Comparison

Captionify vs Simul

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Captionify

This app converts speech to text in real-time using on-device AI, offering live translation and AI-powered summaries. It prioritizes privacy by keeping all processing and data local, with no cloud reliance or account needed.

Highlights
  • Real-time transcription
  • Live translation
  • Face-to-face conversation mode
  • AI summaries
  • Apple Watch support
  • Save and search transcripts
  • On-device processing
Features
Read full description

Captionify turns speech into text in real time, entirely on your device. Transcribe meetings, lectures, and conversations. Translate across languages instantly. No subscription. No account. Nothing sent to the cloud. REAL-TIME TRANSCRIPTION Using on-device AI, Captionify converts spoken words to text the moment they're said — no internet connection required. Ideal for lectures, meetings, interviews, and noisy environments where you can't afford to miss a word. LIVE TRANSLATION Understand any language as it's spoken. Captionify translates speech in real time so you can follow along in any conversation, anywhere in the world. FACE-TO-FACE CONVERSATION MODE Talking with someone who speaks a different language? Face-to-Face mode lets two people hold a natural bilingual conversation on a single device — one speaks, the other reads, then you swap. No interpreter. No awkward pauses. AGENT MODE Talk to an on-device AI assistant that can use tools, connect to your own MCP servers, and remember saved chats — all without sending anything to the cloud. CUSTOM PIPELINE (BETA) Mix and match independent transcription, translation, and voice engines — on-device or your own custom endpoint — to build a live pipeline that's entirely your own. AI SUMMARIES Powered by Apple Intelligence, Captionify distills long transcripts into the key points that matter. Everything runs on-device — your words never leave your phone. APPLE WATCH SUPPORT See live captions on your wrist and control recording remotely. Keep your phone in your pocket while staying connected to every word. SAVE & SEARCH YOUR TRANSCRIPTS Every session can be saved and searched later. Build a personal library of transcripts — no cloud storage, no account, no limits. PRIVACY BY DESIGN Captionify uses Apple's on-device AI for all processing. Your voice and your transcripts stay on your device always. 100% FREE No subscription. No paywall. No account required. Every feature, available from the moment you open the app.

About

Simul

Features
Read full description

When you can't follow, just put your phone down. Simul turns what you hear into bilingual captions in real time: the original on top, the translation below, sentence by sentence as they're spoken. ■ Entirely on this device Recognition and translation both run locally. Audio and text are never uploaded and never touch a server. It works in Airplane Mode — go ahead and turn off your network right now and try it. ■ Where it helps · Face to face: one conversation, every turn translated — whoever speaks is detected automatically. If it picks the wrong side, tap that half to switch it. Lay the phone flat between you and one tap splits the screen so their half reads right way up · Lectures and meetings: set it on the table and follow the speaker line by line · Video: play a foreign-language video out loud and read along on screen ■ Built to be read Pure black, large type. The sentence still being spoken is dimmed and underlined; it settles once it's finished — so you always know which line can still change. Show both languages or just the translation. Caption size adjusts on its own, without changing your system text size. ■ Apple Watch Read captions right on your wrist, and start or stop from there. Put the phone down without missing anything. ■ Also · Speak the translation aloud so the other person can hear it · Generate a summary of the conversation when you're done · A Home Screen widget showing your current language pair — one tap to start · Start from Control Center, the Action button, or Siri · Continue on another device with Handoff ■ Language models download first The first time you use it, Simul walks you through downloading the recognition model for your languages. Models are managed by the system and shared across apps, so they don't count toward Simul's size. Downloading needs a network connection — after that, you never need one again.

Screenshots

Captionify4 screens
Simul4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Simul at daily against Captionify's every 10 days. Captionify's advantage is device support (4 vs 2). On price, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Captionify ships an update every 10 days, Simul daily. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Captionify versus Simul: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCaptionifySimul
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details — not scored
Size133 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJonathan Gregorio钊 邓

In-app purchases

None

Captionify

No in-app purchases

None

Simul

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Captionify free?
Captionify is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Simul free?
Simul is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Captionify or Simul have ads?
Neither Captionify nor Simul shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Captionify or Simul?
Captionify ships an update every 10 days, and Simul daily. Most recently, Captionify was updated on October 7, 2026 and Simul on October 11, 2026.

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