Ghost does not offer built-in multilingual support. The platform is designed to run in a single language at a time, which means you can localize the interface and content to one language, but you cannot manage multiple languages simultaneously within the same Ghost instance by default.
However, the Ghost team provides a basic tutorial for translating main content, but this approach does not translate theme elements like menus, headers, footers, or tags. These remain in the default language, which limits the user experience for multilingual audiences.
Why This Is a Problem
If you're targeting global audiences, partial translation is not enough. A truly multilingual site needs:
Language-specific URLs (e.g., /en/blog, /fr/blog)
Translated navigation, tags, and UI elements
SEO optimization for each language (e.g., hreflang tags)
A seamless language switcher
Ghost’s default setup does not support any of these out of the box.
Workarounds to Make Ghost Multilingual
1. Multiple Ghost Instances (One Per Language)
Some users run separate Ghost installations for each language. For example:
Each instance is a fully independent Ghost site, hosted on the same server but configured with different databases or subdirectories. This allows full control over content, themes, and SEO per language.
Pros:
Cons:
Double the maintenance: updates, backups, themes, etc.
No shared content: you must duplicate or manually sync posts
Complex hosting setup: requires reverse proxy (e.g., Nginx) to route traffic correctly
This method is technically robust but resource-intensive.
2. Single Ghost Instance with Custom Routing & Theming
A more elegant workaround is to use a single Ghost instance and simulate multilingual behavior using:
Custom routes.yaml to define language-specific URLs
Internal tags (e.g., #en, #fr) to filter content by language
Custom templates per language (e.g., index-en.hbs, index-fr.hbs)
Language switcher built into the theme
This method is popular among developers and has been successfully implemented by teams like Crisp.chat.
Pros:
Cons:
3. Use Multilingual-Ready Ghost Themes
Some themes are pre-built for multilingual sites, such as:
These themes include:
They are ideal for non-technical users who want a plug-and-play solution.
4. Third-Party Translation Integration (e.g., Weglot)
If you want automatic translation, tools like Weglot can be integrated with Ghost. Weglot:
Pros:
Fast setup
No theme editing
Automatic updates
Cons:
SEO Considerations for Multilingual Ghost Sites
To ensure your multilingual Ghost site is SEO-optimized, you must:
Use dedicated URLs for each language (e.g., /en/, /fr/)
Implement hreflang tags to tell search engines which language each page targets
Avoid automatic redirection based on IP/browser language — let users choose
Translate meta tags, slugs, and alt text
Use local keywords and cultural adaptations
Summary: What You Need to Know
| Feature | Ghost Native | Workaround Available |
| Multilingual content | ❌ | ✅ (via routing + tags) |
| Translated UI | ❌ | ✅ (via themes or custom code) |
| Language switcher | ❌ | ✅ (via themes or JS) |
| SEO-friendly URLs | ❌ | ✅ (via routes.yaml) |
| Automatic translation | ❌ | ✅ (via Weglot) |
| Multiple Ghost instances | ❌ | ✅ (manual setup) |
Final Thoughts
Ghost is a powerful and fast CMS, but not multilingual-friendly out of the box. To run a multilingual site, you must engineer a solution — either by:
Using multiple Ghost instances (best for full control)
Leveraging custom routing and themes (best for scalability)
Integrating translation tools like Weglot (best for speed and ease)
Each approach has trade-offs in complexity, cost, and control. Choose based on your technical skill, content volume, and SEO needs.
