Question 1

How do I get live captions for Discord voice chat?

Accepted Answer

Download CaptionsRush and set up our Discord bot to join your voice channels. The bot captures clean audio from each speaker and displays real-time captions as a customizable overlay on your screen. Setup takes about 5 minutes - check our Discord Bot Guide for step-by-step instructions.

Question 2

Does CaptionsRush work with Valorant / Fortnite / Overwatch 2?

Accepted Answer

Yes! CaptionsRush works with any game in fullscreen, windowed, or borderless mode. Our overlay is designed to stay on top during gameplay. Whether you're playing Valorant, Fortnite, Overwatch 2, Apex Legends, League of Legends, CS2, or any other game, captions appear without interfering with your UI.

Question 3

Can deaf gamers use voice chat with captions?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. CaptionsRush was built specifically for deaf and hard-of-hearing gamers to participate in voice chat. You can see real-time captions of what your teammates are saying during gameplay, with under 50ms latency - fast enough for competitive gaming. No one on your team needs to install anything.

Question 4

Is CaptionsRush better than in-game speech-to-text?

Accepted Answer

CaptionsRush offers several advantages: it works with any game (not just those with built-in STT), captions Discord voice chat (which games don't support), provides per-speaker identification, and has under 50ms latency. Most in-game STT systems are limited to single-player dialogue or have significant delays.

Question 5

Does CaptionsRush work on Mac?

Accepted Answer

Yes — CaptionsRush ships a native macOS build (Apple Silicon, M1 or newer). One important caveat: macOS does NOT support a caption overlay rendered on top of games. macOS captions work great for general content (Discord, browsers, video calls, streams, podcasts, system audio), but not over gameplay. This is a system-level Apple restriction we cannot work around — see the next FAQ for details.

Question 6

Why is there no game overlay on macOS?

Accepted Answer

Apple blocks any direct rendering intervention over other apps at the OS level for security and sandboxing reasons. On Windows we use a graphics-pipeline overlay to draw captions on top of fullscreen and borderless games — macOS has no equivalent API, and the workarounds Apple does allow (screen recording, accessibility overlays) don't compose over GPU-accelerated game surfaces. Until Apple opens this up, the macOS app supports captioning any content audio (Discord voice calls, streams, video conferences, browser tabs, podcasts) but cannot place captions on top of an actively-running game. For competitive gaming with in-game captions, use the Windows build.

Question 7

Can I use CaptionsRush for Twitch streams and YouTube?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Beyond gaming, CaptionsRush can caption any audio on your desktop using System Audio mode. This includes Twitch streams, YouTube videos, Zoom calls, and more. While it's built for gamers, it works as a general-purpose live caption tool for any media you're watching or listening to.

Question 8

How accurate are captions during fast-paced competitive games?

Accepted Answer

CaptionsRush achieves 92-95% accuracy in optimal conditions using best-in-class cloud STT. Accuracy is highest with clear microphones and minimal background noise. Discord bot mode provides the cleanest audio by capturing each speaker's voice directly, which is especially important for fast callouts in competitive games like Valorant or CS2.

Question 9

How much does CaptionsRush cost?

Accepted Answer

CaptionsRush is free forever — the Community Edition includes Whisper and NVIDIA NeMo local STT with 100+ languages, no cloud dependency, no time limit. Cloud plans start at $10/month and add real-time translation, speaker diarization, and 125+ languages. Top-up available at $0.02/minute. Every new account starts with 60 free cloud minutes — no credit card required. Pricing is designed to cover operational costs, not to generate profit.

Question 10

Can I translate captions in real time?

Accepted Answer

Yes. All cloud plans include real-time any-to-any translation across 125+ languages. Your teammate speaks Spanish, you read English — word by word as they speak, mid-sentence, no waiting for the end of a sentence. Teammates can even switch languages mid-sentence (code-switching) and every word is transcribed in the correct language automatically. No extra setup — just pick your caption language.

Question 11

Does CaptionsRush work offline?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The free Community Edition runs Whisper and NVIDIA NeMo (via sherpa-onnx) entirely on your machine — no internet required once installed. Great for privacy, travel, LAN parties, or when your connection is unreliable.

Question 12

What's the difference between free and cloud captions?

Accepted Answer

Free Community Edition runs Whisper (100+ languages, broad coverage) and NVIDIA NeMo (low-latency English and a few fast languages) locally on your CPU/GPU — zero cost, zero limits, audio never leaves your device. Cloud plans add: (1) word-by-word streaming under 50ms even on noisy audio, (2) 125+ languages for transcription, (3) real-time any-to-any translation across 125+ languages, (4) speaker diarization so you know who said what even when voices overlap, (5) code-switching across mid-sentence language changes, and (6) rock-solid accuracy on accents, numbers, callsigns, and domain-specific terms — exactly the messy conditions competitive games produce.

Question 13

What platforms does it support?

Accepted Answer

CaptionsRush works on Windows 10+. You'll need both our software installed for the overlay functionality. It integrates with Discord (via bot joined to the voice channel) and supports any game running in fullscreen, windowed or borderless mode.

Question 14

Does my team need to install anything?

Accepted Answer

No! Only you need CaptionsRush installed, if you use the Discord bot - make sure the bot is joined to the voice channel (the bot need to be invited to the server and have the necessary permissions). Your teammates don't need to change anything—just talk normally in Discord.

Question 15

Will this get me banned?

Accepted Answer

No. CaptionsRush is a local accessibility tool that doesn't modify game files, inject code, or provide competitive advantages. It's the same as using subtitles.

Question 16

What about privacy?

Accepted Answer

For the free Community Edition, audio never leaves your device — Whisper and NVIDIA NeMo run locally. For cloud plans, audio is streamed over TLS to our cloud STT backend, processed in real-time, and immediately discarded — no recordings stored, no transcription content retained. Our privacy practices are GDPR-compliant by design.

Question 17

Can I customize caption appearance?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely! Customize font size, color, background opacity, position, and more. Save multiple presets for different games and scenarios.

Question 18

How do I get started?

Accepted Answer

Sign up for a free account at captionsrush.com — you'll get 60 free minutes with no limits. Download the app, set up your Discord bot, and start captioning. When your free minutes run out, choose a subscription plan or top up as needed.

Never miss a callout again.

Works with your favorite games.

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What people are saying.

Why I'm building this.

How CaptionsRush works.

» Install

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Real-time captions for Discord voice chat.

Per-Speaker + Diarization

Word-by-Word Streaming

125+ Languages

Free — 100+ Local Languages

Real-Time Translation

Any Game, Any Audio

Audio Description

Built for Messy Comms

Captions for everyone. Funded by the community.

Community Edition — $0

Together we’re making captions cheaper

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