The Best Translation App for Every Situation

There is no single best translation app. The one that reads a menu in Lisbon is not the one that gets you through a video call with your partner's grandmother, and neither is the one your office uses for meetings. Here is what to use for each job, including the two we make, and where something else is the better choice.

The short answer

Situation	Best pick	Also good
Text you type or paste	DeepL	Google Translate
Documents (Word, PDF, slides)	DeepL	Google Translate on the web
Signs, menus and labels	Google Translate's camera	Apple Translate's camera
Chat messages	The translate button in your messaging app	Messages on an iPhone with Apple Intelligence
A quick exchange in person	Google Translate's conversation mode	Apple Translate with AirPods
A long conversation or a family dinner	VivaLingua, in person	Translator earbuds
A phone call	Your phone's own call translation	Samsung's also works in WhatsApp calls
A video call with family or a partner	VivaLingua, on iPhone or Android	VideoCallTranslator, in the browser
A WhatsApp call	Samsung Galaxy Live Translate	A translated-call link sent in the chat
A work meeting	The meeting tool your company already pays for	DeepL Voice
Travel without data	Google Translate's offline languages	Apple Translate's on-device mode
Legal, medical or immigration	A professional interpreter	Not a machine

Text and documents

DeepL is the one to beat for text you type or paste, and for documents. Its translations often read more naturally than Google's, it keeps a document's layout when it translates Word, PowerPoint and PDF files, and it covers more than a hundred languages. The free version limits how much you can translate; paid plans lift the limits.

Google Translate covers far more languages, close to 250 of them, and it is free. If the language you need is less common, Google is often the only good option.

Signs, menus and photos

Point Google Translate's camera at the text and the translation appears over it, or translate a photo you already took. Download a language before you travel and it works without a connection, which matters most when you are abroad. Apple's Translate app and DeepL's app also translate from the camera.

Chat messages

Use the translate button in the app you are already chatting in. WhatsApp has translated messages since September 2025: press and hold a message and tap Translate, and the translation happens on your phone. On an iPhone with Apple Intelligence, Messages can translate a conversation as you type. If you need to talk rather than type, our guide to translating a WhatsApp video call covers what works.

Talking in person

Google Translate is the free default for a quick exchange. In conversation mode two people take turns speaking into one phone, and it can speak the translation through headphones, on Android and iPhone.

Apple's Live Translation with AirPods is the smoothest choice if you already own the hardware: an iPhone 15 Pro or later with Apple Intelligence and recent AirPods, in about ten languages. The other person reads a transcript, listens to the iPhone's speaker, or wears AirPods of their own.

VivaLingua is for the longer conversation: dinner with your partner's family, a week of visits, a table where not everyone shares a language. You start an in-person session, and the people with you join from the app or from a link in their own phone's browser; you can let in more than one. Everyone hears the others in their own language, spoken aloud. That is the job translator earbuds are usually sold for, and we compared the two if you are deciding.

Phone calls

If your phone translates calls, use that. All three of these speak the translation aloud, and only one of you needs the phone:

• Samsung Galaxy: Live Translate with Galaxy AI speaks the translation for both sides and shows it on screen. It works in the Phone app and, on supported models, in other calling apps including WhatsApp. Around twenty languages.
• iPhone: Live Translation in the Phone app speaks the translation for both sides, on an iPhone 15 Pro or later with Apple Intelligence, for one-to-one calls in about ten languages.
• Google Pixel: Pixel 10 and later translate calls in the Phone app, on the phone itself, between English and about ten other languages, in a voice that sounds like the speaker's.

The catch: each works only on that maker's recent phones, mostly inside its own calling app, and in a fixed set of languages.

Video calls with family or a partner

This is the job we build for, so here are both of ours, and when to pick which.

VivaLingua: the app

You install VivaLingua on iPhone or Android, pick your languages and start a call. Tap Invite by link and your phone's share sheet sends the link wherever you already talk: WhatsApp, a text, email. The person you are calling opens it in any browser, with no app and no account. Each of you speaks your own language and hears the other in seconds, spoken aloud, with captions on screen at the same moment.

It covers 41 languages, any to any, without going through English. Only the host spends minutes: prepaid, no subscription, from $2.99 for 30 minutes, and your first 60 minutes are free. The same app handles conversations in person. With the optional AI Voice, it can speak your translated words in a voice that sounds like you, in most of those languages, at no extra cost; it is not offered in some countries and US states.

VideoCallTranslator: the browser version

VideoCallTranslator, from the same company, runs the call in the browser at both ends, so nobody installs anything, the host included. You create a room on the site, send its link, and the other person taps it, on a phone or a computer. It is built for two people, covers the same 41 languages, lets each of you choose a male or female voice for your translated speech, and has separate volume controls for the translation and the original voice. Minutes are prepaid there too, from $3 for 30 minutes, and new accounts start with 30 free minutes.

Which one? Pick VivaLingua if you want it on your phone, if you will also talk in person, or for AI Voice. Pick VideoCallTranslator if you would rather not install anything, or you call from a computer.

What about FaceTime and Google Meet?

FaceTime's Live Translation shows translated captions rather than speaking, and both of you need Apple devices, with Apple Intelligence for the captions, in about ten languages. Google Meet speaks a translation only between English and five other languages on a paid plan, and captions around 70. If you both have the right devices and reading is enough, they are built in. We compared them in detail in Does FaceTime or Google Meet already translate calls?

When a translated video call is the wrong tool

• One of you has a supported Samsung Galaxy phone and your languages are on its list. Live Translate works inside a WhatsApp call, so you may not need anything else.
• More than two of you need to be on the same video call. VivaLingua's video calls take one guest, and VideoCallTranslator is one-to-one. VivaLingua's in-person sessions take more.
• The call has to be end-to-end encrypted. No live translator can be, because it has to hear what you say.

Skype Translator, which many people remember for this, went away with Skype in May 2025.

Work meetings

Start with the meeting tool your company already pays for, because the translation lives inside the meeting and everyone joins the usual way. Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Zoom all sell translated captions or spoken translation on business plans or as add-ons, and the details change often, so check your own plan. DeepL Voice works across Teams, Zoom and Meet, which helps if you meet on more than one, and is sold on DeepL's business plans.

When to use a person, not an app

For a doctor's appointment, a court hearing, an immigration interview or a contract, use a professional interpreter. Machine translation is good enough for a conversation and not good enough for a decision with consequences. On-demand services such as LanguageLine and Jeenie connect you to an interpreter by phone or video in minutes, and some courts require a certified interpreter whatever you bring.

Quick questions

What is the best app for a translated video call with family?

For spoken translation in both directions on a personal call, a dedicated app: VivaLingua on iPhone or Android, or VideoCallTranslator in the browser. In both, the person you invite joins free from a link. FaceTime and Google Meet translate too, but FaceTime only shows captions and Meet speaks only a handful of language pairs on a paid plan.

Is DeepL better than Google Translate?

For text and documents in the languages DeepL covers, its translations usually read more naturally. Google Translate covers more than twice as many languages, and works offline for languages you download.

Can a translation app replace an interpreter?

For everyday conversation, often. For medical, legal or immigration matters, no: use a professional interpreter.

If a video call is the job, try VivaLingua. The person you call joins from a link, and pays nothing.