Translate an Audiobook into 8 Languages with One Project
Updated September 3, 2026
TL;DR: on Creator and above, a finished Studio project can be translated into English, Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese and Korean and re-narrated with the same voice setup. The machine does the translation and the narration; you still need a native reader to review before you publish. Costs scale with characters in the target language.
How it works
- Finish the source edition firstPronunciation rules, cast and chapter structure carry over; fix them once in the source.
- Translate the projectChoose target languages; the script is translated chapter by chapter while structure and character assignments are kept.
- Review with a native readerNames, idioms and numbers are where machine translation slips. Edit the translated paragraphs in place.
- Narrate and exportUltra voices read the target language; export per chapter with the Standard or Audiobook preset and subtitles.
The eight languages
English, Chinese (Mandarin), Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese and Korean. Each edition is its own set of chapters inside the project, so a fix in the German edition doesn't touch the Spanish one.
What to check before publishing
- Proper names — decide whether they're translated or kept, then add a pronunciation rule per edition.
- Numbers, dates and currency formats.
- Idioms and jokes; machine translation is literal where humans are not.
- Chapter titles and front matter, which are easy to skip in review.
- Listen to one full chapter per edition at 1.25×; mis-stressed words show up fast.
Voices across languages
Ultra voices are multilingual, so one narrator can carry every edition — useful for a consistent brand across markets. For Mandarin editions, native Mandarin voices such as Daisy and Luna are often the better fit.
What it costs
Narration is billed per character of the target text: about one credit per character on standard voices, 1.5 per UTF-8 byte on Ultra — which makes Chinese, Japanese and Korean editions cost more per word on Ultra than the English source. Translation itself is part of the Creator plan and above. Budget an edition at roughly the source's credits, more for CJK on Ultra.
Where it falls short
Machine translation is fast and consistent, not literary. For fiction that depends on voice and wordplay, use it as a first draft for a human translator, not as the final text. For non-fiction, courses and reference material it is usually publishable after a native review.
Frequently asked questions
Which plan includes translation?
Creator ($19 a month) and above. Free and Starter include one trial Studio project without translation.
Is the translation human-checked?
No — it's machine translation inside the project. Review with a native reader before you publish; you can edit any translated paragraph in place.
Can each language have a different narrator?
Yes. Assign voices per edition; multilingual Ultra voices can also carry all editions with one narrator.
Are subtitles translated too?
Subtitles are generated from the narration timeline of each edition, so each language export comes with its own SRT/VTT.