Polylang Pro keeps the core principle: language is a taxonomy term in wp_term_taxonomy and translations are linked through term relationships. Pro adds string translations stored in serialized arrays in wp_options under polylang_mo_X keys, ACF field translation routed through Polylang's translatable-objects API, and DeepL machine translation jobs tracked in transients and a usage log.

SleekView walks the term taxonomy to produce per-language coverage for posts and pages, reads the polylang_mo_X string arrays as a queryable table, and surfaces ACF translation status for field groups configured as translatable. DeepL credit usage and job history surface from the plugin's option storage as a sortable list, so the question of how many characters Pro translated this month has a one-click answer.

Saved views remember combinations like missing-in-DE-for-custom-post-type-product or DeepL-jobs-pending-approval. Edits route through Polylang's CRUD layer where possible (post and term language assignments) or through the Pro add-on's save path for string and ACF data.

Polylang Pro's design choices are excellent for plugin compatibility but operationally they spread translation state across at least three different storage shapes. Post and term languages live in the core taxonomy, strings live as serialized arrays in wp_options, ACF translation lives in field group metadata, and DeepL machine translation usage lives in option-stored job records. The Pro admin gives each of those a screen and stops short of unifying them.

On sites with two or three languages that is workable. On sites with eight languages and a budget for DeepL credits, the operational reality is a localization manager bouncing between screens and a finance lead asking the same question every month about credit consumption. Reading the live sources directly produces one table where the answer is visible.

Coverage gaps get a saved view, DeepL credit cost gets a sortable column, and ACF field group audits get a one-click filter. The plugin still owns the writes and the cache. SleekView just lets the team operate against the full picture instead of one paginated screen at a time.