You have an international audience, a date on the calendar and a question that comes up in every event meeting: how do we make sure everyone can follow? In 2026 there are two ways to answer it. You can book professional human interpreters, or you can use AI speech translation that turns the speaker's audio into captions and spoken translation in real time. The four platforms organizers shortlist most often are Maestra Live, KUDO, Wordly and Interprefy. For most conferences, webinars and hybrid events, Maestra Live is the one to start with: it is the only one of the four you can buy online and run the same day.
The case for doing it is strong. In a 2020 CSA Research survey of 8,709 online shoppers in 29 countries, 76% preferred to buy products with information in their own language, and 40% said they would never buy from websites in other languages. People engage with what they can understand, and a live event is no different.
The four options in plain terms
Maestra Live is self-serve AI speech translation. Feed it a microphone, a mixer or a Zoom, Meet or Teams call and it produces live captions and translated audio at once, in a catalog of 100+ languages, including a mode that clones the speaker's own voice. Attendees join by QR code or link in any browser, with no app or account. Plans are published and include unlimited sessions: from $15/month for quick conversations, from $39 per seat per month for meetings, from $359/month for longer recurring sessions, and from $799/day for conferences with up to three rooms and five target languages. It has no human interpreters.
KUDO pairs AI translation in 70+ languages with a marketplace of professional interpreters, so one event can use humans where it must and AI elsewhere. Pricing is on request.
Wordly is an established AI-only platform in 60+ languages with strong event-industry integrations. It sells prepaid hour packages, starting around $1,500 for ten hours.
Interprefy is the human-interpretation specialist: certified remote interpreters in virtually any language, plus an AI tier in 80+ languages. It quotes per event.
Pick your path
| If your event… | Go with |
|---|---|
| Requires certified interpreters (legal, governmental, regulated) | Interprefy or KUDO |
| Has humans on the main stage and AI in breakouts | KUDO |
| Is an AI-only program with a fixed number of translated hours | Wordly |
| Is a conference, webinar series, hybrid event or recurring community session | Maestra Live |
| Is short notice, with no time for a sales cycle | Maestra Live |
A simple plan, from signup to event day
Four weeks out: define the need. List the languages your audience actually speaks, which sessions matter most, and whether any session legally requires certified interpretation. Ask each shortlisted vendor which exact language pairs it supports and what the price is based on (hour, event, language, room or audience size).
Three weeks out: run a trial. Test with your own speaker, accent and vocabulary, not the vendor's demo. Measure the delay between speech and translation and check how names and technical terms come through. With Maestra Live you can sign up online and start testing immediately; KUDO and Interprefy will start with a sales conversation.
Two weeks out: plan the audio and the audience. Decide how sound reaches the platform (microphone, AV mixer, OBS, vMix, or a Zoom, Meet or Teams call) and how attendees will join. A QR code on screens and printed signage works well for the room; a link in the invitation works for remote attendees.
One week out: rehearse. Run the full setup in the real room with real noise. Check each language, each speaker and each input. The Maestra Live Events plan includes unlimited rehearsal and dedicated setup and day-of support.
Event day: keep a fallback. Have a second device ready and a clear message for attendees on how to switch language. For any session that cannot fail, keep a human interpreter on standby.
After the event: reuse the content. Session recordings and transcripts in every language turn one live session into multilingual material you can publish. Maestra Live saves transcripts in each translated language and provides an editor that links every line to its audio.
What will it cost?
Human simultaneous interpretation needs two interpreters per language per booth, priced per day, so cost grows with every language and every parallel room. AI is far cheaper, but the pricing models differ: hourly packages, per-event quotes and subscriptions are not directly comparable. As an illustration, a two-day conference on the Maestra Live Events plan costs 2 × $799 = $1,598 for up to three rooms and five target languages. Wordly's entry package of about $1,500 buys ten translated hours, roughly $150 an hour, which two full conference days would use up quickly. For KUDO and Interprefy, ask for a written quote that lists languages, hours and the human-versus-AI mix.
Questions organizers ask
Do attendees need to install anything?
With Maestra Live, no. They scan a QR code or open a link and choose their language in any browser, with no app and no account.
Will it work with the tools we already use?
All four platforms integrate with Zoom and Teams. Maestra Live also works with Google Meet and accepts stage microphone, AV mixer, OBS and vMix inputs for in-person, hybrid and broadcast events.
Can AI really replace interpreters?
For most sessions it covers more languages at a fraction of the cost. It is not a substitute where certified interpretation is required, such as legal, governmental and regulated sessions.
How big an audience can it handle?
It depends on the plan. Maestra Live's Events plan covers up to 100 concurrent viewers across three rooms; larger audiences need a custom arrangement. Ask any vendor for its concurrent-audience limits in writing.
Which option is fastest to start?
Maestra Live: published pricing, online checkout and a first session the same day. The other three begin with a sales conversation or a package purchase.
