Major autoload bloat with no real fix – poor support response

We use WPML on a WooCommerce site and discovered that it’s responsible for more than 50% of the total autoloaded data in our database. One option alone (wp_installer_settings) autoloads over 100 KB, even though it only contains installer-related metadata — something that should not be loaded on every page request.

Despite raising this with support, we received:

• A plugin workaround that had no measurable effect
• Requests for full site access, which raises legal/privacy concerns
• No clear answer as to why these values are autoloaded or what WPML considers “normal” size

We also asked for specific guidance or safe filters to prevent non-essential data from autoloading — no solution was provided. Other multilingual plugins like TranslatePress or Polylang don’t use autoload this aggressively, which makes this feel more like a design flaw than an edge case.

Until WPML improves its handling of database load — or gives users tools to manage it — we can’t recommend it. Performance and transparency need to be taken more seriously.