Set Up MeetVoice in 2 Minutes: Quick Start Guide

MeetVoice is designed to be running in minutes, not hours. There are no cloud accounts to configure, no complex server setup, and no browser permissions maze to navigate. If you have used a Chrome extension before, the process will feel familiar — with one extra step for the desktop app that runs the local translation server.

This guide walks you through every step from download to your first translated call.

Step 1: Download and Install the Desktop App

MeetVoice uses a small desktop application to run a local server on your machine that orchestrates speech recognition and translation. The local architecture keeps the pipeline fast and under your control — your microphone audio streams directly to Deepgram for transcription, never through MeetVoice’s servers. Translation text passes through MeetVoice’s stateless cloud proxy in transit and is not stored.

Go to the MeetVoice download page and download the installer for your platform:

• Windows: Run the .exe installer. The app installs and launches automatically, appearing in your system tray. It starts with Windows by default.
• macOS: Open the .dmg, drag MeetVoice to your Applications folder, and launch it. It will appear in the menu bar.

Once the app is running, the local server is ready. You do not need to configure anything in the desktop app itself — it works in the background.

Step 2: Install the Chrome Extension

Open the Chrome Web Store and search for MeetVoice, or use the direct link from the download page. Click “Add to Chrome” and confirm the installation.

After installation, click the MeetVoice icon in the Chrome toolbar to open the popup. At first launch, choose “Try Free (30 min)” to start without a license, or enter your license key if you already have one. The extension connects to the local desktop server automatically — you will see a green status indicator when the connection is confirmed.

If the status shows a connection error, make sure the desktop app is running in your system tray or menu bar.

Step 3: Get a Free Deepgram API Key

MeetVoice uses Deepgram for speech recognition. Deepgram offers a generous free tier that requires no credit card to start: new accounts receive $200 in free credits, which covers over 300 hours of transcription. For most users, this is months of real-world usage before any cost is involved.

To get your key:

1. Go to deepgram.com and create a free account.
2. In the Deepgram console, navigate to API Keys and create a new key with the default permissions.
3. Copy the key and paste it into the MeetVoice extension settings under “Deepgram API Key.”

This is a one-time step. The key is stored locally in your browser and is never sent anywhere except directly to Deepgram’s API during transcription.

Step 4: Join Google Meet and Start Translating

Now the setup is complete. Here is how to use MeetVoice on a call:

1. Before joining the meeting, open the MeetVoice extension popup.
2. Select your language (the language you will be speaking).
3. Select your partner’s language (the language they will be speaking).
4. Join the Google Meet call as usual.
5. Click Start in the MeetVoice popup.

Translated subtitles will appear on top of the Google Meet window immediately. Both sides of the conversation are translated — what your partner says appears in your language, and what you say can appear in their language as a subtitle on their screen if they are also running MeetVoice.

A Few Useful Tips

Edge TTS voiceover is free. If you want to hear the translation read aloud instead of (or in addition to) reading subtitles, enable TTS in the extension settings. The default TTS engine is Microsoft Edge TTS, which is free to use on both Windows and macOS. The original speaker’s audio is automatically ducked when the translated voice plays, so the two do not overlap.

Translation also works with OpenAI TTS. If you prefer higher-quality voice output, you can optionally configure an OpenAI API key and switch to OpenAI TTS (tts-1 model at 1.25x speed) in the settings.

The language selection matters. MeetVoice translates between the language pair you select. If you set yourself to Russian and your partner to English, the system transcribes English speech and shows you Russian subtitles, and transcribes your Russian and shows your partner English subtitles. Make sure both language selectors match the actual speakers on the call.

Customize your subtitles. In the extension settings you can adjust font size and background opacity of the subtitles. If the subtitle overlay covers an important part of the screen, just drag it to a more convenient position.

Pick a voice for each language. In the TTS settings you can choose a specific voice from the neural voice catalog — male or female, separately for each language. Hit the play button to preview how a voice sounds before your call.

Meeting transcript works automatically. As soon as you start translation, MeetVoice records everything in a real-time transcript panel on the right side of the Meet page. Speaker names, timestamps, original text and translation — all captured automatically. After the meeting, export the transcript as PDF, SRT, or TXT from the panel or from meeting history in the extension popup.

AI meeting summary. After the call, press one button to get a summary of the entire meeting — instantly in both languages of the conversation. Key topics, decisions, and action items. Available with a PRO license.

Ready to Try It?

The full setup — desktop app, extension, and API key — takes about two minutes the first time and nothing after that. After the free trial, a license costs €15/year. Download MeetVoice from meetvoice.app and try it free for 30 minutes — no license required to start. Wondering how MeetVoice compares to built-in captions? Read our detailed comparison.