Interpreter cost per hour: 2026 live translation price index

By Alexandru Kornienko · Updated 1 November 2026 · Facts checked 1 November 2026 · 15 min read

Interpreter cost per hour is often the first number people look for before a meeting in another language, and the hardest to compare. Interpreters charge minimums and day rates; AI services sell packages, subscriptions or a licence for every listener. This index puts them all in one unit, the meeting hour, using public price lists checked on 1 November 2026.

Every row shows the published price, how we turned it into an hourly figure, and the source, so you can redo the maths for your own meeting. Getix Translate is our product and has its own row, with the figures behind it on our plans and prices page; for some meetings it is not the right choice, and the tables show that too.

What does one meeting hour cost with a person, a platform or an app?

From under €1 or $1 to more than €200, depending on who translates and how the price is built. The summary groups the 22 options in the full index below.

Option	One meeting hour
Interpreter booked by the hour in Spain	€35 to €52.50 in a two hour meeting, minimums included; VAT extra or not stated
Interpreting agency in Spain	€140 to €225 plus VAT in a two hour meeting
Event AI platforms	About $150 with Wordly's entry package; others quote
Self service AI tools	About $1.30 to $20, by plan and billing period
Built into Meet, Teams or Zoom	Under €1 or $1 at 30 meeting hours a month, if your plan includes it
Phone apps and pocket devices	€0 to under $2, for two people at a time
Getix Translate	From €3.78 on the largest plan, VAT included

Liaison, consecutive or simultaneous: why do interpreter prices differ?

Because each mode needs different time, people and equipment, so the word "interpreter" in a quote can mean very different jobs.

Liaison interpreting means one interpreter sits with both sides and translates in short turns. It suits business meetings and visits, and Spanish price lists show it by the hour with a minimum.
Consecutive interpreting lets the speaker talk for a while before the interpreter renders the passage. Everything is said twice, so the meeting runs longer; agencies price it by the half day or day.
Simultaneous interpreting happens while the speaker talks, usually from a booth, with listeners on headsets. The agency Dixit books two interpreters once a session runs past an hour and a half, and MBA Traducciones charges equipment separately.
Whispered interpreting is simultaneous for one or two listeners, without a booth.

Agencies quote per language. A meeting in Spanish, English and Polish can need two interpreters, while one AI session can show several languages at once.

The index: 22 options priced per meeting hour

Prices below were checked on the official pages on 1 November 2026, in each seller's currency. Unless a row says "plus VAT", "excluding tax" or "VAT included", the seller's page does not say whether tax is included.

Option	Type	Published price	Per meeting hour	Who pays
Interpreter by the hour, Spain	Human, liaison or consecutive	€35 an hour with a 2 hour minimum, tax not stated (a freelancer in Alicante); €35 plus VAT with a 3 hour minimum (Idiomáticus, Valencian Community)	€35 to €52.50 in a two hour meeting	Client
Interpreting agency, Spain	Human, any mode	€70 an hour plus VAT, 4 hour minimum (MBA Traducciones); €350 to €450 plus VAT for up to 2 hours (Dixit)	€140 to €225 plus VAT in a two hour meeting	Client
Wordly	Event AI platform	About $1,500 for a 10 hour package, used within 12 months; tax not stated	About $150	Organiser
Interprefy	Event platform, AI or human	Custom quote; hour packages valid 12 months	Not published	Organiser
KUDO	Event platform, AI or human	Contact sales: pay as you go, or a yearly plan from 50 hours	Not published	Organiser
DeepL Voice for Meetings	Meeting AI	Pricing tailored to each customer	Not published	One licence per meeting for subtitles; one per listener for voice
Palabra	Self service AI	$60, $150 or $500 a month for 3, 10 or 50 hours billed monthly; $45, $113 or $375 billed yearly; tax not stated	$10 to $20 billed monthly; $7.50 to $15 billed yearly	Organiser
Maestra Live	Self service AI	Meetings $49 per user a month ($39 billed yearly), 75 minute sessions; Organizations $449 a month ($359 yearly), 3 hour sessions; Events from $799 a day	About $1.30 to $15 at 30 hours a month; events about $100 over an 8 hour day	User or organiser
Notta	Note taker with live translation	Pro $8.17 plus translation $6 a month, billed yearly, up to 100 translation uses a month	About $0.47 at 30 hours, text only	User
Google Meet speech translation	Built into Meet	Workspace Business Standard €13.60 per user a month, one year commitment, excluding tax	About €0.45 at 30 hours; nothing extra if you already pay	Organiser
Teams translated captions	Built into Teams	Teams Premium $10 per user a month, paid yearly, on top of a Teams licence	About $0.33 at 30 hours	Organiser
Teams Interpreter	Built into Teams	A Microsoft 365 Copilot licence for each listener, 20 hours a month included	Not computed: one licence per listener	Each listener
Zoom Voice Translator	Built into Zoom	ZoomMate $16.67 per user a month billed yearly, $20 monthly; uses AI credits	About $0.56 at 30 hours, if the included credits cover it	User
Zoom translated captions	Built into Zoom	Business Plus or Enterprise plans, or an extra priced by Zoom sales	Not published separately	Host
Google Translate	Phone app	Listed as free on the Spanish App Store	€0	Nobody
Apple Translate with AirPods	Phone app and earbuds	App listed as free on the Spanish App Store; Live Translation needs compatible AirPods and an iPhone 15 Pro or later	€0 with the hardware	Owner
Samsung Interpreter	Phone feature	Samsung says basic Galaxy AI features are free; Galaxy S24 or later	€0 on a compatible phone	Owner
Microsoft Translator	Phone app	Listed as free; conversations across several devices were retired on 30 June 2026	€0	Nobody
Timekettle LiveTalk	Earbuds	$109 on 1 November 2026 (regular price $129), 200 online minutes a month included	About $1.36 if you use 200 minutes a month for two years	Owner
Timekettle X1	Group device	$699.99, out of stock on 1 November 2026; Timekettle describes group use as 3 to 20 devices for 3 to 20 people	Depends on use	Owner
Pocketalk S2	Pocket device	$199 including a 2 year data plan	About $1.66 at 5 hours a month for two years	Owner
Getix Translate (ours)	Meeting AI	Plans from €13.99 a month, VAT included; pay as you go hours that never expire	From €3.78 on the largest plan, billed monthly	Host; guests pay nothing

Smaller Getix Translate plans cost more per hour and yearly billing costs less; every figure is on our pricing page.

How did we turn each price into a meeting hour?

With five formulas, one per pricing model, so every figure can be checked by hand.

Packages: price divided by the hours in the package. Wordly: $1,500 ÷ 10 ≈ $150.
Plans with included hours: monthly price divided by included hours. Palabra Team: $500 ÷ 50 = $10.
Plans with no hour cap: monthly price divided by 30 meeting hours, our assumption for a busy month. Google Workspace: €13.60 ÷ 30 ≈ €0.45. Fewer hours means a higher hourly figure.
Licences per listener: licence price times the number of listeners, so there is no single figure for Teams Interpreter.
Devices: price divided by hours of use over the included data period. These are examples, not offers.

For human interpreters we price a two hour meeting, minimum fee included, and divide by two. Travel and expenses are excluded, as the price lists say. We do not convert currencies.

Interpreter cost per hour in Spain: why do minimums matter?

An interpreter booked by the hour starts at €35, but the minimum fee decides what a short meeting really costs: a one hour meeting can cost the same as two, three or four hours.

Public price list	Mode	Price	Minimum	A one hour meeting costs
Freelance Russian and Spanish interpreter, Alicante	Consecutive	€35 an hour, €40 outside Alicante province	2 hours	€70, tax not stated
Idiomáticus, property sector, Valencian Community	Liaison	€35 an hour plus 21% VAT	3 hours	€105 plus VAT
MBA Traducciones	Liaison	€70 an hour plus 21% VAT	4 hours	€280 plus VAT
MBA Traducciones	Simultaneous	€500 half day, €650 full day, plus VAT; equipment extra	Half day	€500 plus VAT
Dixit	Any mode	€350 (English, French) to €450 (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) plus 21% VAT	Up to 2 hours	€350 to €450 plus VAT

For conference work there is an official reference: from 1 July to 31 December 2026, United Nations organisations pay short term conference interpreters in Spain a net €566 a day (Group I) or €377 (Group II), according to the UN Chief Executives Board. That is a day rate per interpreter, before booths and travel.

Language matters too. Dixit charges €350 for up to two hours of English or French, €395 for German, Polish or Romanian and €450 for Chinese, Japanese or Korean, plus VAT.

Why does the pricing model matter more than the price?

Because a cheap hourly rate can still fail your meeting. Take one test case: a two hour meeting in Spanish, English and Polish, with four guests from another company.

Option	Two hours?	Three languages?	What you pay for
Human interpreter	Yes	Priced per language pair, so possibly two interpreters	Hours times interpreters, with minimums
Google Meet speech translation	No on most plans: 90 minutes per meeting	Yes, 63 languages	The organiser's plan
Teams Interpreter	Yes	No: Polish is not on its list	A Copilot licence for each listener
Maestra Live Meetings	No: sessions up to 75 minutes	No: 2 languages per session	A licence per user
Palabra agent in a call	Yes	No: two languages per call	Hours in the organiser's plan
Wordly	Yes	Yes, no limit per session	Two hours of the package
Getix Translate	Yes, up to 3 hours	Yes, on Manager or a larger plan, or with pay as you go hours	Two hours of the host's plan; guests pay nothing

The figure that matters is the cost of the meeting you actually run, with your languages and your guests. Pay for hours, not seats, when guests come from outside.

Change the test case and other options win. For two people in two widely spoken languages, a free phone app costs nothing. For a conference with more than five languages at once, Wordly sets no limit per session, while Getix Translate runs up to 5.

When is a professional interpreter worth the money?

When the words carry consequences: signing a contract, a negotiation where a misheard number costs money, or a conversation where tone and trust matter as much as content. An interpreter asks for clarification and takes responsibility for the rendering; an AI tool does neither.

Getix Translate helps you follow the conversation. It is not a substitute for a professional interpreter, or for a sworn translator or interpreter where the law or the situation requires one.

AI captions fit the many meetings in between: the weekly supplier call, a partner's visit, the internal meeting where half the room would otherwise struggle in a second language. For those, see our roundup of live translation tools for meetings and how to translate a meeting in real time.

How often is this index updated?

Once a month. We recheck every price on its official page, remove any figure we have not been able to confirm for 90 days, and note what changed, with the date, on this page. The dates under the title show the last update and the last full check. To see what your own meetings would cost with us, open our pricing page.

FAQ

How much does an interpreter cost per hour in Spain?

Public price lists checked on 1 November 2026 start at €35 an hour for an interpreter booked by the hour, with a two or three hour minimum. Agencies charge €70 an hour with a four hour minimum, or €350 to €450 plus VAT for up to two hours. Travel is extra.

How much does a simultaneous interpreter cost?

A Spanish agency lists €500 for a half day and €650 for a full day, plus 21% VAT, with equipment charged separately, and another books two interpreters for sessions over an hour and a half. As an official reference, UN organisations pay conference interpreters in Spain a net €566 a day (Group I) in the second half of 2026.

How much does live AI translation cost per meeting hour?

Features included in a Workspace, Teams or Zoom plan cost under €1 or $1 an hour if you use them about 30 hours a month. Standalone services with public prices range from $7.50 an hour (Palabra, yearly Team plan) to about $150 (Wordly's 10 hour package). Getix Translate starts at €3.78 per meeting hour, VAT included.

What does a two hour meeting cost with an interpreter or an AI tool?

With the freelance interpreter in Alicante we checked, two hours cost €70, tax not stated; with the agencies we checked, €280 to €450 plus VAT in total, for each language pair. With Getix Translate it uses two hours of the host's plan, from €3.78 each on the largest plan, and guests pay nothing. Google Meet's speech translation stops at 90 minutes per meeting on most plans.

Can AI translation replace an interpreter?

Not where the words have legal or financial weight, or where someone must answer for the translation. AI captions help people follow a meeting in their own language, with the original next to the translation. For contracts, official procedures and sensitive conversations, book a professional.

Sources

Freelance interpreter, Alicante: price list: €35 an hour, 2 hour minimum, €40 in other cities; checked 1 November 2026.
Idiomáticus: interpreter rates in Spain: €35 an hour plus VAT, minimums; checked 1 November 2026.
MBA Traducciones: interpreting rates: liaison, consecutive and simultaneous prices; checked 1 November 2026.
Dixit: interpreting rates: prices by language, two interpreters past 90 minutes; checked 1 November 2026.
UN Chief Executives Board: interpreter rates from 1 July 2026: daily net rates for Spain, valid to 31 December 2026; checked 1 November 2026.
Wordly pricing: 10 hour package, 12 months; checked 1 November 2026.
Interprefy pricing: custom quotes, hour plans; checked 1 November 2026.
KUDO pricing: pay as you go and yearly plans; checked 1 November 2026.
DeepL Voice for Meetings and who needs a licence: pricing model and licences; checked 1 November 2026.
Palabra pricing and Palabra agent: plans, hours, two languages per call; checked 1 November 2026.
Maestra pricing: real time plans and session limits; checked 1 November 2026.
Notta pricing: Pro and translation prices; checked 1 November 2026.
Google Workspace pricing and Google Meet Help: Speech Translation: price, plans and the 90 minute limit; checked 1 November 2026.
Microsoft: Teams Premium, translated captions and Interpreter licensing; checked 1 November 2026.
Zoom: ZoomMate pricing, Voice translator and translated captions; checked 1 November 2026.
Google Translate and Apple Translate on the Spanish App Store: listed as free; checked 1 November 2026.
Apple: Live Translation with AirPods: hardware requirements; checked 1 November 2026.
Samsung Galaxy AI, Spain: basic features free, supported phones; checked 1 November 2026.
Microsoft Translator on the App Store: version 26.7.1 notes; checked 1 November 2026.
Timekettle LiveTalk and Timekettle X1: prices and included minutes; checked 1 November 2026.
Pocketalk: compare devices: S2 price and data plan; checked 1 November 2026.
Getix Translate pricing: plans, VAT included, hours that never expire; checked 1 November 2026.