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YouTube Live Captions — Auto Captions vs StreamTranslate

YouTube Live auto-captions are viewer-optional and English-only. StreamTranslate puts captions directly in your video feed — visible to every viewer, in any of 125+ languages, at 95%+ accuracy.

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How to Add Captions — Step by Step

  1. Create a StreamTranslate account and access your dashboard.
  2. Copy your browser source URL from the StreamTranslate control panel.
  3. Open OBS and add a new Browser Source to your active scene.
  4. Enter the StreamTranslate URL and set resolution to 1920x1080.
  5. Set up OBS to stream to YouTube via RTMP as normal.
  6. Start your YouTube Live stream — captions appear burned into your video feed for all viewers.

Why Streamers Use StreamTranslate

Always-On Captions

Unlike YouTube auto-captions that viewers must turn on, StreamTranslate displays captions in your video overlay — every viewer sees them automatically.

Higher Accuracy

our industry-leading speech AI outperforms YouTube speech recognition, especially on gaming vocabulary, technical terms, and accented speech.

Live Translation

Reach Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and 122+ other language audiences on YouTube with automatic real-time translation.

No YouTube API Required

StreamTranslate works through OBS as a visual overlay — no API keys, no YouTube settings to configure, no platform permissions needed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does YouTube Live have auto-captions?

YouTube Live offers auto-captions for some streams, but they are English-only, often delayed, and viewers must enable them manually. StreamTranslate shows captions directly in the video overlay for all viewers.

How do I add captions to YouTube Live?

Use StreamTranslate with OBS. Add the browser source to your OBS scene, stream to YouTube Live, and captions appear as part of your video — no viewer action required.

Are YouTube auto-captions accurate enough?

YouTube auto-captions have roughly 80-85% accuracy. StreamTranslate with our industry-leading speech AI achieves 95%+ accuracy, especially on gaming and technical vocabulary.

Can I show translated captions on YouTube Live?

Yes. StreamTranslate translates your stream into 125+ languages simultaneously, displayed as a burned-in overlay visible to all viewers watching your YouTube Live broadcast.

Does StreamTranslate work with YouTube Studio?

StreamTranslate works through OBS — stream to YouTube Live via OBS with the StreamTranslate browser source active on your scene.