Free Chrome extension · Updated 2026-09-20
A YouTube video translator that works while you watch
Translate a YouTube video to English — or to any of 17 languages — and hear it spoken in a natural voice, right inside the player. No upload, no render queue, no file to download when it finishes.
Before you read further: this is a translator for the person watching a video in a language they do not speak. If you are a creator looking to publish translated audio on your own uploads, you want a different category of tool — the difference is explained below.
What a YouTube video translator actually does
The phrase covers three quite different jobs, and most of the frustration people have with these tools comes from picking one that does the wrong one.
- Translating the text on screen. Subtitles get swapped for translated subtitles. You still read the whole video.
- Translating the audio. The speech is translated and spoken back to you in your language. You watch the video instead of reading it.
- Producing a translated copy. A new video file with a new audio track, for a creator to publish. This is a production job, not a viewing one.
EarDub does the second one. It is the job most people actually mean when they search for a YouTube video translator: the video is fine, the language is the problem, and they want it gone in the next ten seconds.
Translate YouTube videos to English
English is what most people translate YouTube videos into, usually because the video they need is a conference talk, a product teardown or a tutorial that was only ever published in Japanese, Korean, German or Mandarin.
EarDub reads whatever caption track the video has, translates it, and speaks it in English with a voice you choose from six English options. The original stays available underneath — useful when a speaker says a product name or a number and you want to hear how it was actually pronounced.
The same applies in reverse. If English is the language you want to get away from, the other 16 targets work identically: translate a YouTube video to Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Turkish and more.
Two kinds of YouTube video translator, and which one you need
Search this phrase and you get two categories of product mixed together on one page. They are built for opposite people.
Upload-and-export tools
For creators
You paste a link or upload a file, the service renders a translated copy, and you download it or publish it. Minutes of processing per video, usually priced per minute of output.
Right choice if the goal is a finished artefact — a translated video you own and distribute.
In-player translators
For viewers · EarDub is one of these
A browser extension translates the video you are already watching, as you watch it. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is produced, nothing is stored.
Right choice if you just want to understand the next twelve minutes of someone else's video.
Neither is better. They solve different problems, and the reason the search results feel confusing is that both answer to the same three words.
How to translate a YouTube video in three steps
- 1
Open the video you want to understand
Any YouTube video with captions works, including the auto-generated ones. Nothing is uploaded and nothing leaves the page you are already on.
- 2
Click the translate button in the player
EarDub reads the caption track, translates it into full sentences rather than line fragments, and synthesises speech in the language you picked.
- 3
Listen instead of reading
The translated audio plays in sync with the picture. Keep the original voice underneath at whatever volume you like, and show bilingual subtitles if you still want them.
Translate YouTube audio, not just the subtitles
Most free options translate captions. That works until the video shows something worth looking at — a screen recording, a diagram, a pair of hands doing the thing you came to learn. Then reading and watching compete, and you lose one of them.
Translating the audio removes that trade-off. Three details make the difference between a dub you can follow and one you switch off after a minute:
- Whole sentences, not caption lines. Fragments are merged before translation, so the AI sees a complete thought instead of half of one.
- Nothing gets cut off. Speech follows word-level timestamps and speeds up gently, up to 1.45x, rather than truncating a sentence to fit.
- The original stays mixable. Independent volume sliders, so the creator's real voice can sit underneath instead of disappearing.
Is there a free YouTube video translator?
EarDub gives every account 1 hour of translated audio a month at no cost — videos up to 60 minutes long, all 17 languages, all 60+ voices, bilingual subtitles and audio mixing included. You sign in with Google. You do not enter a card.
How the hour is counted: by the minutes you actually translate, not by how many videos you open. Pausing, seeking, or re-watching something you already translated costs nothing extra — so an hour goes further than it sounds.
If you watch foreign-language video daily, paid plans start at $9.99 a month: 10 hours on Basic, 25 on Pro, 60 on Unlimited. Same features either way — the only thing you buy is time.
When a YouTube video cannot be translated
Worth knowing before you install rather than after. EarDub builds the translation from the video's caption track, which means:
- A video with no captions at all cannot be translated yet. Check the CC button — if it is missing, the creator disabled captions and YouTube generated none.
- Auto-generated captions are fine. Most popular videos have them, and they carry the word-level timing the dub needs.
- Desktop Chrome is the officially supported browser. Other Chromium browsers such as Edge generally work but are not tested yet; Firefox and Safari need a separate build.
- It runs only on youtube.com. Other video sites are on the roadmap, not in the product today.
YouTube video translator FAQ
Can I translate a YouTube video to English for free?
Yes. EarDub includes 1 hour of translated audio every month at no cost, for videos up to 60 minutes long, with every voice and language unlocked. You sign in with Google and you do not enter a card. Paid plans start at $9.99 a month if you need more hours.
Do I have to upload the video or paste a link anywhere?
No. EarDub is a Chrome extension that works inside the YouTube page you already have open. There is no upload, no render queue, and no file to download afterwards. That is the main difference between it and the online tools that ask for a link.
Does it translate the audio or only the subtitles?
The audio. Subtitle translators put text on the screen and leave you reading. EarDub speaks the translation out loud with a neural voice, and you can keep the creator's original audio playing quietly underneath.
Which languages can I translate a YouTube video into?
17 target languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Turkish and Polish. The source video can be in any language that has captions.
Why can this video not be translated?
EarDub builds the translation from the video's caption track, so a video with no captions at all cannot be translated yet. Check the CC button in the player: if it is missing, the creator disabled captions and YouTube generated none. Most popular videos have at least auto-generated captions, which work fine.
Is this the right tool for translating my own channel's videos?
No, and it is worth being direct about it. EarDub translates videos for the person watching them. If you want a translated audio track published on your own video so your viewers hear it, you need a creator-side dubbing tool or YouTube's own automatic dubbing instead.
More answers about quota, troubleshooting and privacy are in thehelp guide.
Translate the next video instead of skipping it
Free to install, 1 hour of translated audio every month after a Google sign-in, no credit card. Uninstall anytime and nothing is left behind.
Page updated 2026-09-20. EarDub is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by YouTube or Google.