OBS Live Translation Without a Plugin

Why browser-source OBS translation beats plugins

Most "OBS translation plugins" (LocalVocal, OBS-Captions-Plugin, Polyglot) run AI models locally on your GPU. That means:

• 5-20% extra GPU load during streams that are already CPU/GPU bound
• Breaking on every OBS update — plugins need recompiling per OBS version
• Windows-only or platform-locked
• Hours to set up — install plugin, download model, configure audio routing

StreamTranslate runs everything in the cloud. You add ONE browser source URL (the same way you add a Twitch alert or chat overlay) and it works. Across every OBS version since 22. Mac, Windows, Linux. Zero GPU. Sub-500ms latency.

Setup in 4 steps (under 60 seconds)

1. Sign up free — 6-hour trial, no credit card.
2. Pick your source + target languages — speak English, viewers see Spanish (or 30+ other languages).
3. Copy your OBS browser source URL — generated automatically.
4. OBS → Sources → + → Browser → paste URL → 1920x1080. That's it. Go live.

The browser source is transparent — captions overlay on top of your gameplay, webcam, or scene without changing anything.

How it works under the hood

StreamTranslate listens to your mic input (browser-captured), sends audio to Deepgram Nova-3 for real-time speech-to-text, then races translations across DeepL, Google Translate, Azure, and Lecto in parallel and picks whichever returns first. The translated text gets pushed to your OBS browser source via Socket.IO in under 500ms end-to-end.

You stay in full control of style: font, size, color, outline, position (top/bottom), translation-only mode (hide spoken), live typing on/off. Update settings from the control panel — they sync to OBS instantly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does OBS live translation require a plugin?

No. StreamTranslate uses an OBS browser source — no plugin install, no DLL files, no compatibility issues with OBS updates. Works on OBS Studio 22 and above (2018+).

Is there a free OBS translation option?

Yes. StreamTranslate has a free 6-hour trial with no credit card required. After that, plans start at $5/month for 50 hours.

Will it work with Streamlabs OBS and Meld Studio?

Yes. Any streaming software that supports Browser Sources (OBS Studio, Streamlabs Desktop, Meld Studio, Lightstream, XSplit, vMix) works the same way.

How is this different from LocalVocal?

LocalVocal runs Whisper locally on your GPU, eating 5-20% of available VRAM during streams. StreamTranslate runs cloud-side — zero GPU impact. Also no plugin install, no OBS version conflicts.

What languages are supported?

Source language detection in 50+ languages. Target translation in 30+ including Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Russian, Italian, Polish, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Turkish, Thai.

What is the latency from speech to caption?

Under 500ms end-to-end. Deepgram nova-3 transcription runs in ~300ms, translation race adds 200-500ms, Socket.IO push to overlay is <50ms. Total: 600ms-1.5s typical, hard cap of 2s.

Can I show dual-language captions (English + translated)?

Yes. The overlay supports showing the original spoken language on top and the translated language below, or just the translation. Toggle in settings.