Translated captions in any Zoom class, without Business Plus or a paid add-on
Zoom can translate its captions, but only for accounts that pay for it, and only inside Zoom. FluentSub (fluentsub.com) does it from your side: it listens to the meeting on your own computer and shows the original and your language side by side, whatever Zoom plan the class runs on.
| FluentSub | Zoom | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it works | Anything your computer plays or your microphone hears: Zoom, Teams, Meet, recorded lectures, videos, in-person classes | Zoom meetings and webinars |
| What it takes | A free FluentSub account, with 90 minutes included | Included in Business Plus and Enterprise plans; other paid accounts need the Translated Captions add-on; free accounts can't use it |
| Who switches it on | You, on your own device. Nobody in the meeting does anything | An account owner or admin enables it and sets the languages; participants then turn it on themselves |
| Languages | 45 | 36 listed, translatable between most of them |
Details of Zoom and Microsoft Teams were checked against official pages on 2026-10-26, linked below. Features and plans change, and the official sites have the final word. Product names are trademarks of their owners; FluentSub is not affiliated with them.
Sources: Zoom Support: Enabling and configuring translated captions · Zoom blog: Translated captions · Microsoft Support: Use live captions in Microsoft Teams meetings
The real difference: who has to switch it on
Zoom's translated captions are a setting on a Zoom account: the account needs Business Plus or Enterprise, or the add-on, and an owner or admin has to switch them on. If your university's account has done that, they are already there for you. If it hasn't, there is nothing a participant can add from their side.
FluentSub works from your side only. It hears the meeting through your computer's audio, so it doesn't matter which plan the meeting runs on, and it works just the same in Teams, Google Meet or a recorded lecture afterwards.
When Zoom's own captions are the better choice
- Your organisation's Zoom plan includes translated captions, they are switched on, and your language pair is among the 36.
- You would rather not share a tab or your screen's audio with another browser tab.
- Everyone in the meeting needs captions, and one account setting covers all of them.
Using FluentSub with a Zoom class
Open FluentSub in Chrome or Edge, pick the spoken language and yours, and choose System audio. If Zoom is open in the browser, share that tab with "Share audio" ticked; with the Zoom desktop app on Windows, share the entire screen with system audio. Captions start as soon as someone speaks.
And Microsoft Teams?
Same pattern. Teams' live translated captions need a Teams Premium or Microsoft Copilot license; when the meeting organiser has one, every participant can use them. Without it, FluentSub captions a Teams meeting the same way it does a Zoom one.