TranslateDesk vs Weglot: Why Website Translation Tools Don't Work for Intercom

You're using Weglot to translate your website. It works great. Now you want to translate your Intercom help center. Can you just use Weglot for that too?

The short answer: No. Weglot and Intercom help centers are architecturally incompatible. Weglot translates websites you control. Intercom hosts your help center on their infrastructure. You need a tool that integrates with Intercom's API directly.

That tool is TranslateDesk.

How Weglot Actually Works

Weglot is a website translation service that works through one of two methods:

JavaScript injection: You add a script to your website. Weglot detects text, translates it, and displays the translated version to visitors.
DNS proxy: You point your domain to Weglot's servers. They serve translated versions of your pages under language-specific subdomains (like fr.yoursite.com).

Both approaches require something critical: access to your website's code or DNS settings.

This works beautifully for:

WordPress sites
Shopify stores
Custom-built websites
Any site where you control the hosting

It doesn't work for platforms that host your content on their own infrastructure.

Why Weglot Can't Translate Intercom Help Centers

Your Intercom help center lives at one of two places:

Intercom's subdomain: yourcompany.intercom.help
Your custom domain: help.yourcompany.com (but still served by Intercom's servers)

In both cases, Intercom controls the infrastructure. You can't inject JavaScript into pages served by Intercom. You can't proxy DNS when Intercom owns the server.

Weglot's entire technology stack assumes you have control over the website. With Intercom, you don't. You're a tenant in Intercom's system.

This isn't a limitation of Weglot specifically. Any website translation tool that uses JavaScript or DNS proxying faces the same problem with any hosted platform (Intercom, Zendesk, Notion, etc.).

The Architecture Problem, Visualized

Your Website	Your Intercom Help Center
Hosted on your servers	Hosted on Intercom's servers
You control the code	Intercom controls the code
You control DNS	Intercom serves the pages
Weglot can inject/proxy	Weglot cannot access
✅ Weglot works	❌ Weglot doesn't apply

What TranslateDesk Does Differently

TranslateDesk doesn't try to intercept web pages. Instead, it integrates directly with Intercom's API:

Connect via OAuth: One-click connection through Intercom's native integration system
Access your articles: TranslateDesk reads your help center content through Intercom's API
Translate with DeepL: Professional-quality machine translation
Publish back to Intercom: Translated articles go directly into Intercom's system as proper multilingual versions

The difference is fundamental. Weglot works outside the platform, trying to intercept what visitors see. TranslateDesk works inside the platform, creating actual translated content in Intercom.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Weglot	TranslateDesk
Works with Intercom help centers	❌ No	✅ Yes
Translation method	JS/DNS proxy	API integration
Intercom native integration	❌ No	✅ Yes
Creates real translated articles	N/A	✅ Yes
Auto-sync detection	N/A	✅ Yes
Works with websites	✅ Yes	❌ No
Works with Shopify	✅ Yes	❌ No
Works with WordPress	✅ Yes	❌ No
Translation engine	Multiple	DeepL

Pricing Comparison

This isn't really an apples-to-apples comparison since they serve different purposes, but for reference:

Weglot (Website Translation)

Starter: €150/year (10k words, 1 language)
Business: €290/year (50k words, 3 languages)
Pro: €490/year (200k words, 5 languages)
Advanced: €790/year (500k words, 10 languages)
Extended: $769/month (1M words, unlimited languages)

TranslateDesk (Intercom Translation)

Free: 5 translations to start
Pay-as-you-go: Credit packs from $79/100 translations

Different products, different pricing models. Weglot charges based on word count and languages for your entire website. TranslateDesk charges per article translated in your Intercom help center.

When to Use Each

Use Weglot for:

Your marketing website
Your Shopify store
Your blog (if self-hosted)
Landing pages
Any website where you control hosting

Use TranslateDesk for:

Intercom help center articles
Intercom knowledge base
Customer-facing support documentation in Intercom

Use Both If:

You want a multilingual marketing website (Weglot) AND a multilingual help center (TranslateDesk). They don't overlap or conflict. Different tools for different jobs.

The Real Question

If you found this page, you probably searched something like "Weglot Intercom" or "translate Intercom with Weglot." You already know and trust Weglot. That's great. Keep using it for your website.

But for Intercom, you need a different approach. Weglot's technology doesn't work when you're not in control of the infrastructure. That's not a flaw. It's just how hosted platforms work.

TranslateDesk was built specifically for this problem. It connects to Intercom the way Intercom wants to be connected: through their API, creating real translated articles that live natively in your help center.

The Bottom Line

Weglot and TranslateDesk aren't competitors. They solve different problems:

Weglot translates websites you host
TranslateDesk translates Intercom help centers Intercom hosts

If you're using Weglot for your website and wondering why it doesn't work for Intercom, now you know. The architectures are incompatible.

The good news: there's a purpose-built solution for Intercom. Try TranslateDesk free with 5 articles, and see how translation works when the tool is designed for the platform.

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