Subtl vs Teams and Meet live captions
Built-in captions caption one application and stop there. Subtl works across every call app, and answers as well as reads.
Teams and Meet live captions — The captioning and live-translation features built into Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, free with the meeting platform. Included with the meeting platform at no extra cost.
40 minutes a month free, no card. macOS 13 or newer, Apple silicon or Intel.
Side by side
| Feature | Subtl | Teams and Meet live captions |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free tier, then from $14/mo | Included |
| Works across every call app | Yes | No |
| Drafts what you could say next | Yes | No |
| Uses your own documents for context | Yes | No |
| Post-call summary and tasks | Yes | Partial — Varies by platform and licence |
| Recognition can run entirely on your machine | Yes | No |
| Works in a phone or in-person conversation | Partial — Any audio the Mac plays | No |
| Nothing to install | No | Yes |
Checked against Teams and Meet live captions’s own published material on 2026-09-28. Their product changes without telling us — if something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
When Teams and Meet live captions is the better choice
- All your calls happen in one platform and you only need to read along. Free and already installed beats anything you have to buy.
- Your organisation forbids third-party software on the machine.
- You are on Windows, Linux, a Chromebook or a phone.
Teams and Meet live captions is a good product. If one of those describes you, buy theirs.
Questions
- If captions are free, why pay?
- If reading along is enough, do not pay. Subtl earns its price when you also have to answer — in the other person's language, using your own numbers — and when your calls are spread across several applications.
- Can I use captions and Subtl together?
- Yes. They do not interfere, and some people keep platform captions on as a second opinion.
Try it on one real call
The free tier is 40 minutes a month and needs no card. One call in a language you are slower in tells you more than any comparison table, including this one.