Teams Live Translation: How to Translate a Teams Meeting (2026)

The Teams Translation Landscape in 2026

Microsoft Teams has the most native translation capability of any major video platform — but the best parts are locked behind Teams Premium and Microsoft 365 Copilot licensing. Here's how the options actually break down:

• Native: Live Translated Captions. Teams Premium or Microsoft 365 Copilot feature. If the organizer is licensed, everyone in the meeting can turn them on, guests included, and each participant picks their own caption language.
• Native: Interpreter agent. Speech-to-speech translation in 9 languages, including Japanese. Each listener needs a Microsoft 365 Copilot license (20 hours a month included); guests and anonymous attendees can't use it, and Microsoft says it isn't optimized for rapid back-and-forth.
• DeepL Voice for Meetings. A DeepL bot joins the meeting and gives participants live subtitles and, since September 2026, voice-to-voice translation in 30+ languages. Sold as DeepL Voice plans; ISO 27001 certified.
• Teams App Marketplace integrations. Maestra and similar tools install as a Teams app, join the meeting as a participant, and add translated captions plus post-meeting summaries.
• Enterprise event platforms. Interprefy and Wordly plug into Teams for large multilingual webinars and all-hands. Pricing is event-scale.
• Browser companions. LiveLingo runs beside Teams: a Chrome extension for Teams on the web, or a second tab or your phone for the desktop app. Works on any plan, including free Teams accounts. No IT approval, no Marketplace install, no software on the other side.

Microsoft has invested heavily in native translation, so for enterprise customers already on Teams Premium or Microsoft 365 Copilot the right answer is usually "turn on Live Translated Captions and you're done." For everyone else — small teams, freelancers, ad-hoc cross-language meetings — the picture is more nuanced.

Five Options Compared in Detail

1. Teams Live Translated Captions (Native, Premium/Copilot)

Type: Native translated captions · Languages: 50+ · Price: Teams Premium ($10/user/mo) or Microsoft 365 Copilot

The default option if your organization is on the right Microsoft tier. Each participant picks a personal target language, and captions appear in real time at the bottom of the meeting window. Strong accuracy for common pairs, weaker on technical jargon. For spoken translation, the separate Interpreter agent needs a Copilot license per listener. Best when the friction of any third-party tool isn't worth it.

2. DeepL Voice for Meetings

Type: Meeting bot: live subtitles + voice-to-voice · Languages: 30+ · Price: DeepL Voice plans (contact sales)

Brings DeepL's translation quality to Teams: a DeepL bot joins the meeting, and participants follow live subtitles, or hear voice-to-voice translation in 30+ languages, in a DeepL browser window or desktop app. Your organization must allow external participants so the bot can join. ISO 27001 certified, no audio retention, SSO integration. Companies including Aramark report cutting international meeting times in half with DeepL Voice. Best fit: regulated industries (finance, legal, healthcare) where Microsoft's native option isn't accurate enough or doesn't meet compliance requirements.

3. Maestra

Type: Teams App Marketplace integration · Languages: 100+ translation · Price: Free trial, then $39–$79/mo per user

Adds translated captions inside Teams and generates a full post-meeting transcript, AI summary, and multilingual subtitles for any recording. Strong choice for teams that record meetings regularly and want translation plus recording-side processing in one tool. Per-user pricing scales quickly for larger teams.

4. Interprefy & Wordly (Enterprise Event Platforms)

Type: Conference-grade translation · Languages: 50–70+ · Price: Event-scale / contact sales

Both integrate with Teams for large multilingual webinars, town halls, and external events. Interprefy adds on-demand human interpreters to the AI baseline (the option used at UN-level events). Wordly is AI-only, sold in attendee-hour packs. Aimed at events with 50+ attendees in multiple languages — overkill for routine meetings.

5. LiveLingo (Browser Companion)

Type: Browser-based simultaneous translation · Languages: 35 · Price: Free (3 min/day at livelingo.io/app, no account), Pro $19.99/mo (300 min), Pro+ $29.99/mo

LiveLingo isn't in the Teams App Marketplace and doesn't require IT approval. On Teams for the web, its Chrome extension shows the translation as captions right on the meeting tab; with the desktop app, you open it in a second browser tab or on your phone. One host can also share the live translation with the whole team through an invite link. Your laptop captures the audio, LiveLingo translates simultaneously, and either reads the translation aloud to you through earphones or sends it back. Works on any Teams plan including free accounts. The trade-off: it's tab-switching workflow, not a native plugin. The upside: dramatically cheaper than enterprise options and doesn't require the other side to install anything.

Side-by-Side Comparison

How to Turn On Teams Live Translated Captions

If the meeting organizer (or you) has Teams Premium or Microsoft 365 Copilot, this is the lowest-friction option:

1. In a Teams meeting, click More actions (…) → Language and speech → Turn on live captions.
2. Once captions appear, click the gear icon next to them and choose Caption settings.
3. Select Spoken language (what is being spoken in the meeting) and Translate to (your personal target).
4. Each participant repeats this independently — captions are per-viewer, so a French speaker and a Japanese speaker on the same call each see captions in their own language.
5. For organization-wide enablement: in the Teams admin center, go to Meeting policies and enable Translated live captions in your meeting policy.

Captions are text only. For spoken translation, Teams' Interpreter agent (More actions → Language and speech → Interpreter → Turn on for me) needs a Microsoft 365 Copilot license for each listener, and guests or anonymous attendees can't use it.

How to Run LiveLingo Alongside a Teams Call

The browser-companion approach takes about a minute to set up the first time and works on any Teams plan, free included:

1. Open your Teams meeting in one browser tab (or in the Teams desktop app).
2. Open LiveLingo in a second browser tab. Pick your source and target languages.
3. For one-way translation (you understand the other side): use earphones — LiveLingo speaks the translated audio into your ear while the Teams call plays the original.
4. For two-way translation: the other person opens LiveLingo in their own browser tab beside their Teams window, the same way. Each person speaks naturally and hears the other side translated.
5. Alternative path entirely: skip Teams and place a translated phone call — dial their regular number from the app; the other side just answers a normal call, no install on their end.

This is the right pick when you need translation but can't get IT approval for a Teams Marketplace app, when the other side is external (no shared M365 tenant), or when the cost of a Teams Premium upgrade isn't justified.

Teams on the web? Use the LiveLingo Chrome extension

If you join Teams in Chrome on a computer you control, the LiveLingo Chrome extension is the quickest setup. It captures the meeting tab's audio directly, so it works with headphones on, and shows the translation as captions over the meeting. Click the extension icon on the Teams tab, pick the meeting language and yours, and press Start. It translates what the other participants say, not your own microphone, and it can't hear the Teams desktop app, which plays audio outside the browser. Minutes are shared with your web account, with 3 free minutes a day and no account needed.

Share the translation with your whole team

When everyone on your side needs the translation, one person runs it and shares it. Start a session in the latest LiveLingo app on iPhone or Android (Pro or free trial), tap the gold Invite button, and paste the link into the Teams meeting chat. Teammates open the link in the LiveLingo app and follow the same live translation on their own phones, up to 20 people per session. The link closes when the host stops. Viewers on a free account get 3 sessions per device; paid accounts are unlimited. It also works in a meeting room where several people share one laptop.

Which Option Fits Your Use Case

• Your organization is on Teams Premium or Microsoft 365 Copilot. Start with native Live Translated Captions. Layer on DeepL Voice if you need higher accuracy for regulated work.
• You're on standard Microsoft 365 (no Premium). LiveLingo beside the call: the Chrome extension for Teams on the web, or a second tab or your phone for the desktop app.
• You're a small team or freelancer using Teams free or your client's tenant. LiveLingo browser companion. No install, no plan upgrade, no IT ticket.
• You're in finance, legal, or healthcare. DeepL Voice for Meetings. Compliance plus accuracy beats Microsoft's native option for high-stakes work.
• You're running a multilingual all-hands or external webinar. Interprefy (if you want human-interpreter backup) or Wordly (AI-only).
• Everyone on your side needs the translation. One person runs LiveLingo and shares the invite link in the meeting chat; up to 20 teammates follow on their own phones.
• You need translated phone calls as well as Teams calls. LiveLingo — it's the only tool here that does both.

Frequently Asked Questions