Review · Hearing & audio
Ava review
A live captioning app for Deaf and hard of hearing people that shows color-coded group transcripts and offers a higher-accuracy Scribe option.
By the HearSmart research desk · Updated November 7, 2026
- Performance (40%)
- 8.9
- Ease of use (25%)
- 8.4
- Value (35%)
- 7.6
Ava is the best choice when more than two people are talking. Instead of one stream of text, you invite others to join your session by QR code or link, and Ava shows a color-coded transcript of who says what. The free plan gives unlimited basic captions in sessions of up to 40 minutes, saved transcripts and text-to-speech for typed replies. The Community plan adds 3 hours a month of premium captions, which Ava puts at about 5 errors in 100 words, for $9.99 per month paid annually or $14.99 paid monthly, with extra hours at $4.99. For key conversations, Ava Scribe gives its highest accuracy, at about 1 error in 100 words. You can teach it your vocabulary by tapping words to correct them, and translate conversations in 16 languages. Ava CC brings captions to Zoom, Teams and Google Meet on a computer. The downsides are the 40 minute cap on free sessions, the limited premium hours and the lack of phone call captioning.
Who it is for
Group conversations, classes and meetings where you need to know who said what.
Price
Free plan; Community plan $14.99 per month or $119.99 per year.
Ava Community Plan $14.99 Ava Community Plan (Yearly) $119.99
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 7, 2026.
Key features
- Group sessions where others join by QR code or link, with a color-coded transcript of who says what
- Free plan with unlimited basic captions and sessions up to 40 minutes
- Premium AI captions at about 5 errors in 100 words, and Ava Scribe at about 1 in 100
- Text-to-speech so Ava reads your typed replies aloud
- Ava CC companion app for Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet
Strengths and weaknesses
- Strength: Built specifically for Deaf and hard of hearing users
- Strength: Speaker labels make group talk much easier to follow
- Strength: Translation in 16 languages on paid plans
- Weakness: Free sessions are capped at 40 minutes
- Weakness: Community plan includes only 3 hours of premium captions per month
- Weakness: Does not caption regular phone calls
Key facts
- Free plan: Unlimited basic captions, 40 minute sessions
- Platform: iPhone, iPad, plus Ava CC and Ava Web
- App Store rating: 4.4 from about 4,200 ratings
- Premium hours: 3 per month on Community, extra hours from $4.99
- Price: $14.99 per month or $9.99 per month billed annually
Where it ranks
Ava is No. 7 in our Best Captioning Apps verdict.
Alternatives we scored
Visit ava.me · Questions or corrections: editorial@hearsmart.org