How to translate a WhatsApp call in real time

WhatsApp has no translation for voice or video calls, and nothing in its recent product moves suggests that's changing soon. The two translation features Meta has shipped — Message Translations (September 2025) and Voice Message Transcripts (November 2024) — both process a message that already exists as a discrete piece of text or audio. A live call is a continuous stream with no equivalent hook, and it stays that way whether you're on WhatsApp Web, the desktop app, or your phone.

Worth knowing before the rest of this: as of 28 July 2026, WhatsApp Web can make calls at all now, which it couldn't a week ago (see what changed and what's still different from Desktop). That update adds calling to the browser — it doesn't add translation to calling on any platform, which is what the rest of this guide is about.

If the person on the other end doesn't share your language, you need something else. The tools that fill this gap aren't interchangeable — they solve the problem in two structurally different ways, and which one is right depends on whether the other person needs to just be understood, or actually take part.

Method 1 — run an overlay tool alongside your WhatsApp call

Tools like JotMe, Akkadu and a handful of others sit next to a call you make normally, through WhatsApp itself, and listen via your microphone or system audio. You pick your language and theirs, and the tool shows you a live translated caption — some read it back to you as speech. The other person is on an ordinary WhatsApp call. They don't install anything, and unless you tell them, they have no idea a translation layer exists.

Good for: quick calls where you don't want to change how the other person reaches you — they keep dialling your normal WhatsApp number.
Worth checking before you rely on it: whether the tool translates only for you, or also speaks a translation back so the other person understands you. That varies by product and isn't always obvious from the marketing page. If you're negotiating, not just listening, confirm this before the call, not during it.

Method 2 — a translated call, joined by link

The other shape of tool doesn't sit on top of a WhatsApp call — it replaces it. You send a link; the other person opens it in any browser, no install, no account. The call itself runs through the tool, with an AI interpreter speaking each side's language to the other, live, both directions, usually with captions on screen as a backup. AI Call's "Call Link" product works this way. So does Voqua's — send a voqua.app/call/… link from a WhatsApp chat, they tap it and join from their phone's browser, and you each speak your own language for the whole call.

Good for: negotiations, sales calls, anything where both sides need to actually speak and be understood, not just one side listening in.
Not good for: a call to a number you can't reach ahead of time with a link — this only works when you're the one initiating, not for someone cold-calling you.

Which one do you actually need?

If you found each other on WhatsApp in the first place

This is the case an overlay tool handles worst. If your entire relationship with a supplier or customer already runs through WhatsApp — chat, voice notes, the occasional call — reaching for a second, unrelated app just for the moment you need to talk live is a context switch for both of you. They now need to know what JotMe or Akkadu is, trust it enough to stay on a call with it running, and you're maintaining two tools for one relationship.

A translated call link sent from inside the same WhatsApp chat you've already been translating — see how to translate WhatsApp voice notes for the chat and voice-note side of this — keeps it to one tool for the whole relationship instead of a chat translator plus a separate call app you only open once a month.

Quick answers

Does WhatsApp translate voice or video calls natively?

No. WhatsApp translates text messages (Message Translations, 2025) and transcribes voice notes (Voice Message Transcripts, 2024) on mobile only. Neither covers live calls, on any platform.

Will the other person hear a translation, or do I just see captions?

Depends on the tool. Overlay tools typically translate for the person running them — you get captions or spoken audio in your ear, and whether the other person hears anything back varies. A call-link model speaks each side's language to the other, live, in both directions, by design — that's the whole point of replacing the call rather than listening in on it.

Does the other person need to install anything?

For an overlay tool, no — they're on a normal WhatsApp call and never know the difference. For a call-link tool, they also don't install anything, but it's a different call: they open a link in a browser rather than answering on WhatsApp.

Is the call recorded or stored?

Varies by provider — check before a sensitive call. Voqua never stores raw call audio; a transcript and summary are saved to your own account afterwards, and you can delete any of them at any time.

What if I need to call someone who's dialling me, not the other way round?

Then a call-link tool doesn't apply — you can't hand someone a link before they've already called you. An overlay tool is the only option in that situation, with the caption-vs-two-way-voice caveat above.