Replace Translation Headsets With Live Captions
The congregation reads live captions on the sanctuary screen, and members who want them in their hand use the app on their own phone. There is no hardware to charge, lose, or sanitize.
Captions beat headsets for most churches
Headset systems cost hundreds to thousands up front, need an interpreter booth, and break down. Live caption translation starts at $19.99/month and works as soon as the captions are on the screen.
What a headset system asks of a church every Sunday
A wireless interpretation system needs a transmitter, one receiver and earpiece for every listener, batteries or a charging case, a quiet place for the interpreter to sit, and a volunteer who hands the receivers out and collects them afterwards. It also needs the interpreter: someone fluent enough to follow the preaching in real time, every week, for each language. When that person is sick or travelling, the language group has nothing that Sunday.
- Hardware to buy, store, charge, clean and replace when it is lost
- One human interpreter for each language, every service
- Listeners wear a device that separates them from the family next to them
What live captions ask instead
One laptop, tablet or phone near the pulpit listens to the sermon. The words appear as translated captions on the sanctuary screen with the Subtitles screen, on a livestream as an OBS overlay, or on each listener's own phone. With QR Code Join, included in every plan, the congregation scans one code and reads along in the browser with no account and no app to install. Members keep their own phone in their own hand, and nothing has to be collected at the door.
When headsets are still the better choice
Captions are text. A listener who cannot read comfortably, a child who does not read yet, or an elderly member with poor eyesight may be better served by a person speaking in their ear. Services with long stretches of singing are also harder for any speech recognition, because sung words are harder to recognise than speech. Many churches keep one human interpreter for those members and use captions for everyone else.
Switching from headsets to captions
Try the captions on a real service first: every account gets 1 free hour every month, enough to run a full sermon. Put the captions on the screen for the language group that uses the headsets most, ask them afterwards, and keep the headsets in the cupboard until the group is happy. Basic is $19.99 a month for 12 hours, and Standard is $34 a month for 30 hours with subtitle mode included.
Can we translate a church service without headsets?
Yes. The sermon is translated into captions that people read on the projector, the livestream or their own phones, so no receivers or earpieces are needed.
Does anyone need to install an app?
No. Sermon Translate runs in the browser. With QR Code Join, included in every plan, listeners scan a code and read without an account.
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.