--- title: "VoiceMe vs Live Captions, LocalVocal" description: "VoiceMe compared with Windows Live Captions and the OBS LocalVocal plugin: transcripts, typing into apps, streaming overlays — and when each is the better pick." url: "https://royalsoftworks.com/products/voiceme/compare/" source: "https://royalsoftworks.com" format: "markdown" note: "Markdown rendering of the HTML page at `url`. Same content, same canonical URL." --- Compare # VoiceMe and the alternatives Two free ways to caption what your computer plays, checked against their own pages, and an honest answer to which one fits which job. Free to download, no account · Pro €20 once, VAT included · Windows [Download free](https://royalsoftworks.com/download/#voiceme) ## What we compared it with ### [Windows Live Captions](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/use-live-captions-to-better-understand-audio-b52da59c-14b8-4031-aeeb-f6a47e6055df) The captions built into Windows 11, version 22H2 and later. ### [OBS LocalVocal](https://github.com/locaal-ai/obs-localvocal) A free, open-source OBS Studio plugin that transcribes OBS audio sources with whisper.cpp. ## Side by side Checked on 5 October 2026 against each product’s own site (sources below). “Not stated on its site” means we could not find it there — read it as unknown, not as no. | Question | VoiceMe | Windows Live Captions | OBS LocalVocal | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | What does it cost? | Free; the hourly timer on the subtitle overlay is removed for €20 once (VAT included). | Included with Windows 11. | Free and open source (GPL-2.0). | | Where does the recognition happen? | On your machine, with whisper.cpp. | On the device; audio and captions never leave it. | On your machine, with whisper.cpp. | | What does it listen to? | What your computer plays — the system audio output; your microphone can be added. | System audio; the microphone can be added. | Any OBS audio source, including a microphone. | | Does it need OBS? | No — it works with whatever is playing, in any app. | No. | Yes — it is an OBS plugin. | | Can you keep a transcript? | Yes — saved and exportable as text, Markdown or JSON Lines. | No — captions are not stored anywhere. | Yes — to a .txt or .srt file. | | Can it type into another app? | Yes, when you arm it — by paste or keystroke, with a block list. | Not stated on its site | Not stated on its site | | Subtitles for a stream? | A floating overlay with a chroma-key background for OBS or vMix, click-through, excludable from screen capture. | Captions above, below or floating on screen, in a style you choose. | Captions into an OBS text source. | | Languages and translation | Whisper's multilingual models; can translate speech into English. | Recognition in 20 languages; translation into English or Chinese on Copilot+ PCs. | 100 languages; translation through Whisper, NMT models or cloud providers. | | Which systems does it run on? | Windows 10 and 11; the Linux build follows. | Windows 11. | Windows, macOS and Linux. | ## When an alternative is the better choice - **Windows Live Captions.** If you only want to read along, it is already on your computer: nothing to install or configure, and on a Copilot+ PC it translates too. - **OBS LocalVocal.** If you stream from OBS and want captions inside the stream or an .srt file, it is free, open source, runs on macOS and Linux, and lives where your scene already is. ## When VoiceMe is the better choice - You want to keep what was said: VoiceMe saves a transcript and exports it, where Live Captions keeps nothing. - You want the words typed into your notes or a document while someone talks — armed deliberately, never into an app on your block list. - You are not using OBS, or the audio is a call, a lecture or a video in another app: VoiceMe captions whatever the computer plays. - You want a model chosen for your hardware: the app scans the machine and recommends one, downloaded only when you click. ## Sources - Windows Live Captions: [support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/use-live-captions-to-better-understand-audio-b52da59c-14b8-4031-aeeb-f6a47e6055df](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/use-live-captions-to-better-understand-audio-b52da59c-14b8-4031-aeeb-f6a47e6055df) (checked 5 October 2026) - OBS LocalVocal: [github.com/locaal-ai/obs-localvocal](https://github.com/locaal-ai/obs-localvocal) (checked 5 October 2026) Product names are the trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify the products compared. Prices and features change; if you spot one that has, tell us and we will correct it. [Download VoiceMe](https://royalsoftworks.com/download/#voiceme) [See what it does](https://royalsoftworks.com/products/voiceme/)