In this episode of WP Legends, we sit down with Amir Helzer, founder of OnTheGoSystems, the company behind WPML, Toolset, and now the emerging AI-powered translation platform PTC. What started as a side project for a small tourism website in Patagonia has grown into the most widely used multilingual WordPress plugin, powering over a million websites worldwide.
From self-funding his business in remote Patagonia to redefining how multilingual content works in WordPress, Amir’s journey is one of persistence, community insight, and a relentless drive to make websites truly global.
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From Patagonia Side Project to Global Standard
Amir’s WordPress story began in an unexpected place Patagonia, Argentina. In 2006, with limited savings and a vision for building a tourism website that catered to multiple languages, he discovered a huge gap in WordPress: there was no good way to make multilingual sites.
What started as a hacky solution combining multiple WordPress installs soon evolved into the very first version of WPML. “It was just something we needed,” Amir recalls, “and in the spirit of open source, I released it for free to get some publicity. I had no idea it would become this big.”
But the demand quickly proved enormous. Even when the plugin briefly went offline from the WordPress repository, users reached out directly, offering to pay for a better, more stable product. That was the turning point: WPML transitioned from a free side project into a sustainable business.
Building WPML: Philosophy & Pricing
Amir credits WPML’s growth to fair pricing and product reliability. Instead of chasing high margins, he set an approachable price point of $79/year a model that made it an easy choice for customers while forcing the team to build efficient, low-support software.
“You can’t sell at that price point if your product generates a lot of support,” he explains. “A good product is the best form of customer support.”
Cracking the Code on Multilingual SEO
One of WPML’s greatest strengths is how it tackles multilingual SEO an area that often trips up site owners. From separate URLs for each language to custom sitemaps and deep integrations with leading SEO plugins, WPML was designed to make multilingual websites search-friendly out of the box.
Whether you’re using directories, subdomains, or multiple domains, WPML ensures search engines can crawl and index every language properly, giving businesses a competitive edge in global SEO.
Toolset: Power for Complex Sites Without Coding
Alongside WPML, Amir also launched Toolset, a suite that empowers developers to build complex dynamic WordPress sites without custom coding. It’s another example of his focus on creating tools that make powerful WordPress functionality accessible to more people.
PTC & the Future of AI-Driven Translation
Amir’s newest project, PTC, uses AI to automate high-quality translations, specifically designed for plugin and theme developers. As he sees it, AI isn’t just speeding up translations it’s revolutionizing how multilingual content will be created, managed, and optimized in the coming years.
Lessons from a Bootstrapped Founder
Reflecting on his journey, Amir shares three key lessons:
- Start small, but listen to users – WPML grew because its users demanded more.
- Keep pricing fair – Growth comes from accessibility, not gatekeeping.
- Invest in product quality – A great product reduces friction, support, and churn.
Key Takeaways:
- WPML grew from a side project in Patagonia into the leading multilingual plugin for WordPress.
- Fair, sustainable pricing allowed OnTheGoSystems to scale without sacrificing product quality.
- Multilingual SEO is at the heart of WPML’s architecture, ensuring every language gets the visibility it deserves.
- AI-powered tools like PTC represent the next frontier in effortless localization.
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