Church translation pricing comparison: compare the bill, not the hourly label

A church translation pricing comparison needs three numbers: the time you will translate, the languages you will provide, and the price of the plan that includes your required outputs. A $5 language-hour and an all-language session hour are different units. A captions-only starting price is also different from a package that includes translated voice.

This guide compares published pricing models from SermonLingo, Glossa, Wordly and LiveVoice, reviewed on September 28, 2026. SermonLingo publishes this comparison. The examples are our calculations from stated assumptions, not quotes, customer bills or a claim that these products deliver identical service. Confirm current checkout details, taxes and feature eligibility before buying.

These are starting points for comparison. Do not turn Wordly's package price into a promised monthly price, omit LiveVoice's account fee, or treat SermonLingo's entry captions tier as a voice plan. The LiveVoice pricing overview explains its modular account-plus-AI model.

Source hours measure the duration of the input being translated. Language-hours multiply that duration by the number of target languages active for it. Four services with 45 spoken minutes each are 3 source hours. If two translation languages run throughout, that is 6 language-hours. If only one language runs for half a service, calculate that part separately.

SermonLingo's public estimator uses speech time per target language. Glossa's billing guide likewise describes spoken-content billing per language, measured by the minute, with listener count not affecting the charge. Wordly's linked pricing page includes all languages in its package model. Ask every vendor what starts and stops its meter instead of applying another product's rules.

Keep scheduled service duration and estimated billable speech in separate columns. A 90-minute gathering can include music and silence, but that does not justify subtracting a guessed percentage from every vendor's invoice. Use an actual rehearsal and the provider's usage record to improve the estimate.

The final row illustrates an often-missed cost: rehearsal is usage too. Under SermonLingo Standard's published $99 base, 25 included language-hours and $4 overage, 27 hours estimate to $107: $99 + (27 − 25) × $4. At 24 hours, the estimate remains $99.

For a separate LiveVoice arithmetic example, 360 billable language-minutes at $0.52 would be $187.20 for AI usage, plus the selected account plan. That assumes the full 360 minutes are billed under its rules. It is not a complete quote or proof that the same calendar will meter identically on each provider.

For SermonLingo's published Pay As You Go and Standard tiers, the simple usage-only crossover within the included allowance is $99 ÷ $5 = 19.8 language-hours. Below that amount, pay-as-you-go captions have the lower modeled usage cost. Above it, Standard can be less expensive under these rates. That comparison assumes the same billable hours and ignores taxes, credits and future price changes.

However, a church requiring translated voice or stage/OBS output needs to evaluate Standard even at lower usage. A team requiring the Advanced glossary, transcript or RTMP features needs that tier's budget. Buying the cheapest tier and later discovering that a required output is absent is not a useful saving.

Similarly, an all-language package may become attractive when the same session needs many languages, while a per-language model can fit a narrow, intermittent need. Compare an actual annual calendar and written feature scope; there is no universal cheapest provider for every church.

Four Sundays is a convenient example, not a complete year. List your actual service dates, extra gatherings, training, holiday events, second rooms and rehearsals. Add the languages required for each. Include a reasonable contingency as a visible line item rather than quietly changing the usage estimate.

For example, 52 messages of 45 spoken minutes in two languages produce 78 language-hours before additional events. At a hypothetical unchanged $5 rate, the usage component is $390. Twelve $99 monthly payments would be $1,188 before overage or tax, but include a different feature set. These totals compare one schedule and two payment structures; they do not make either plan the right choice automatically.

For package purchases, ask what happens to unused time, whether additional hours share the original expiry date, and whether the quoted rate assumes an annual commitment. For monthly plans, check reset dates, cancellation timing and whether allowances carry forward. Obtain those terms rather than assuming them from the word “subscription.”

1. What event starts the usage meter, and what stops it?
2. Does billing count session duration, detected speech, target languages, attendees or more than one of these?
3. Which of our languages support captions and which support translated voice?
4. Are display outputs, glossary, exports, integrations and required support included?
5. What happens when included hours or prepaid credit run out during a service?
6. What expires, renews or changes price, and when?
7. What will our attached service calendar cost before tax, including all mandatory fees?

Then run a small trial and compare the recorded usage with the estimate. Resolve a difference before approving the annual budget. Keep the vendor's answer with the proposal so the next volunteer does not have to reconstruct the purchasing decision.

Price should sit beside evidence that listeners can join, understand the message and recover after interruptions. Use our software buyer's checklist for that acceptance test. For a broader comparison of translation, interpreters and equipment, see the cost planning guide.

To evaluate SermonLingo, open the current pricing calculator with your actual schedule. Individuals can start at Personal; church teams can prepare a rehearsal. Choose a plan after confirming both the usage estimate and the features the rehearsal requires.