How to Get Live Translated Captions in Zoom (Even If the Host Has No Business Plus)
Zoom’s built-in translated captions depend on the host: they need Business Plus, an Enterprise plan, or the translated-captions add-on, and must enable it in the web settings before attendees can pick a language. If the host has none of that, use Avoce instead: join the Zoom meeting from your browser in Chrome, click the extension, and get your own bilingual captions without waiting on the host.
Zoom’s built-in translated captions: what the host needs first
According to Zoom’s help article, translated captions require the host to be on a Zoom Workplace Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Plus, or Enterprise Premier account, or to be assigned the Zoom Translated Captions add-on. The host must also enable automated captions and translated captions in the web settings beforehand; only then can attendees pick a caption language during the meeting.
- Eligibility is the host’s, not yours.
- The host has to enable it in the web settings ahead of time; turning it on mid-meeting means the host changes settings first.
- 34 languages translate between each other; dialect pairs of the same language (e.g. France French and Canadian French) do not.
- Requires a recent Zoom desktop app or the web client.
Turn on Avoce captions
- Install the Avoce extension from the Chrome Web Store and sign in once at avoce.ai.
- Open the meeting link and choose “Join from your browser” on the launch page instead of opening the desktop app.
- Once in the meeting, click the Avoce icon in the toolbar, pick the source language (or auto-detect) and the target language, and start translating the tab.
- Bilingual captions float over the Zoom web client; drag them or resize the text.
- After the meeting, export the transcript as txt, Markdown, or SRT.
Built-in captions or Avoce?
| Zoom built-in translated captions | Avoce extension | |
|---|---|---|
| Plan required | Host needs Business Plus / Enterprise or the translated-captions add-on | No plan check; a free Zoom account is fine |
| Who turns it on | Host enables it in web settings, then attendees pick a language | You install and start it; the host does nothing |
| Which client | Desktop app or web client | Web client only (the extension captures tab audio) |
| Who sees the captions | Only you | Only you |
| Beyond meetings | Zoom only | Meet, Teams, Webex, YouTube, live streams |
| Cost | Included in the host’s plan or add-on | Per-minute points, 1 point = 1 minute, 20 free minutes for new accounts |
Platform-specific notes
The Avoce extension captures the browser tab’s audio: what others say becomes captions, while your own microphone is not part of the tab audio. Captions appear only on your screen and are never sent into the meeting or video, and nothing has to join the call.
- Use the web client: desktop-app audio is not in a browser tab, so the extension cannot capture it.
- Some hosts disable the “Join from your browser” link. If so, ask the host to enable it in account settings, or fall back to avoce.ai/live with the microphone picking up your speakers.
- To caption your own speech as well, open avoce.ai/live with the microphone.
- The web client has fewer features than the app (some virtual backgrounds, for example), but audio and video work normally.
A one-hour meeting ≈ 60 points, about US$3.7 on the $10.99 / 180-point pack. Transcript-only mode costs a quarter of that (1 point = 4 minutes).
Frequently asked questions
I am an attendee and the host has not enabled translated captions. Can I still get translation?
Yes. Avoce runs in your own browser and needs nothing from the host: join from the browser and click the extension.
Why does it have to be the Zoom web client?
The extension captures the audio of a browser tab. The desktop app is a separate program whose audio never passes through a tab, so there is nothing to capture.
How do I get into the Zoom web client?
Open the invite link; below the prompt to launch the app there is a “Join from your browser” link. If the host has disabled that option it will not appear, and the host needs to turn it on.
Does it work for Zoom Webinars too?
Yes. Any Zoom page opened in the browser with audio can be captured, including webinars and events.