Wistia dubbing at $2.00 a minute: a 12-minute video in 4 languages

At Wistia's listed $2.00 per minute of video, a 12-minute video dubbed into four languages costs $96.00, or $24.00 per language. Wistia also gives each account one complimentary test dub for a video up to 15 minutes, so the first language of a short video can be free to try.

The numbers come from Wistia's support page Video Dubbing, read on 2026-10-03. It states $2.00 per minute of video on all paid plans, and the page does not list a language count, so none is given here.

What does the Wistia page include in the price?

According to the page, a dub order generates lip-synced translations that match the tone of the original, and the order includes the transcript and captions in the selected language. The player picks the dubbed audio from the viewer's browser language and tags dubbed options so viewers can tell AI dubs from the original audio.

The page also says dubs are generated from transcripts, so accuracy depends on transcript quality, and that unspoken text such as on-screen notes should be removed beforehand. A video must contain at least one voice. The page does not say whether you can edit the translated text, so do not assume you can.

What would the same work cost as separate Sume steps?

Sume has no one-call dub, so only part of the chain has documented prices. Audio detach is $0.01 per job, and speech-to-text through video inspect is $0.01 per audio minute, so a 12-minute transcript is $0.12 once, not per language. Timeline audio is $0.01 per join job.

The two costs the docs do not give are translation and text-to-speech. Translation depends on the translator you choose, and speech depends on the voice route, whose live price you read from GET /v1/catalog. Until you add those two lines, the Sume total is not comparable to Wistia's $96, and a blog post should not pretend otherwise.

Where does the per-minute model stop being the cheaper one?

A flat per-minute price is simple, and for a one-off 12-minute video with a free test dub it is hard to beat for effort. It scales linearly with languages, though: eight languages of a 20-minute course is $320.00. Per-job pricing scales with the number of jobs, which can be lower for short assets and higher for many small ones.

Compare on your own mix before you decide. List videos, minutes and languages, then price each route with the numbers on the vendor's own page.

• Count language-minutes: minutes of video times number of languages.
• Include the test dub: Wistia's free one covers a video up to 15 minutes.
• Add review time. A reviewed transcript costs less than a re-dub.
• Check what you need beyond audio: Sume's standalone captions are $0.20 per job up to 60 seconds.

What if you only need subtitles?

Skip voice. A video captions job burns captions from a public HTTPS video URL, with a language hint for speech-to-text, and costs $0.20 for up to 60 seconds under the current fixed estimate. For a 12-minute video that means cutting segments of 60 seconds or less, so it fits clips better than full-length videos.

Subtitles do not need lip sync or a voice choice, and they work for viewers who watch on mute. Dub when the audience listens; caption when they read.