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How much does an interpreter cost?

How much does an interpreter cost for a church service or a conference? It depends on the days, the hours of talking, the languages and the people listening. See what interpreters, booths and receivers cost at published rates, beside what Livefy costs for the same event. Every rate is named and linked below.

The short answer: at published US rates, interpreting one language for one day, for 100 listeners, costs about $2,339: 2 interpreters at $557 each, $775 for the booth and equipment with 10 receivers, and $5 for each of the other 90. Each further language adds about $1,689: 2 more interpreters and a $575 booth.

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How many days the programme runs
Not the length of the day: the hours translation would run, paused through breaks and songs
How many languages the audience needs, not counting the one being spoken
How many need to hear it in another language
Interpreters and equipment$5,967
Livefy$120
For 1 day, 5 hours of talking a day, 3 languages and 150 people listening.

Interpreters and equipment

6 interpreters 3 languages × 2 interpreters × 1 day at $557 a day
$3,342
Booths and transmitters $775 for the first booth, $575 for each of the other 2, per day
$1,925
140 receivers 150 listeners, 10 receivers included, the rest at $5 each per day
$700
Total$5,967

Before travel, per diems, agency margin, or a technician on site.

Livefy

15 translation hours Bought once, at $8 an hour in packs of 5 hours, any number of languages. Bought hours never expire.
$120
Total$120

15 translation hours: 5 hours of talking × 1 day × 3 languages. Pause stops translation during breaks and songs. No booths, no receivers, and nothing to hand out or collect afterwards.

Event pricing Church plans
Interpreters $5,967 · Livefy $120See the details
WHERE THE NUMBERS COME FROM

Every figure, and who published it.

Nothing here is an average of estimates or a number from a comparison blog. Where a range exists we took the low end, so the answer is conservative.

Two interpreters per language, not one
AIIC Professional Standards, amended 16 January 2022, Article 6.3

As a general rule, a team is composed of at least two interpreters per language and per booth. The same article adds that an interpreter shall not, as a general rule, work alone in a booth.

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An interpreter’s working day is about five to six hours
AIIC Professional Standards 2022, Article 7

The normal duration of an interpreter’s working day shall not exceed 2 sessions of between 2,5h and 3h each. A programme longer than that needs more interpreters by professional standard, not as an upsell.

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One booth per language
AIIC Professional Standards 2022

The number of interpretation booths is the same as the number of target languages, so both the people and the hardware scale one for one with languages.

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USD 557 per interpreter per day
United Nations system, CEB/2026/HCLM/CM/3, effective 1 July 2026 and in effect until 31 December 2026

The lower of the two published daily net rates for a short-term conference interpreter in the United States (Group II; Group I is USD 836). It is what UN bodies pay under their agreement with AIIC, before agency margin, travel or per diems.

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$775 for the first booth, $575 for each further language, $5 per receiver
LexiconUSA published CRS-Pro rental page

The CRS-Pro day rate covers an encapsulated booth, a dual interpreter unit, a transmitter, two headset microphones and ten receivers. Aggregator sites quote $15 to $25 per receiver per day; we use the published $5, because it is the number anyone can check.

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