that bulk-translates your entire shop catalog — products, categories, CMS pages, theme texts, emails, menus, SEO metadata and URLs — using popular translation APIs, and can also generate AI content (such as product descriptions) with ChatGPT based on data already in your product sheet.
Q: Do I need to buy an API key, or is the module enough on its own?
A: The module alone is not enough — it does not include any translation or ChatGPT API keys. You need your own API keys from the providers you choose (Google Cloud Translation API, DeepL API, Bing/Azure API, LibreTranslate, Yandex, Lecto or OpenAI for ChatGPT). The module provides the translation management, interface and automation; translation costs are paid directly to the providers.
Q: What does "Free" in the module name mean?
A: "Free" means the module does not charge any extra fees after purchase. Translation services are billed by their providers, but many offer free monthly character quotas, and the module lets you combine several providers' free quotas to translate up to about 3 million characters per month at no cost.
Q: Does the module use the free Google Translate API?
A: No. The module uses the Google Cloud Translation API (a paid service), because Google no longer offers a completely free API for large-scale or production use. However, you can stay within free tiers by using other providers' free quotas or Google's own trial credits.
Q: Can I estimate the total translation cost for my whole site before buying?
A: The module itself has no built-in cost calculator, and it does not charge translation fees — costs depend entirely on the providers you use. To estimate, calculate the approximate number of characters to translate (across all target languages) and check each provider's pricing and free limits.
Q: Can I spread a large first translation across several months to stay within free quotas?
A: Yes. You can translate part of your catalog in the first month and the rest in the following months to stay within the free character limits offered by the translation providers.
Q: Can I try Free Translate & AI Content Pro before buying?
A: As Free Translate & AI Content Pro is a downloadable digital product, we do not offer a free trial. However, you can explore our Front Office and Back Office demos, which showcase the module's features, translation settings and language options, and configuration options, helping you evaluate whether it meets your needs before purchasing.
If you have any questions about compatibility or specific features, our support team is happy to assist. After purchase, we'll also help with installation, configuration, and troubleshooting to ensure a smooth experience.
Group 2: What the module translates
Q: Which content can the module translate?
A: The module translates most standard PrestaShop content: products (names, descriptions, short descriptions), categories, attributes and features, CMS pages, theme texts, default module labels, email templates, menus, and SEO metadata such as meta titles, meta descriptions and image alt tags. It also generates translated friendly URLs.
Q: Does the module translate PrestaHero modules' data?
A: Yes — for PrestaHero modules whose content follows PrestaShop's standard structure (for example, customer reviews from the Trusted Reviews module, posts from the PrestaHero Blog module, the default PrestaShop mega menu and Mega Menu Pro, and support tickets from the Live Chat / Contact Form / Ticketing module).
Q: Does the module preserve HTML formatting, variables and placeholders during translation?
A: Yes. The module is designed to preserve HTML tags, email variables, placeholders and shortcodes while translating the surrounding text.
Q: How many languages can I translate into?
A: The module can translate your shop into 110+ languages using providers such as Google, DeepL or ChatGPT — for example from English to Bulgarian, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch or Korean.
Q: Does the module work with multistore setups?
A: Yes. The module supports multistore, and it translates the original shop's content (e.g., Spanish descriptions) into the other languages (e.g., French and English) even if those languages have no content yet. However, translations are independent per shop and are not synchronized between stores.
Q: Does the module handle email templates and theme/module string translations?
A: Yes — it translates email templates and text strings from .php and .tpl files, in addition to database content that follows PrestaShop's standard multilingual structure.
Group 3: What the module cannot translate
Q: Can the module translate content built with page builders like Creative Elements or TD Elementor?
A: No. Visual page builders (Creative Elements, TD Elementor, LeoElement and similar) store content in custom formats and databases outside PrestaShop's standard multilingual system, so the module cannot detect or translate their content. That content must be translated manually.
Q: Does the module translate content from third-party modules like IQIT modules?
A: No. The module only translates text strings in .php/.tpl files and data stored in PrestaShop's standard multilingual tables. Data from third-party modules (such as IQIT modules) uses their own database structures, so it cannot be translated automatically — the team has no workaround for this and does not plan one in the short term.
Q: What about custom theme tables such as LeoTheme / LeoElement multilingual tables?
A: Those are custom tables (for example qyzla_leoelements_contents_lang, qyzla_leoslideshow_slides_lang) and are not automatically supported out of the box. The module does not currently provide a configuration interface or hook to declare custom tables and fields for translation.
Q: Does it matter which order I run the module and my page builder?
A: Yes. If you use a page builder, the recommended practice is to run the translation module first and then add or adjust page-builder content afterward — this keeps core content and URLs translated and consistent, and avoids overwriting translated content.
Group 4: Translation providers and API keys
Q: Which translation providers does the module support?
A: Google Cloud Translation, DeepL, Bing/Azure Translate, Yandex Translate, LibreTranslate, Lecto Translate and ChatGPT (OpenAI). Each provider needs its own API key, which you enter in the module settings (there is a "Check API key" button to validate it).
Q: Why does the module show "Google Translate is not set up" when I use auto-translate?
A: This message appears when the Google Cloud Translation API key is not configured. Each translation provider must be set up with its own valid API key before the module can use it.
Q: Are there limits with free providers like LibreTranslate?
A: Yes. For example, the free LibreTranslate API allows a maximum of about 2,000 characters per request. Fields that exceed a provider's limit are skipped (not translated), and a failed field can stop a bulk product translation. The module does not automatically split long texts, so for large catalogs the team recommends more reliable providers such as Google or DeepL.
Q: What should I do if I get a "Text too long" error with Google Translate API?
A: The error means the text exceeds the API's per-request character limit. We advise translating in smaller batches and dividing very long texts into smaller segments before sending them, so each request stays within the limit.
Q: Why is my DeepL API key not accepted or not saving?
A: This is usually a configuration issue on the shop (an invalid key format or a settings save issue). Contact our support team with a screenshot — they have fixed such cases, including cases where a provider did not support a specific language (e.g., Dutch) at the time.
Q: Does the module support DeepL's context field or glossaries for ambiguous words?
A: Not built in. We provided a code update to one customer to improve DeepL context handling, and the module does have an "Exceptions" setting where you can add fixed translations for specific words that have multiple meanings.
Group 5: AI content generation with ChatGPT
Q: Can ChatGPT generate product descriptions from my existing product data?
A: Yes. The module integrates ChatGPT both as a translation tool and as a content generator: it can generate product descriptions, summaries and titles based on data already present in the product sheet (such as features/characteristics), and then generate the translations.
Q: Where does the ChatGPT button appear, and how do I guide what it writes?
A: ChatGPT appears on its own AI-content tab (separate from the standard translation providers) and its generation button is available directly on the product page. You can steer the output with the "ChatGPT Pre-Prompt" setting, which gives ChatGPT style or instruction guidance for generating content your way.
Q: Can ChatGPT generate content for categories too, or only products?
A: ChatGPT content generation currently works on the product page; the ChatGPT button is not available in the Categories section, and automating ChatGPT generation specifically for categories is not currently supported.
Q: Can ChatGPT analyze product images to generate descriptions?
A: No. ChatGPT in this module does not analyze product images from the product sheet when generating summaries/descriptions. Content is generated from a text prompt only. On the product page, the module can fill shortcodes such as product name, existing summary/description, tags, reference, brand, and language — then send that text to the ChatGPT API. Images are not uploaded or attached to the request.
Group 6: Compatibility
Q: Which PrestaShop versions does the module support?
A: The module supports PrestaShop versions from 1.7.x up to 9.x, including PrestaShop 9.0.x and 9.1.
Q: Which themes is the module compatible with?
A: The module works with themes that follow PrestaShop's standard structure (it translates the theme's texts and default module labels). Theme-specific builder content that stores data in custom formats is not translatable.
Q: Does the module add a language switcher to my front office?
A: No. The language switcher is PrestaShop's native feature; the module translates the content that appears when visitors switch languages. (Theme header placement of the switcher is a theme task, which the support team has helped with.)
Q: How does the module handle URLs for different languages?
A: The module automatically generates friendly URLs from the translated titles (e.g., product names, category names, CMS page titles). PrestaShop itself adds the language prefixes to URLs (ES/, FR/, etc.) when additional languages are enabled, which is good practice for per-country SEO. Multi-domain setups (e.g., changing .fr to .it) are handled through PrestaShop's multishop/multi-domain configuration, not by the module itself.
Group 7: Managing translations day to day
Q: What are the two translation modes, and which should I use?
A: "Translate all missing translation fields" only translates fields that are empty or still contain the exact same content as the source language — safe for a first cautious run. "Translate all fields (replace all old translations)" overwrites all existing translations with fresh ones — use it when you want to redo or update everything.
Q: Can I translate a single product or page instead of the whole site?
A: Yes. Use "Item translate" mode to select and translate individual items (a product, a page, etc.) without running a full site translation. There are also per-field "Translate" buttons and bulk-select translation from the product list.
Q: Does the module automatically re-translate a field when I edit the original text later?
A: No. The module does not watch for changes and re-translate automatically. After editing a source field, you re-run translation manually by clicking the corresponding "Translate" button — this gives you precise control and avoids unwanted changes.
Q: Can the module translate on a schedule with a cron job?
A: Not with a built-in server-side cron. The module does not include a configuration to schedule automatic translations via cron; translations are triggered from the back office (per field, per item, or in bulk).
Q: After translation, are previously translated fields re-translated and charged again?
A: No. When you run translation again with the missing-fields mode, the module only processes texts that are still untranslated or empty, which avoids redundant translations and unnecessary character usage.
Q: What happens if a translated text is longer than PrestaShop's field limit?
A: If a field exceeds the allowed text limit, the module skips that field (it is not translated) rather than breaking anything. You may need to shorten the source text or handle such cases individually.
Q: Does the module handle hreflang tags automatically for multilingual SEO?
A: No. The module does not manage hreflang tags. It only translates content into PrestaShop language fields. Language URLs, indexability per language, and hreflang are handled by PrestaShop core (and/or your SEO theme/module), the same as any multilingual shop once translations exist.
Q: Will the module slow down my store?
A: No meaningful front-office impact. The module runs mainly in the back office (translate/generate via API). It does not hook into normal storefront page rendering, so browsing the shop is not slowed by translation calls. Heavy API work only happens when you run translations in admin.
Group 8: Purchase and support policies
Q: Can I get a refund or swap the module if it does not fit my project?
A: We offer a 15-day refund policy for technical issues that our team cannot resolve. Refunds for a change of mind or features outside the module's advertised scope are not covered. If the module doesn't meet your needs, please contact our support team. We'll be happy to review possible alternatives, including an exchange or store credit on a case-by-case basis.
Q: How long is the support and update period included with the purchase?
A: Your purchase from PrestaHero.com includes 1 year of free technical support and lifetime free module updates. You can continue using the module after your support period expires and renew technical support whenever needed.
Q: What is the price of the module, and are discounts available?
A: Free Translate & AI Content is currently priced at €139.99 (excluding applicable taxes). We occasionally offer special discounts and seasonal promotions. Please check our website or contact our support team for the latest offers. Please note that some translation and AI service providers may charge additional API usage fees, depending on your selected plan.