Church Captioning Services: What Are Your Options and What Do They Cost?
· By the Sermon Translate team
A church can caption its sermon three ways: book a human live captioner, rely on the auto captions built into a streaming platform, or run an AI captioning app on a computer that hears the preacher. Sermon Translate is the AI option: it captions the sermon live on the sanctuary screen and over a livestream, starting at one free hour a month, and the same captions can appear in up to 5 languages at once.
Why do churches look for captioning services?
Most churches start looking for captions for one of three reasons. A member is deaf or hard of hearing and cannot follow the sermon by ear. The congregation includes people who speak another language and read better than they listen. Or the church streams its service and wants viewers to follow along with the sound off.
The answer is different for each reason, so decide first who the captions are for and where they will appear: on the sanctuary screen, over the livestream, or on each person's own phone. The options below are measured against those three places.
What are the three kinds of church captioning service?
| Option | How it works | Best for | Main limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human live captioner | A trained person listens to the service, remotely or in the room, and types the captions as the sermon is spoken | Members who rely on captions every week and need the highest accuracy | Booked in advance and billed by the hour, so cost grows with every service |
| Platform auto captions | The streaming or video call platform turns speech into text on its own | A quick, no setup start for the livestream only | Usually the same language as the speaker, and it does not reach the sanctuary screen by itself |
| AI captioning app | An app on a computer hears the sermon and shows live captions and translations | Screen, livestream and phones from one setup, in many languages | Needs a good audio feed and an internet connection |
Prices for human captioners vary by provider, so ask for a written quote that covers the length of your service, setup time and any rehearsal. For the AI option, the prices in this article come straight from the Sermon Translate pricing page.
When is a human captioner still the right choice?
If a member depends on captions to follow the sermon every week, ask that member what works. Some people want a trained human captioner for accuracy with names and Scripture. Others are well served by software and a clear screen. The member's own comfort matters more than any feature list.
How does AI captioning work in a church service?
Sermon Translate runs in a browser on a laptop, tablet or phone. You choose the language the preacher speaks and the caption languages, then press record. Captions appear sentence by sentence. Sermon Translate reads 123 languages as captions, and 61 of them can be spoken from the pulpit.
- Send a feed from the sound desk into the computer, or place a microphone close to the preacher.
- Open the Subtitles screen and pick the preacher's language and up to 5 caption languages.
- Use Float or Pop out to move the captions onto the sanctuary projector or TV.
- For the livestream, press Copy OBS URL and add it as a Browser Source in OBS or Streamlabs.
- Show the church's QR code so people can read on their own phones with no account.
The full equipment walk through is in our step by step guide. For the livestream side in detail, read live captions for church.
What does AI church captioning cost?
| Plan | Price | Hours a month | Subtitles screen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1 hour, resets on the 1st | Works within the free hour |
| Basic | $19.99 a month | 12 | $10 a month add-on |
| Standard | $34 a month | 30 | Included |
| All Languages | $59 a month | 60 | Included |
Standard works out to about $1.13 per hour of captioning. The first month of any monthly plan is 50% off for new subscribers, and extra hours can be bought one time, for example 1 hour for $3.00 or 5 hours for $13.99. Each language beyond what your plan includes uses another hour of plan time per hour recorded: Free and Basic include 1 language, Standard includes 2, and All Languages includes every language. QR Code Join is included in every plan.
Check the current prices on the pricing page before you decide. They can change, and that page is always the source.
How do you keep captions readable and useful?
- Use a large, plain, bold font with strong contrast. Thin text disappears on a projector.
- Keep captions off the lyrics. Our article on projector captions without hiding lyrics covers layout.
- Add speaker, ministry and place names to the church glossary so they are spelled the same each week (custom vocabulary is part of the Standard plan).
- Save the session so members can read the sermon again later. Transcripts are part of Standard.
- Test the chain once before a Sunday that matters, from the pulpit microphone to a phone watching the stream.
What are the honest limits of AI captions?
- It needs an internet connection on the captioning computer. It does not work offline.
- Speed: captions appear about half a second after the words are spoken, and the translation follows within a few seconds, usually about two to three, then is tidied up as the sentence completes. Measured from our recorded sessions, September 2026.
- Accuracy depends on audio quality, how clearly the preacher speaks and unusual vocabulary.
- Sung lyrics caption poorly, so show lyrics on slides.
- Captions are text only. There is no spoken audio translation of the sermon on the sanctuary screen.
Next step
Use the free monthly hour on the computer you would caption from. Connect the sound desk feed, open the Subtitles screen and run one real service. Then ask the members you are captioning for whether it works for them. If it does, choose a plan. If a member needs a certified human captioner, keep that service in place and add the AI captions for everyone else.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best captioning service for a church?
It depends on who the captions are for. A human live captioner suits a member who relies on captions every week and needs the highest accuracy. An AI captioning app such as Sermon Translate suits churches that want captions on the sanctuary screen, the livestream and members' phones, in many languages, at a low monthly cost.
Can a church caption its service for free?
Partly. Many streaming platforms offer automatic captions on the livestream, so check what yours includes. Sermon Translate gives every account 1 free hour of live captions and translation each month, with no credit card, which is enough to test a real service.
Can captions appear on the sanctuary screen and the livestream?
Yes. The Subtitles screen can be floated onto the projector or TV, and Copy OBS URL adds the same captions to an OBS or Streamlabs livestream as a Browser Source with a transparent background.
Do live captions help deaf and hard of hearing members?
They can. Sermon Translate shows a live transcript of the preacher's words in the language spoken. It is an AI tool, so ask the member whether it meets their needs, and keep a human captioner where one is required.
Do members need an account to read the captions?
No. Anyone can read a shared projector, TV or livestream. On their own phones, people can scan the church's QR code and read in the browser with no account and no app.
How many languages can the captions show?
Up to 5 caption languages at once on the Subtitles screen, each on its own line, chosen from 123 languages. Each extra language beyond what your plan includes uses more plan time.
Try Sermon Translate at your next service
Start with 1 free hour every month, no credit card needed. Plans start at $19.99 a month.
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