What transfers
The source-language content you still maintain. Themes, products, and forms stay as they are.
Migration
Stop maintaining a second copy of every page.
WPML gives each language its own post. LocaleReady translates the post you already edit and stores the result.
What does not
WPML's duplicate posts, translation jobs, and credit balance. LocaleReady does not read those objects.
Storage
One WordPress post. Translations sit in LocaleReady's tables. Edit English; other languages catch up without a second editorial pass.
The actual steps
Step 1
Install LocaleReady on the original language site
WPML's extra language posts can stay for now. Install LocaleReady against the source-language content you still edit.
Step 2
Connect a provider and enable languages
Add a DeepL or Google key. Enable the same languages WPML currently publishes. LocaleReady will use subdirectory URLs, not a second post per language.
Step 3
Translate from the original pages
LocaleReady does not copy WPML's duplicate posts. It translates the source page and stores strings in its own tables.
Step 4
Decide what to do with WPML's extra posts
Keep them as a reference, 301 them to LocaleReady's language prefixes, or leave them unpublished. Do not delete them until you have checked incoming links.
Step 5
Turn WPML off
Deactivate WPML after LocaleReady URLs are live and redirects are in place. WPML's post copies do not keep the front end working once the plugin is gone.
Day-to-day differences:LocaleReady vs WPML.
Questions
Can I import WPML's translated posts?+
No automated importer. WPML stores a separate WordPress post per language. LocaleReady keeps one post and a translation memory. Those models do not map 1:1.
What happens to my Spanish pages when I disable WPML?+
Those linked posts stop being served as translations. If you still want those URLs, add redirects to LocaleReady's prefixes before you deactivate WPML.
Can a language still say something different?+
Yes, but as a correction or a per-page override, not as a second post tree. If every market needs wholly different pages, WPML's model may still fit better.
Keep one page. Let the other languages follow.
Yearly license by how many sites you run. Translation spend goes to DeepL or Google, not a credit pack.