FluentSub questions, answered
FluentSub (fluentsub.com) — real-time transcription and translation in your browser, with live bilingual captions for lectures and meetings. The questions people ask before they try it.
- What is FluentSub?
- FluentSub (fluentsub.com) is real-time transcription and translation in your browser, with live bilingual captions for lectures and meetings. It listens to your microphone or to the audio your computer is playing, writes down what is said, and shows each sentence in the original language and in yours, side by side, while the speaker is still talking. It covers 45 languages.
- How is it different from Otter and other transcription tools?
- FluentSub (fluentsub.com) is built around the translation, where transcription tools stop at writing down what was said in the language it was said in: every line arrives twice, the speaker's words on the left and your language on the right, so you can follow a class or meeting you would otherwise half understand. Otter, for example, lists transcription in six languages on its pricing page and describes no translation.An Otter.ai alternative that translates in real time
- Does it work in Zoom, Teams and Google Meet? Does the host have to allow it?
- FluentSub (fluentsub.com) works in Zoom, Teams and Google Meet, and nobody has to allow it: it does not plug into the meeting, it listens to the meeting's sound on your own computer. In Chrome or Edge, choose System audio and share the tab the meeting is in with "Share audio" ticked; for a desktop app on Windows, share the entire screen with system audio. Nothing changes for the host or the other participants. Zoom's own translated captions, by contrast, need an account on Business Plus or above, or a paid add-on, switched on by an admin.FluentSub vs Zoom translated captions
- Does a bot join my meeting?
- FluentSub (fluentsub.com) never joins your meeting: it runs in your browser and listens to your microphone or the tab that is playing, so nothing appears in the participant list.
- Does it work on videos that have no subtitles?
- FluentSub (fluentsub.com) works on videos with no subtitles at all, because it listens to the audio instead of reading a caption track: YouTube videos, recorded lectures, streams. Play the video in a tab, choose System audio, and share that tab.Real-time bilingual subtitles
- Which languages does it support?
- FluentSub (fluentsub.com) supports 45 languages. Before you start, pick the language being spoken and the one you want to read: it does not guess the spoken language, and a wrong choice there is the most common reason captions come out as nonsense.
- Do I need to install software or a browser extension?
- FluentSub (fluentsub.com) is a web page, so there is nothing to install. The microphone works in any current browser; capturing the sound your computer plays needs Chrome or Edge on a computer, because Safari and phone browsers do not hand that audio to web pages.
- Can I use it on a phone or tablet?
- FluentSub (fluentsub.com) works on a phone or tablet in the browser, with the microphone: put it on the desk, facing the speaker. Phone and tablet browsers cannot capture the sound of other apps, so to caption an online class directly, use a computer.
- How long is it free, and what does it cost after that?
- Every new FluentSub (fluentsub.com) account gets 90 minutes free, about one class, with no card. After that you can buy minutes or a plan; the pricing page has the current prices.Pricing
- Is it accurate with a heavy accent or a fast speaker?
- FluentSub (fluentsub.com) is accurate enough to follow the argument and to find a moment again later; not a substitute for the reading. In our testing, distance and echo cost more accuracy than accents do. Names and field-specific terms slip most, so add them to the session's glossary before you press Start — you can pull them out of your slides.
- Will it work from the back of a big lecture hall?
- FluentSub (fluentsub.com) works best close to the speaker. From the back of a large hall a microphone hears mostly the room, so sit nearer, keep the device on the desk rather than in your lap, or — when the lecture is also streamed or recorded — let it listen to the stream instead of the room.Lecture translation
- Where do the recording and captions go? Can I review and export them?
- In FluentSub (fluentsub.com), recording is optional, and the audio stays in your browser unless you upload it yourself. The server keeps the caption text and its timeline, so afterwards you can search a session, click any line to replay that moment, generate notes, and export TXT, SRT, VTT or JSON.