Smartcat transcribes the speech in your file, lets you correct the transcript once, translates it into any of 280+ languages, and exports the result as text, subtitles, or — in 35 voice-over locales — an AI voice track.
1,000+ enterprise brands trust Smartcat to translate recorded content
Smartcat's AI audio translator works in four steps.
Transcribe — the speech in your file (MP3, MP2/M2A, M4A, AAC, OGG, FLAC, WMA) becomes a timed, speaker-labeled transcript.
Correct — you review that transcript and fix any misheard names or terms once, before anything is translated.
Translate — the corrected transcript goes into any of 280+ languages, reusing the glossary and translation memory attached to your project so terminology stays consistent across every recording in it.
Export — a translated document, a subtitle file (SRT or VTT) if the audio belongs to a video or podcast, or an AI voice track in one of 35 voice-over locales.
Pricing is metered in Smartwords at one Smartword per source word of transcript, not by recording length — a long recording with little speech costs less than a short, densely scripted one. AI dubbing is billed at ten Smartwords per word.
Any language can be routed to a professional human reviewer before export.
1
Upload the recording
Drop in the file, or several at once — there is no limit on how many files go into one project, and batch uploads of hundreds of files are supported.
The constraint is per-file size, not file count or recording length, and it is the same on every plan.
2
Check the transcript
Smartcat transcribes with timestamps and speaker labels. Correct a misheard term here, once — before it is translated into every language.
3
Pick languages and output
Translated text or subtitles in any of 280+ languages, or an AI voice track in one of 35 voice-over locales.
4
Export — or send to review first
Download the result, or hand a language to a vetted reviewer inside the same workflow. Translating a whole batch? Select the projects and download once: Smartcat returns a single ZIP with every file in its original format, sorted into folders.
280+
Languages for text and subtitles
Translated documents and SRT/VTT subtitle files are available in any of Smartcat's 280+ languages, in either direction.
35
AI voice-over locales
Synthetic speech output is a narrower set than text: 35 locales, powered by ElevenLabs. Where a locale has no voice, export text or subtitles instead.
1
Smartword per source word
Audio is metered by transcript word count, not recording length — a 60-minute walkthrough with sparse narration can cost less than a 10-minute scripted ad. AI dubbing is metered at ten Smartwords per word. Details on the pricing page.
When Smartcat released a new product feature to automatically extract subtitles from video voice-overs, offering the possibility to quickly edit the source text for a perfect AI translation and review process, our file preparation time was instantly slashed by 70%!
”Explore Case Study →
No conversion first, no transcript to prepare — an MP3 uploads exactly as it is. Drop in one episode or a whole folder of them: one project, one glossary and one translation memory keep recurring names identical across every file.
Three things go wrong when people try to translate a recording, and none of them is the translation itself.
You have sound, tools want text. Most translators accept documents, so the recording gets transcribed by hand first — an hour of typing per hour of audio before translation even starts.
One mishearing becomes twelve errors. Speech-to-text gets your product name or an acronym wrong once, and that error is then translated faithfully into every target language. You find it when a regional colleague asks what the product is called.
Everyone's words get merged. A two-person call or a panel comes back as one continuous block, so nobody can tell who agreed to what.
enterprise brands on Smartcat
audio formats accepted directly
maximum size per file
on files per project, or recording length
Book a personalized demo to explore how Smartcat's library of AI agents, including the Media Translation Agent for audio translations, can help your team scale, localize, and deliver global content faster.
2–3 days
Turnaround, Down From 10
Smith+Nephew cut eLearning translation turnaround from an average of 10 days with their previous providers to two to three days for the same course length. Recorded and video course material was part of that content set.
Up to 70%
Lower Translation Costs
Stanley Black & Decker cut translation costs by up to 70% — from $200–$300 to $1.20 per 1,000 words.
31 hours
Saved Monthly
Babbel’s marketing and learning and development teams save 31 hours per month.
Listen to your source first — clear, single-speaker audio transcribes best. Split anything over 1 GB so it processes faster. Load your glossary before you start, so recurring names and terms come out identical across every file. Then fix the transcript once, and the fix carries into every language.
The same transcript feeds every media workflow: subtitles, dubbing, narration, or plain translated text. Pick the tool that matches what you actually have.
AI Video Translator
Subtitles, dubbing, and voice-over for video files — speech only; text burned into the picture has to be changed in the source.
AI Voice-Over Translation
Translated narration laid over the original audio, in any of the 35 AI voice-over locales.
Video Subtitle Translator
Generate and translate subtitle files timed to the original speech, then edit the cues before export.
Voice Recording Translator
Voice memos and recorder files, translated from the file your recorder made — no conversion step.
Upload the file, fix the transcript once, and export text, subtitles, or speech in as many languages as you need. Free for 15 days with 15,000 Smartwords — full access to translation capabilities, no credit card.
Smartcat is free for 15 days with no credit card — 15,000 Smartwords and full access to translation capabilities. There is no free-forever plan. After that, you pay by translated word, not by minute or by file.
MP3, MP2/M2A, M4A, AAC, OGG, FLAC, and WMA. Files can be up to 6 GB, and it is worth splitting anything over 1 GB into parts so it processes faster. If your audio is inside a video container, use the AI video translator instead — that flow accepts MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI, and the other documented video formats.
There is no published duration limit — Smartcat documents no maximum length in minutes or hours for audio. The limit that does exist is file size: up to 6 GB per file, and it is worth splitting anything over 1 GB. So a two-hour interview is a size question, not a length question.
There is no cap on the number of files. Projects run from a single recording to batch uploads of hundreds of files, and this does not change by plan — plan tiers differ on integrations and Marketplace billing, not on upload limits. The only ceiling is per-file size.
Files in one project also share its glossary and translation memory, so a recurring speaker name or product term comes out identically in every file instead of drifting between them.
Not by pasting a link. Every documented route starts from a file: you upload the audio from your computer or pick it from Smart Drive. So for a YouTube video you would download the file first — and if you have the video rather than just its audio, the AI video translator is the better flow, because it handles subtitles and timing as well as speech.
Yes, literally: you will get an accurate translation of the lyrics as text. Poetry behaves the same way — it is translated literally, so you learn what the piece says rather than receiving a metrical version. What you will not get is a rhyming, singable version — that is creative adaptation, which you can commission from a human linguist via book a demo.
Your choice at export: a translated document, an SRT/VTT subtitle file, or an AI-generated voice track in the target language. All three come from the same transcript, so you can export more than one format without re-translating. One limit on the voice track: a synthetic voice reads a script well but does not act, so for emotional or performed delivery use human voice talent.
Yes — inside the same workflow you can assign any language to a vetted professional reviewer from Smartcat's Marketplace, and their corrections train your translation memory for next time.
It depends on the recording more than the model. Clear single-speaker audio transcribes very well; background music, crosstalk, and strong accents lower accuracy — and a wrong transcript gets translated confidently wrong.
That is why the flow puts an editable transcript between transcription and translation: you fix reality once, before it multiplies. Budget for it accordingly — very noisy or heavily accented recordings need more time in the editor than clean ones do.
Smartcat is SOC 2 Type II compliant. Files are encrypted in transit and at rest, workspaces are isolated, and access is role-based. Details on the security page.
Question not answered here? Book a demo — a 1:1 consultation, no commitment.
Smartcat. How Smartcat AI enabled Smith+Nephew to cut eLearning translation turnaround. Smith+Nephew case study.
Smartcat. How Stanley Black & Decker cut translation costs by up to 70%. Stanley Black & Decker case study.
Smartcat. How Babbel’s teams save 31 hours a month. Babbel case study.