Zoom can translate a meeting in three built-in ways, and none of them is included in a free account. Translated captions show the speaker's words as subtitles in about 36 languages and need the host to be on Zoom Workplace Business Plus, an Enterprise plan, or the Translated Captions add-on. Voice translator plays an AI voice translation in your ear, but only in English, Chinese, French, Japanese and Spanish, only in the Windows and macOS desktop app (version 7.0.0 or later), and only with the Live Translation add-on or ZoomMate. Language interpretation works on Pro plans and up, but it routes audio from human interpreters you hire yourself.
Table of contents
- Which Zoom translation feature do you need?
- How to turn on translated captions in Zoom
- Which plans include translated captions?
- Enable translated captions in the Zoom web portal
- Turn on translated captions during a meeting
- Limits of translated captions
- Why Zoom translated captions are not showing
- Zoom Voice translator: AI voice translation
- Zoom language interpretation with human interpreters
- Plans and languages for interpretation
- Set up interpretation for a meeting
- How participants choose a language channel
- Can the other person hear me translated in Zoom?
- English ↔ Vietnamese Zoom meetings: NoteMeeting Voice Translator
- Zoom web or the installed Zoom app?
- Limits of NoteMeeting Voice Translator
- How much does each Zoom translation option cost?
- How to keep a record of a translated Zoom meeting
- Which Zoom translation option should you use?
- Tips for more accurate Zoom translation
- FAQ
- Can Zoom translate in real time?
- Is Zoom translation free?
- Does Zoom translate Vietnamese?
- Can other participants see my translated captions?
- Does Zoom translation work on mobile?
- How much is the Zoom translated captions add-on?
The table below compares the three features as documented on support.zoom.com on October 4, 2026. The fourth row is a third-party option that only matters if one side of your meeting speaks Vietnamese: NoteMeeting translates English ↔ Vietnamese and nothing else.
| Option | What you get | Languages | Plan or add-on (whose) | Who sees or hears it | Desktop / web / mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoom translated captions | Translated subtitles | 36 with full support, plus limited Catalan, Welsh, Bengali, Greek | Host's account: Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Plus, Enterprise Premier, or Translated Captions add-on | Each participant picks their own caption language | Yes / Yes / Yes (Request CC with translation) |
| Zoom Voice translator | AI voice reading the translation to you | English, Chinese, French, Japanese, Spanish | Your account: Live Translation add-on or ZoomMate (credit-based) | Only the person who turned it on | Windows and macOS app 7.0.0+ only |
| Zoom language interpretation | Human interpreters on separate audio channels | 9 defaults plus custom languages you add | Host's account: Pro, Business, Education or Enterprise | Every listener who selects that language channel | Yes / Unclear in Zoom's docs / Listen only |
| NoteMeeting Voice Translator (third party) | Two-way voice translation | English ↔ Vietnamese only | Your NoteMeeting Pro or Teams plan; any Zoom plan | The NoteMeeting user hears Vietnamese; the English-speaking side hears a translated English voice in the meeting, with nothing to install | Zoom web via Chrome extension, Zoom desktop app via NoteMeeting Desktop App / No mobile |
Which Zoom translation feature do you need?
The right Zoom translation feature depends on whether you want to read, listen, or have someone else hear you. Translated captions are for reading: a client speaks Spanish and you read English subtitles. Voice translator is for listening without reading: Zoom's AI speaks the translation to you. Language interpretation is for events where a person, not software, translates into a dedicated audio channel.
Plain captions are a separate, simpler feature. Zoom's automated captions transcribe speech in the same language and are enabled by default on paid accounts, but they do not translate. For setup steps and fixes, see how to turn on captions in Zoom. If everyone on the call shares a language, captions are enough; translation only matters when at least one participant cannot follow the language being spoken.
How to turn on translated captions in Zoom
Which plans include translated captions?
According to Zoom's translated captions setup article, the feature is included in Zoom Workplace Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Plus and Enterprise Premier. Pro and Business accounts need the Zoom Translated Captions add-on assigned to the user. When Zoom launched the add-on in August 2022, it priced it at $5 per user per month for any paid license; confirm the current price with Zoom sales before you buy.
The license that counts is the host's. Zoom's launch announcement says translated captions follow the host's settings, so if the host enables them, all participants and attendees can use them in that meeting. Answers on the Zoom Community confirm the reverse: if someone else schedules the meeting, you are limited to the features on their license, even if your own account has the add-on. In practice, a freelancer on a free Zoom account can read translated captions in a client's Enterprise meeting, while a Business Plus user joining a Pro host's meeting cannot.
The supported list covers 36 languages with full support, including Arabic, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Cantonese, French, German, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai and Vietnamese. Catalan and Welsh are supported only as target languages, and Bengali and Greek translate only to and from certain languages. Zoom's AI Companion marketing page mentions 46 caption languages, but the support article's list is the one the settings follow.
Enable translated captions in the Zoom web portal
- Sign in to the Zoom web portal. Use an admin account to change the setting for your whole organization, or your own account for personal settings.
- For an organization, go to Admin Center > Settings > Meeting tab > In Meeting (Advanced). For yourself, go to Settings > Meeting > In Meeting (Advanced).
- Make sure Automated captions is on. Translated captions do not appear without it.
- Turn on Translated captions. All supported language pairs are enabled by default; remove any you don't want participants to use.
Turn on translated captions during a meeting
- In the Zoom desktop app or web app, click Show Captions in the meeting controls. If you don't see it, look under More.
- Click the up arrow next to Show Captions and check that the spoken language is set correctly, for example Spanish.
- Under Captions and translation, turn on Translation.
- Choose the language you want to read, for example English.
- Click Save. Zoom remembers your translation language for future meetings.
Each participant sets this independently, and nobody needs the host's help once the feature is on. On the Zoom mobile app, tap More > Show CC to see captions, and change the caption language under More > Settings > Captions and translations. If the host has restricted captions, tap Request CC, check Send request with translation, and pick your language once the host approves.
Limits of translated captions
- Text only. Translated captions help you read; the other participants still hear your original voice unless they turn on captions themselves.
- The host's plan decides. A meeting hosted on a Pro account without the add-on has no translated captions for anyone in the room.
- The spoken language must be right. Zoom translates from the language set as the speaking language. A call that switches between two languages without updating that setting produces captions that make little sense.
- No dialect pairs. Zoom does not translate between dialects of the same language, such as French (France) and French (Canada).
Why Zoom translated captions are not showing
Missing translated captions almost always come down to one of four causes, in this order:
- The host's license. The meeting organizer needs Business Plus, an Enterprise plan or the add-on. Your own add-on does not help in someone else's meeting.
- Automated captions are off. The Translated captions toggle depends on Automated captions in the same settings section.
- An admin locked the setting at the account or group level, so your personal toggle is greyed out.
- An outdated Zoom client. Update the desktop app to Zoom's current minimum version and rejoin.
Zoom Voice translator: AI voice translation
Voice translator is Zoom's speech-to-speech feature: it listens to other participants and reads the translation to you in an AI voice. Zoom described it in a blog post on July 22, 2026, and the Voice translator support article lists these conditions:
- Languages: English, Chinese, French, Japanese and Spanish. Zoom's announcement says Portuguese, Arabic, German and Italian are planned for later in 2026.
- Account: Basic, Pro, Business or Enterprise, plus the Live Translation add-on or ZoomMate. Zoom describes the pricing as credit-based, and advanced AI features in ZoomMate use AI Credits. Zoom also notes it may not be available in every region or industry.
- App: the Zoom desktop app for Windows or macOS, version 7.0.0 or later. The article does not list the web app or mobile apps.
- Delay: short phrases are translated almost immediately; long continuous speech plays after the speaker pauses.
To use it, click More > Voice Translator in the meeting, choose the language being spoken and the language you want to hear, then adjust the balance between original and translated audio and pick a voice style if you want.
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The important limit is who hears it. Voice translator is personal: the translation plays only for the person who turned it on, and the translator icon next to a speaker's name is visible only to that person. It translates what you hear, not what you say. If you speak English and your counterpart speaks Japanese, they need to turn on Voice translator on their own eligible account to hear you in Japanese.
Zoom language interpretation with human interpreters
Language interpretation is not machine translation. Zoom creates a separate audio channel for each language, interpreters listen to the meeting and speak the translation into their channel, and each listener picks the channel they want. It suits webinars, training sessions, board meetings and public events that budget for professional interpreters. For a 30-minute sales call, hiring and scheduling an interpreter is rarely worth it.
Plans and languages for interpretation
According to Zoom's interpretation setup article, the feature is available on Pro, Business, Education and Enterprise accounts. The 9 default languages are English, Chinese, Japanese, German, French, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish and Korean. Admins can add custom languages, with up to 5 custom languages per meeting by default and up to 25 after Zoom Support enables it. Zoom does not supply interpreters; the host invites them.
Set up interpretation for a meeting
- In the web portal, go to Account Management > Account Settings > Meeting tab, turn on Language Interpretation, and add any custom languages you need.
- Schedule the meeting with an automatically generated meeting ID. Interpretation does not work with your Personal Meeting ID (PMI), in instant meetings or in breakout rooms.
- Assign interpreters by email and language pair when scheduling, or during the meeting.
- In the meeting, the host clicks Interpretation > Start. The host must use the desktop app; interpretation cannot be started or managed from the mobile app or web app.
How participants choose a language channel
On the desktop app, participants click Interpretation, choose a language, and can click Mute Original Audio to hear only the interpreter. On Android or iOS, they tap the ellipsis menu > Language Interpretation, choose a language and tap Done. Participants who join by phone dial-in or "call me" cannot hear interpretation channels. Zoom's documentation contradicts itself on the web app: one article says web app users can listen, while the web app feature comparison lists interpretation as disabled, so ask listeners to use the desktop or mobile app.
Can the other person hear me translated in Zoom?
Only with a human interpreter. Translated captions are text, and each participant must turn them on. Zoom's Voice translator plays translation only to the person who enabled it, in 5 languages. Language interpretation is the one built-in feature where your words reach the other side as translated speech, and it needs a person doing the interpreting on a Pro plan or higher.
Zoom has announced voice cloning and what it calls "translation projection" for later in 2026, but as of October 4, 2026 the support documentation describes Voice translator as heard only by the listener who turned it on. If the other side is on a free account or will not set anything up, translated captions from an eligible host and an interpreter are the only native routes.
English ↔ Vietnamese Zoom meetings: NoteMeeting Voice Translator
For most English-speaking readers, this section does not apply: NoteMeeting Voice Translator only translates between English and Vietnamese. It is relevant if you run meetings with Vietnamese-speaking clients, suppliers, teams or candidates, a pair that Zoom's Voice translator does not support and has not announced. In those meetings it translates in both directions in real time. Only one side needs NoteMeeting, and it can be either side. If you speak English and run it, you hear your Vietnamese-speaking counterpart translated into English, and they hear your words as a translated Vietnamese voice in the meeting without installing anything. If your Vietnamese-speaking colleague runs it instead, the same happens in the other direction. It does not depend on the host's Zoom plan, and no bot joins the participant list.
Zoom web or the installed Zoom app?
- Zoom in a browser: use the NoteMeeting Chrome extension, which also works on Google Meet and Microsoft Teams in the browser. New to extensions? See how to install Chrome extensions.
- The installed Zoom desktop app: a Chrome extension cannot run inside it. Use the NoteMeeting Desktop App, included from the Pro plan, which captures system audio so it can transcribe and translate meetings in the Zoom app.
Limits of NoteMeeting Voice Translator
- English ↔ Vietnamese only. For Spanish, Japanese, Korean or any other pair, use Zoom's translated captions or Voice translator instead.
- Paid plans only. Pro ($22/month) includes unlimited Voice Translator. Teams ($55/month, minimum 3 seats) includes 400 Voice Translator minutes per month. Lite and Starter do not include it.
- The trial does not include translation. The free trial is 1 hour of audio for transcription and summaries only. Plan details are on the NoteMeeting pricing page.
- Computer only. It runs in Chrome or the Desktop App, not on phones.
- Nothing stored on NoteMeeting's servers. Audio and transcripts are not kept on the server; you download the transcript and recap yourself. Pro exports .txt, .md and .srt.
For how speech-to-speech translation works in general, and the apps and devices that cover other languages, see what is a voice translator.
How much does each Zoom translation option cost?
- Translated captions: included in Business Plus and the Enterprise plans. On Pro or Business, the Translated Captions add-on launched at $5 per user per month in 2022. Free (Basic) hosts cannot offer it.
- Voice translator: requires the Live Translation add-on or ZoomMate, billed on credits. Zoom's support page does not publish a price.
- Language interpretation: no extra Zoom fee on Pro and higher; the real cost is the interpreters.
- NoteMeeting Voice Translator: Pro at $22/month or Teams at $55/month (minimum 3 seats, 400 minutes). No Zoom upgrade needed, but only for English ↔ Vietnamese.
How to keep a record of a translated Zoom meeting
Of Zoom's three translation features, only language interpretation has a documented recording behavior: cloud recordings capture the original audio plus every interpretation channel, while local recordings capture only what the person recording was hearing. Zoom's documentation does not describe a separate saved file for translated captions or Voice translator. To set up recording, see how to record a Zoom meeting and where Zoom recordings go.
If you need text for minutes, use Zoom's own transcript (see Zoom transcription for turning it on and downloading the file), or run a transcription tool alongside the call. NoteMeeting's live transcription works even when you are not the host, and its AI summary gives you a starting point for writing meeting minutes.
Which Zoom translation option should you use?
| Situation | Best option |
|---|---|
| Your company is on Business Plus or Enterprise and you need to follow a speaker in another language | Translated captions, already in your plan |
| A client on an Enterprise account hosts the call and you are on free Zoom | Ask the host to enable translated captions for your language pair, then turn on Translation yourself |
| You'd rather listen than read, and the other side speaks Chinese, French, Japanese, Spanish or English | Zoom Voice translator (Live Translation add-on or ZoomMate, desktop app 7.0.0+) |
| A webinar, training or board meeting with an interpreter budget | Language interpretation on Pro or higher |
| Sales, support or hiring calls with Vietnamese speakers, where both sides need to hear each other in their own language | NoteMeeting Voice Translator (English ↔ Vietnamese), run by the Vietnamese-speaking participant; Desktop App if they use the installed Zoom app |
| Everyone shares a language and you just need text on screen | Automated captions, no translation needed |
If your team also uses Google Meet, Google Meet translation covers Meet's equivalents, and Zoom vs Google Meet compares captions and translation by plan.
Tips for more accurate Zoom translation
- Wear a headset with a mic. Laptop speakers feed translated audio and room noise back into the microphone, which hurts captions and voice translation alike.
- Set the spoken language correctly. For translated captions, update the speaking language whenever the conversation switches languages.
- Paste names and jargon into the chat first. Product names, project codes and people's names are where machine translation fails most.
- Speak in shorter sentences and let the translation finish before replying. Real-time translation waits for the end of a phrase.
- Test for five minutes with a colleague before an important call to check the plan, the buttons and the audio.
FAQ
Can Zoom translate in real time?
Yes. Zoom's translated captions show live translated subtitles in about 36 languages, and Zoom's Voice translator reads translations aloud in English, Chinese, French, Japanese and Spanish. Both need a paid plan or add-on, and Voice translator only runs in the Windows and macOS desktop app, version 7.0.0 or later.
Is Zoom translation free?
No. A free Basic host cannot offer translated captions or language interpretation, and Voice translator needs the Live Translation add-on or ZoomMate. The one free route is joining a meeting whose host has translated captions on a Business Plus or Enterprise plan or with the add-on.
Does Zoom translate Vietnamese?
Zoom's translated captions support Vietnamese, to and from the other supported languages, if the host's plan includes them. Zoom's Voice translator does not support Vietnamese, and Vietnamese is not on its announced 2026 list. Language interpretation can carry Vietnamese if an admin adds it as a custom language and you provide a Vietnamese interpreter.
Can other participants see my translated captions?
No. Each participant turns on translated captions and chooses a language on their own device, independently of everyone else. Zoom's Voice translator is personal in the same way: only the person who turned it on hears the translated voice.
Does Zoom translation work on mobile?
Partly. The Zoom mobile app shows captions, lets you set a caption language, and can request translated captions from the host; mobile participants can also listen to interpretation channels. Zoom's Voice translator is documented only for the Windows and macOS desktop app, and hosts cannot start interpretation from a phone.
How much is the Zoom translated captions add-on?
Zoom priced the Translated Captions add-on at $5 per user per month when it launched in August 2022, available on any paid license. Business Plus and Enterprise plans include the feature without the add-on. Check the current price with Zoom, since add-on pricing can change.
If your Zoom calls regularly bring together English and Vietnamese speakers, try NoteMeeting with the 1-hour trial to transcribe and summarize the next one, then move to Pro when you need live English ↔ Vietnamese voice translation.