What is Gaavala and how does it work?

Gaavala is a Chrome extension that adds real-time live captions, instant translation and AI voice translation (Speak Mode) to any browser-based meeting. When you join Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet or Webex, you open the Gaavala side panel, share the meeting tab's audio, and pick your source and target languages. Gaavala streams the audio directly from your browser to the Soniox speech-to-text engine and shows live translated captions in the side panel and a floating overlay. Setup takes under 30 seconds from Chrome Web Store install to first caption.

Is my meeting audio sent to Gaavala's servers?

No. Gaavala is architected so meeting audio flows directly from your browser to Soniox's speech-to-text servers over an encrypted WebSocket (TLS 1.2+). Our backend is never in the audio path — we do not see, store or log meeting audio. The only data our servers handle is authentication, your subscription status and optional AI summaries you explicitly trigger.

Which meeting platforms does Gaavala support?

Gaavala officially supports Microsoft Teams, Zoom web client, Google Meet and Cisco Webex with the full feature set including the floating caption panel and Speak Mode voice injection. Live captions also work in most other browser-based meeting tools like Whereby, Jitsi Meet, GoTo Meeting, BlueJeans, RingCentral Video, Slack Huddles and many webinar platforms.

What is Speak Mode and do I need it?

Speak Mode is Gaavala's AI voice translation feature, available on Pro. You talk in your native language, Gaavala transcribes and translates you in real time, and then synthesizes your translated voice directly into the meeting so other participants hear you in their language. Two modes are included: Push-to-Talk (hold a hotkey while speaking) and Timed Speak (hands-free). Speak Mode ships with two TTS engines: Kokoro-82M free on-device synthesis, and ElevenLabs cloud TTS with voice cloning (bring your own key).

How much does Gaavala cost?

Gaavala has a one-time free trial of 5 minutes of transcription, with no credit card required. Those 5 minutes are a lifetime allowance — once you use them, the free tier is exhausted and does not reset. The free trial covers all 69 languages and is intended to let you try Gaavala against a real meeting segment and decide if it fits your workflow. Pro is $24.99 per month, billed through Lemon Squeezy, and includes unlimited transcription, Speak Mode (Push-to-Talk and Timed Speak), Kokoro on-device TTS, ElevenLabs cloud TTS with voice cloning, unlimited AI summaries and priority support. Cancel anytime.

Does Gaavala work on Safari, Firefox or mobile?

Gaavala is a Chrome extension built on Manifest V3, so it runs on any Chromium-based desktop browser: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Arc, Opera and Vivaldi (Chromium 114 or newer). Safari and Firefox are not supported because they do not share Chrome's extension API surface. Gaavala does not support mobile browsers — we recommend using it on a desktop Chromium browser.

Real-time Meeting Translation for Any Platform

Gaavala translates any meeting in real time — Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, Webex, and more. 60+ languages, powered by AI speech recognition. Zero setup, privacy-first. No downloads, no browser extensions, no IT admin approval required.

How It Works

Open Gaavala in Chrome, share your meeting tab, and get live transcription and translation in seconds. Gaavala captures audio directly from the browser tab using Chrome's getDisplayMedia API — your microphone stays untouched.

Two STT Engines

Free — Whisper AI (Local): Runs entirely in your browser via WebAssembly. Audio never leaves your device. 30+ languages, 90 min/day.
Pro — Soniox (Cloud): Near real-time accuracy with speaker diarization. 50+ languages, unlimited usage. $14.99/month.

Works With Every Meeting Platform

Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, Webex, Slack Huddles, Discord — if it runs in a browser tab, Gaavala can translate it. No platform-specific plugins needed.

Privacy First

The free tier processes audio entirely on your device using OpenAI's Whisper model compiled to WebAssembly. No cloud upload, no server processing, no audio retention. Ideal for legal, medical, financial, and executive meetings where data privacy is critical.

Try Gaavala Free — No Credit Card Required