Google Meet Translation: Captions, Speech Translation, Cost & Limits (2026)

Google Meet can translate in two ways: by showing captions in another language, and, on a narrower set of languages, by speaking the translation aloud. They are separate features with separate plans and limits. Here is what each does, how to turn it on, and where both stop.

Does Google Meet have real-time translation?

Yes, in two forms.

Translated captions show what is being said as text in another language. Google lists them for the Workspace editions Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus, and for Google AI Pro for Education. Each participant turns them on for themselves.

Speech translation speaks the translation aloud, in near real time. Google lists it for Google AI Pro and Ultra, Workspace Business Standard and Plus, Enterprise Standard and Plus, Frontline Plus, AI Pro for Education and AI Expanded Access. The host chooses one language pair for the whole meeting.

Both are paid features. Google's help pages list no free plan for either.

How to turn on translated captions in Google Meet

On a computer, during a meeting:

• Click More options, then Settings, then Captions
• Under Language of the meeting, choose the language being spoken
• Turn on Translated captions
• Choose the language you want to read

Each person sets their own translation language. If you record the meeting, select Record captions to embed the captions in the video. Google notes that the feature is rolling out gradually, so it may not appear on every account yet.

How to turn on speech translation

The host sets it up once per meeting:

• At the bottom right, click Meeting tools, then Speech translation
• Select the language pair for the meeting
• Click Enable translation for everyone

Each participant then clicks the Speech translation badge and chooses the language they speak and the language they want to hear. Only one language pair can be used in a meeting.

Which languages does Google Meet translate?

Google's translated captions page lists several dozen languages that captions can be translated to or from, including Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Urdu and Vietnamese. Check the page for your language before relying on it, because the list changes.

Speech translation is much narrower. Google's speech translation page lists translation between English and French, German, Hindi, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

That is starting to change. In June 2026, Google announced a version of speech translation with 70+ languages and translation between languages other than English, in private preview for select business Workspace customers, with a broader rollout planned later in the year.

Where Google Meet translation stops

It needs a paid plan. Neither feature is listed for a free Google account.

Speech translation covers one pair. One language pair per meeting, and outside the preview, English is always one side of it. A meeting with a Spanish speaker, a Hindi speaker and an English speaker can't be served by one pair.

A 90-minute limit. Speech translation runs for up to 90 minutes per meeting.

Not in recordings. Speech translation is not available in recordings or live streams. Translated captions can be recorded.

Who can take part. Google lists reasons speech translation may not work for a participant: the host isn't on an eligible account, the host's admin has turned it off, the participant is under 18, in an unsupported region, or on an unsupported device. People joining from Meet hardware can listen to translations but can't have their own speech translated.

Meet only. Translation stays inside the Meet call. A phone call, a conversation at a desk or a meeting on another platform needs something else.

Google Meet translation vs a browser-based tool

Comparison as of October 2026, from Google's help pages and announcement listed under Sources; check Google for current plans and languages.

When Meet's built-in translation is enough, and when it is not

If your organisation already pays for Business Standard or higher and the people in the meeting can read captions, translated captions are a solid, already-paid-for option. If someone needs to hear the translation, speech translation works well when the meeting fits one of its six pairs with English.

The gaps open with more than two languages in one meeting, with spoken translation outside those pairs, and with people outside your organisation whose accounts aren't eligible. That is the situation Mingle's multilingual meetings covers. Mingle Meet is its own meeting room, not a Google Meet add-on, so for those calls you hold the meeting in Mingle instead: guests join by link with nothing to install, and each person reads captions and can hear the translation in their own language across 60+ languages.

For transparency: Mingle is our product. For an internal meeting on an eligible Workspace plan, where everyone fits one supported language pair, Google Meet's own tools may be all you need.

If your organisation uses another platform, Zoom real-time translation and Microsoft Teams live translation cover the same setup, cost and limits.

Sources

Checked against Google's own pages on 5 October 2026.

• Google Meet Help: Use translated captions in Google Meet
• Google Meet Help: Learn about speech translation
• Google Workspace Admin Help: Turn speech translation on or off for Meet
• Google blog: Gemini 3.5 Live Translate (9 June 2026)