MirrorCaption: An Interactio Alternative for
When You Can't Equip the Room

Interactio offers organizer-run human interpretation and a separate AI Translation product for attendees. MirrorCaption is a per-account browser tool one person runs for themselves at €99 once with 200 hosted hours. If you're shopping for an Interactio alternative, ask who needs to hear the translation and who will set up the event. Interactio's technician FAQ documents the on-site requirements.

On-site interpretation can replace dedicated listener receivers with attendee phones, but the venue still needs a working network and audio feed. Interactio documents that setup, while its AI Translation page describes a lighter option that delivers translated audio or captions through the listener app. This comparison walks through the on-site deployment chain, then separates it from personal browser use. If your need is one listener on a call, the free hour lets you test MirrorCaption directly.

The Deployment Chain: What Has to Be True Before Anyone Hears a Translation

Start with the number Interactio publishes and nobody quotes. Its FAQ for technicians tells venues to "consider a minimum Wi-Fi bandwidth of 0,15Mbps/user (recommended is 0,30Mbps/user and optimal 0,5Mbps/user)" for attendees listening through the app — the decimal commas are theirs. Run that on a mid-sized room and it stops being abstract: 500 listeners at the recommended 0,30 Mbps is 150 Mbps of listener traffic, before anyone opens a laptop to take notes. That budget covers listeners on the venue's own network: Interactio's app listing tells attendees to "Connect to the wi-fi or turn on data", so reliable cellular coverage shifts part of the load off the venue — a question to settle with the venue months out, not on the day.

That's the wireless half. The wired half is on the same page. The on-site broadcaster is "a computer with the Interactio broadcaster installed (Mac or Windows), connected to ethernet with a 10mbps dedicated bandwidth", plus a USB audio interface and a digital video interface. The AV console, it says plainly, "has to be wired (Ethernet cable, not Wi-Fi)". None of that is a gotcha. It's what feeding clean audio to remote interpreters actually takes, and a vendor that hid it would be worse, not better.

The services sold around the software

The clearest evidence that this is a project rather than a product is Interactio's own services page: "We give you the network analysis", "customized training for your AV staff", "We're ready to come to your venue and provide full tech support on-site", and — if the cables are the problem — "you can order Interactio KIT with a laptop and all the needed cables". For a supported on-site event, confirm the scope and timing of those services in the quote.

One link is easy to miss. Interactio's participant FAQ notes that active participation needs "stationary computers, laptops, and tablets. Smartphones are currently not compatible". The phone in the audience is a receiver. And Interactio's how-it-works page names five roles per session — organizer, moderator, AV manager, interpreter, participant. Four of them are jobs somebody does before you hear anything.

The room is moderated, too

Interactio's customer actions list makes the planning timeline concrete: connect its team with the venue network contact at least three weeks before an event, then test equipment and software at the venue at least seven days before it. Those are contract preparation steps for a supported event, not requirements for every Interactio product.

A deployed interpretation platform, in other words, is a system with rules — about your browser, your microphone, your device, and how fast you're allowed to talk. Worth every rule when you're equipping a room for hundreds. Heavy machinery when you're one person on a Tuesday call.

MirrorCaption vs Interactio: Feature Comparison

The Interactio column summarizes what Interactio publishes on its own site and in documents hosted by its institutional clients, not a quote we obtained. Requirements and services change; confirm current details on interactio.com.

Where Interactio Is the Right Call

Some jobs are room jobs, and pretending otherwise wastes your time. Choose a deployed interpretation platform when any of the following is true.

• An audience needs the translation, not a person. Hundreds of attendees each picking their own language is exactly the problem this category solves, and Interactio has run sessions at that scale for institutional clients including the UN and the European Commission.
• You need human interpreters, not only software. A bookable interpreter network across a wide range of language combinations is a different purchase from any AI captioning tool, ours included.
• Procurement needs a security posture. Interactio lists ISO/IEC 27001:2013 on its security page. Request current certification evidence and scope before procurement.
• The venue is the problem. Network analysis, AV-staff training, and an on-site technician earn their fee when a hybrid room has to work on the first take.
• Sign language is part of the requirement. MirrorCaption doesn't provide sign language interpretation in any form. If that's on your list, we're not a candidate.

Interactio's organizer FAQ describes its human-interpreted meetings platform, while its current AI Translation page offers speech and captions to attendees. Ask which service and event setup a quote covers. MirrorCaption remains a personal tool rather than an audience delivery system.

Where MirrorCaption Fits: One Tab, One Person, No Room to Equip

The gap this category leaves open is the meeting nobody is equipping. A four-person supplier call. A webinar you're attending rather than hosting. A lecture, a support escalation, a conversation across a desk. Nobody assigns an AV manager to those, and the language problem is real regardless.

The setup is a browser tab

Meet mode captures the audio from your meeting tab using the browser's own screen-and-audio sharing interface — the same getDisplayMedia API behind ordinary tab sharing — in desktop Chrome or Microsoft Edge. No bot joins the call, no extension, no plugin for a host to approve. Most teams can self-serve on it, though workplace policies on web apps and screen capture still apply.

The platform question goes with it. Browser-based Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Webex all produce tab audio, so you keep whichever the host picked — unlike platform-native translation, which only works inside its own product. Our roundup of meeting translators for 2026 covers that split.

It can speak, not just caption

Reading is enough when you only need to follow. It isn't when you need to answer. Speak Translations reads your translated speech aloud in the target language — through the laptop speaker, a paired phone speaker, or the Mac client's virtual microphone so a meeting app hears it as mic input. You speak Mandarin; the other side hears English while the conversation is live. It voices the person using it, not everyone in the call.

It works away from the desk

Talk mode is a continuous mobile session, not a push-to-talk button. Start it once, put the phone between you, and take turns; the transcript and translation context carry across turns instead of resetting every sentence. Clinic appointments, rental paperwork, a supplier's factory floor. No venue, no roles, no bandwidth plan — which is why an event platform has no reason to serve it.

The boundary matters, so here it is once: this is a viewer-side tool that translates for you alone. If you're weighing watching in your own language against providing translation to an audience, our live-streaming captions use case works through that split properly.

Interactio Pricing vs MirrorCaption: Only One Side Publishes a Number

Our side is public and short. The free tier is 1 hour to try — one-time, no monthly reset, no credit card. Beyond that:

• Annual: €54.99/year, 110 hours of hosted transcription credit included, a year of updates.
• Premium: €99 as a one-time purchase, 200 hours of hosted credit up front, with Voice Packs available separately.
• Voice Packs (sold separately): 5 hours for €4.99 or 15 hours for €7.99 in the current catalog; check the in-app price before purchasing.

Two hundred hours for €99 works out to roughly €0.50 per hosted hour; the current catalog is in our pricing section. Interactio's side we won't invent a figure for. Its public pages route buyers to a quote request instead, which is normal for a service priced by languages, session length, interpreter hours, and on-site support.

A warning about the numbers you'll find anyway. Software directories list Interactio figures that contradict one another, and they do not establish what your event will cost. Request a current offer from Interactio for the languages, duration, interpreter hours, and support you need.

And the honest caveat on our own arithmetic: €0.50 an hour is fair for one listener and meaningless against a session that serves a room. If forty people each need their own language stream, a one-time consumer plan doesn't replace that. Same logic as the sibling comparison at MirrorCaption vs Wordly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is MirrorCaption a good Interactio alternative?

It's a good alternative when one person needs to follow or hold a cross-language conversation in a room nobody is equipping. It isn't one when an organizer has to deliver interpretation to an audience — that's what Interactio is built for, and MirrorCaption doesn't fan out language streams to attendees.

How much does Interactio cost?

Interactio directs buyers to a quote request, so the figure depends on languages, session length, interpreter hours, and on-site services. Third-party directories list prices that disagree with each other, so request a current offer directly from Interactio.

Does Interactio really need no hardware?

For an on-site event using its broadcaster, Interactio's technician FAQ lists a per-listener venue Wi-Fi budget, an ethernet-connected computer, and audio and video interfaces. Its services page also offers an on-site KIT with a laptop and cables. Other event setups differ.

Can I use MirrorCaption as an attendee at an event I did not organize?

Yes, for yourself. If you're watching a browser-based stream or call on a desktop, Meet mode captures that tab's audio in Chrome or Edge and gives you a translated view. It doesn't provide translation to anyone else, and it doesn't replace an organizer's interpretation channel.

Can MirrorCaption speak the translation out loud, or is it captions only?

It can speak. Speak Translations reads your own translated speech aloud in the target language, through the laptop speaker, a paired phone speaker, or the Mac client virtual microphone so a meeting app hears it as mic input. It voices the person using it rather than dubbing every participant.

What happens when my 200 included hours run out?

You top up with Voice Packs, sold separately: 5 hours for €4.99 or 15 hours for €7.99, as currently listed in the catalog. Check the in-app price before purchasing. The €99 plan is a one-time purchase, not unlimited hosted transcription.

The Short Version

For a staffed on-site summit, Interactio provides interpreters, event roles, a network plan, and technical services. Its separate AI Translation offer can deliver audio or captions to attendees. Ask for a quote that names the product and event setup you need. MirrorCaption serves one person — €54.99 a year for 110 hosted hours or €99 once for 200, with a simpler setup for individual use.

For on-site events, read the technician FAQ and plan the venue network before the event. For AI Translation, confirm its own language list and delivery setup. If only you need translation on a call, try MirrorCaption in a browser tab with the free hour.