Live Translation Tools Compared: Wordly vs Interprefy vs KUDO vs Otter.ai vs Microsoft Translator vs Avoce
Search for “live translation” and a crowd of names comes back: Wordly, Interprefy, KUDO, Otter.ai, Microsoft Translator, and the translated captions built into Meet, Zoom, and Teams. They are not the same kind of product. Some are annual licenses sold to event organizers, some are human-interpreter platforms, and one only does transcripts. This article lines up the public pricing, languages, and best-fit scenarios of six tools, using each vendor’s official pages as of 8 September 2026.
The short version: four kinds of tool, and who each one suits
| Tool | Type | Pricing model (official page) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wordly | AI live translation, event-focused | Annual hour-based subscription; Starter from about US$1,500 for 10 hours | Organizations running many large events a year |
| Interprefy | Remote human interpreters + AI speech translation + captions | Quote-based, by duration, languages, and attendees | High-stakes international conferences that need human interpreters |
| KUDO | Human interpreters (200 languages) + KUDO AI (70+) | Marketplace / pay-as-you-go / annual from 50 hours; no public rates | Internal multilingual meetings, government and education |
| Otter.ai | AI transcription and meeting notes | Free tier; Pro US$8.33, Business US$19.99 per user per month (annual) | Transcripts in six languages when no translation is needed |
| Microsoft Translator | Free app, multi-device conversation | Free | Two or three people talking in person over their phones |
| Built into Meet / Zoom / Teams / Webex | Translated captions bundled with the platform | Tied to paid plans or add-on licenses | Online meetings where the company already has the plan |
| Avoce | Browser live captions (microphone or tab audio) | Per-minute points from US$4.99 / 60 points; 1 point = 1 minute | Talks, churches, tours, online meetings, videos; pay only for what you use |
Wordly: an annual license for event organizers
Wordly is an AI live-translation platform built around events: the organizer buys a year’s worth of hours and spreads them across multiple events, with integrations for Zoom, Teams, Meet, and Webex, a glossary, and transcript translation. Its pricing page states that the Starter plan “starts at about US$1,500” and includes 10 hours, scaling up to enterprise plans of 500+ hours, which works out to roughly US$150 an hour. It suits associations, companies, and church networks running a dozen events a year that want one purchase; if you hold one or two events a year, the 10-hour floor mostly goes unused.
Interprefy: human and AI interpreting, priced by quote
Interprefy offers three services: remote simultaneous interpretation by human interpreters, AI speech translation, and live captions, for online, hybrid, and in-person events. Pricing is not public; the company says it quotes each event by duration, number of languages, attendees, and service type, and frequent organizers can buy annual hour bundles that get cheaper per hour as they grow. It fits high-stakes international conferences where human interpreters remain the quality ceiling and AI is the companion option.
KUDO: an interpreter marketplace plus AI translation
KUDO has two halves: a self-serve marketplace of human interpreters covering, by its own count, 200 spoken and signed languages, and KUDO AI speech translation in 70+ languages with a captions-only mode and a speech-plus-captions mode. Plans are Marketplace (no subscription), pay-as-you-go for single events, and annual plans from 50 hours; the pricing page publishes no rates and points you to sales. Its customers skew toward internal corporate meetings, training, government, and healthcare.
Otter.ai: excellent transcripts, but not translation
Otter shows up in “live translation” searches, but its core is meeting transcripts and AI notes. The pricing page lists Basic (free), Pro at US$8.33 per user per month, and Business at US$19.99 (billed annually), with transcription in English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Chinese; it lists no feature for translating speech from one language into another in real time. If you want an English transcript of an English meeting, it is a good fit. If you want to hear English and read Chinese, it is not that tool.
Microsoft Translator: free, for small in-person groups
Microsoft Translator is a free app whose signature feature is multi-device conversation: one person opens a room, others join from the mobile app or a browser, and everyone speaks their own language and reads their own translation. It suits two or three people face to face, taking turns on their phones. It was not designed for one speaker addressing a whole room, or for the tab audio of an online meeting, and it lacks event features such as a glossary and SRT export.
Built into the meeting platform: check whether you have the plan
Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Webex all offer translated captions, but each ties them to a plan or add-on: Meet needs Business Standard or higher editions, Zoom needs the host on Business Plus / Enterprise or the translated-captions add-on, Teams needs the organizer to hold Teams Premium or Microsoft 365 Copilot, and Webex needs the host to buy the Real-time Translation add-on. If your company already has it, built-in is the least effort. If not, or if you are only an attendee and the host will not cooperate, you need a tool that runs on your side. The rules and setup for each platform are in the platform guides:
Where Avoce sits: pay per minute, microphone or tab
Avoce runs in the browser with two entry points: the microphone for in-person settings (talks, churches, tours, where the audience scans a QR code and reads their own language on their phones), and the Chrome extension that captures tab audio for online settings (Meet, Zoom web, Teams, Webex, YouTube, live streams). Pricing is per-minute points: US$4.99 for 60, US$10.99 for 180, US$34.99 for 600, where 1 point is 1 minute of live translation and transcript-only mode stretches a point to 4 minutes. Points never expire and new accounts get 20 free minutes. A one-hour meeting costs about US$3.7 on the 180-point pack; a 90-minute talk about US$5.5. It includes a glossary, transcript export to txt, Markdown, and SRT, and 14 languages with automatic source-language detection.
What it does not do matters too: Avoce has no human interpreters, so high-stakes diplomatic or legal settings belong with Interprefy or KUDO, and it is not a meeting-notes tool, so if you want summaries and action items, something like Otter fits better.
How to choose: five questions
- Translation or transcript? For a transcript in the original language, Otter.ai or Avoce’s transcript-only mode both work. To hear language A and read language B, Otter is off the list.
- How many hours a year? Above 50 hours, many events, and one purchase: look at Wordly’s or KUDO’s annual plans. Sporadic or uncertain usage: per-minute points on Avoce have no floor.
- Do you need human interpreters? If yes, Interprefy or KUDO’s marketplace. If AI is enough, everything else qualifies.
- Online or in person? For online meetings, first check whether the platform’s built-in captions are covered by your plan; if not, use a tool that captures tab audio on your side. For talks, churches, and tours, you need one that hands the audience a QR code so each person reads their own language.
- Lots of names and jargon? Speaker names, product names, religious or medical terminology: pick a tool with a glossary (Wordly, Avoce).
Want to try before deciding? New Avoce accounts get 20 free minutes, no card required. Open avoce.ai/live and say a sentence into the microphone, or install the extension and open a foreign-language video.