What transfers
The pages you still write. Themes, products, and forms stay as they are.
Migration
Stop maintaining a second copy of every page.
WPML gives each language its own page. LocalePro translates the page you already edit, and saves the result.
What does not
WPML's extra pages, translation jobs, and leftover credits. LocalePro doesn't read those.
Storage
One page. Translations are saved beside it. Edit the original, and the other languages catch up without a second round of editing.
The actual steps
Step 1
Install LocalePro beside the pages you still edit
WPML's extra language pages can stay for now. Install LocalePro on the content you write in.
Step 2
Connect DeepL or Google, and turn on the same languages
Add a DeepL or Google key. Turn on the languages WPML already publishes. LocalePro uses an address like /es/, not a second page per language.
Step 3
Translate from the original pages
LocalePro does not copy WPML's extra pages. It translates the original and saves the result in WordPress.
Step 4
Decide what to do with WPML's extra pages
Keep them as a reference, redirect them to LocalePro's language addresses, or leave them unpublished. Don't delete them until you've checked incoming links.
Step 5
Turn WPML off
Deactivate WPML after LocalePro's addresses are live and the redirects are in place. Those extra pages don't keep the site translated once WPML is gone.
Day-to-day differences:LocalePro vs WPML.
Questions
Can I import WPML's translated pages?+
There isn't an automatic import. WPML stores a separate WordPress page per language. LocalePro keeps one page and saves translations beside it. Those two setups don't line up one for one.
What happens to my Spanish pages when I turn WPML off?+
Those linked pages stop being served as translations. If you still want those addresses, add redirects to LocalePro's language folders before you deactivate WPML.
Can a language still say something different?+
Yes, as a correction or a choice on that page, not as a second copy of the whole site. If every market needs wholly different pages, WPML's approach may still fit better.
Keep one page. Let the other languages follow.
A yearly price for your sites. Translation goes to DeepL or Google, not a pack of credits.