“Doesn’t Zoom already have translated captions?” is the question we hear most, and the answer is yes — and so do Teams and Google Meet. The real questions are different: whose account needs which plan, which languages are covered, and whether anyone outside the meeting can see it. Here is where each platform stands on its own official documentation as of September 2026.
At a glance
| Zoom | Microsoft Teams | Google Meet | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Translated captions require | The host is on a Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Plus or Enterprise Premier account, or has the Translated Captions add-on1 | The meeting organiser holds a Teams Premium or Microsoft 365 Copilot licence2 | Business Standard/Plus or Enterprise Standard/Plus3 |
| Caption languages | 36 that translate between each other (Greek, Norwegian and Welsh as output only)1 | 31, including Traditional Chinese2 | About 69, including Mandarin (Traditional)3 |
| Cantonese speakers | Cantonese is on the supported list1 | Spoken-language list includes Chinese (Traditional, Hong Kong SAR)2 | Not listed (Mandarin only)3 |
| Voice translation (hear it, not read it) | Voice Translator: Pro/Business/Enterprise, Windows/macOS desktop app 7.0+ only, separately metered; English, Chinese, Spanish, French, Japanese4 | None | Generally available since January 2026; English paired with Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian5 |
| Who can see it | Participants inside the meeting | Participants inside the meeting; town halls limited to 6 organiser-selected languages (10 with Premium)2 | Participants inside the meeting |
Four limits they share
One: they serve people inside the meeting. All three translate for participants who have joined the call. At a hybrid event, the audience sitting in the hall is not covered; neither is anyone watching a YouTube or Facebook simulcast. For a fully remote internal meeting that is fine. For an event with a room, it is the whole problem.
Two: the host’s plan decides everything. Teams states it most plainly — if the organiser holds Premium or Copilot, every participant gets translated captions; if not, only individually licensed people see the option2. Zoom’s documentation ties translated captions to the host’s account plan1, and Meet keys off the host’s Workspace edition. If you are a guest speaker on someone else’s platform, this is out of your hands.
Three: check Cantonese platform by platform. Zoom lists Cantonese explicitly for translated captions1, and Teams lists Hong Kong Traditional Chinese as a spoken language2; Google Meet documents Mandarin only3. If your organisation runs on Meet and the speaker uses Cantonese, the built-in captions will not follow.
Four: voice translation is still early. Zoom’s Voice Translator covers five languages, desktop only, on separate billing4; Meet’s speech translation works between English and five European languages5; Teams has none. Listeners who want to hear rather than read have limited choices.
When built-in is enough
- A fully remote internal meeting, everyone on the same platform
- The host’s account is already on the qualifying plan (or someone can approve it)
- The speaker’s language is on that platform’s list
- Text captions are sufficient and attendees can read while watching
If all of those hold, use the built-in feature and skip the extra channel.
When you need a parallel translation channel
- Hybrid events: there is an audience in the room who are not in the meeting
- Live streams: viewers are on YouTube or Facebook, not in Zoom
- Cantonese speakers on Google Meet
- Attendees from different organisations, where you cannot ask the host to upgrade
- Attendees who want to choose their own language, including a translated voice rather than only text
- You are the speaker, not the host, and cannot change the host’s settings
The parallel-channel approach leaves the meeting untouched: publish a caption link alongside it, attendees scan a QR code on their phone and pick a language. It does not replace the platform; it covers the people the platform cannot reach. The Zoom webinar and hybrid event pages each have a setup walkthrough; tlive takes Cantonese, Mandarin or English as the source and offers 13 translated voice languages.
A practical test
Ask one question: “Where are the people who cannot follow, right now?” If they are all inside the meeting, on the same platform, and the host’s plan covers their language, built-in is enough. If any one of those is false, you need a second channel.
Want to try a parallel caption channel? Try 20 credits free — no credit card required.
Footnotes
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Zoom Support, Viewing captions in another language: https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0060844 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5
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Microsoft Support, Use live captions in Microsoft Teams meetings: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/use-live-captions-in-microsoft-teams-meetings-4be2d304-f675-4b57-8347-cbd000a21260 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6
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Google Meet Help, Use translated captions in Google Meet: https://support.google.com/meet/answer/10964115 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
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Zoom Blog, Live voice translation in Zoom (22 July 2026): https://www.zoom.com/en/blog/voice-translation-zoom ↩ ↩2
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Google Workspace Updates, Speech translation in Google Meet now generally available (February 2026): https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2026/02/speech-translation-meet-ga.html ↩ ↩2