Compare Church Translation Apps and Alternatives
See how Sermon Translate compares to other church translation apps, human interpreters, translation headsets and general-purpose translation apps.
What live translation costs elsewhere
Live translation platforms built for conferences and businesses charge far more for each hour. These are the published plans on each company's own pricing page. Checked September 17, 2026.
| Service and plan | What you pay | Cost per hour of translation | Sermon Translate compared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sermon Translate (Standard plan) | $34 a month, 30 hours | $1.13 | Every supported language included in the same hour |
| Wordly (Starter, 10-hour package) | $1,500 for 10 hours, used within 12 months | $150 per hour | 132 times less per hour |
| Clevercast (AI Multilingual plan) | €690 a month for 5 AI hours | €138 per hour | At least 121 times less per hour |
| Clevercast (On-site AI plan) | €490 a month for 5 AI hours | €98 per hour | At least 86 times less per hour |
| SyncWords (60-hour yearly plan) | $27 an hour, bought as 60 hours a year | $27 per hour, for each language | 23 times less per hour |
| Maestra (Business plan) | $159 a month for 360 minutes | $26.50 per hour, for each language | 23 times less per hour |
Cost per hour is the plan price divided by the hours it includes. Clevercast publishes prices in euros; the comparison counts one euro as one dollar, which understates the difference. SyncWords and Maestra bill the hours again for each additional language, so a service in two languages costs twice as much there.
Sources: wordly.ai/pricing, clevercast.com/pricing, syncwords.com/pricing, maestra.ai/pricing.
vs. human interpreters
Interpreters excel at nuance but serve one language at a time. Sermon Translate shows up to 5 languages at once from one device, each using its own plan time, with built-in Bible reference lookup, but gives text captions rather than spoken audio.
vs. translation headsets
Headsets require hardware budgets and weekly maintenance. Phone-based captions start at $19.99/month and require no equipment.
vs. Google Translate
Google Translate is general-purpose. Sermon Translate understands sermon register, church vocabulary and Bible references.
vs. Wordly and conference translation platforms
Conference platforms such as Wordly sell hour packages built for events and businesses, and several bill each extra language again. Sermon Translate publishes a monthly church price and is built around the service: verse popups, a church glossary, projector subtitles and sermon notes. The table below lists each platform's published price.
How do churches translate sermons live with this app?
The speaker opens Sermon Translate on a phone, tablet or laptop, selects the spoken language and the translation language, and starts listening. Transcripts and translations appear on that device, and the whole room can read them as captions on a projector or livestream. No headsets, no interpreter booth, no extra hardware.
Which languages are supported?
Sermon Translate supports 123 languages. 61 of them can be spoken from the pulpit, including English, Traditional Chinese, Cantonese, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Vietnamese and 53 more, and all 123 can be read as captions. Every listener can pick their own reading language. The full list is on the languages page.
How is this different from Google Translate or generic AI translation apps?
Google Translate is a powerful general-purpose translator. Sermon Translate is designed around the workflow of a Christian service: church vocabulary, hymn titles, proper names, Bible book names, and verse-reference popups that appear when the speaker clearly references a passage.
Do we need to install anything?
No. It runs in a modern browser on iPhone, Android and desktop. The speaker opens it on one device, and the congregation reads the captions on the projector or livestream. Anyone who wants captions on their own phone opens Sermon Translate there and signs in; each listener needs their own account or trial after the free period.
Can it replace a human interpreter?
Sermon Translate works as a sermon interpreter app for live services and handles common preaching vocabulary well. A church can use it as the main translation for weekly services, or alongside a human interpreter for rare languages or high-stakes events. It is a tool, not a person.