Pinch
Hey HN! I’m Christian, daily lurker and some might remember our original launch post (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42935355). Today we're launching Pinch for Mac, which we believe is a step-change improvement in real-time AI translation. Our vision is to make cross-lingual conversations feel as natural as regular conversations. TL:DR During an online meeting, the app instantly transcribes and translates all audio you hear, and allows you to decide when you translate your voice and when you don't. It's invisible to others (like Granola), and works everywhere without any…
Pinch launched on February 26, 2025 with 535 votes, #41 of 5,999 launches that month and more than 99% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 1 year on.
In plain words
Pinch is a video conferencing platform that translates voices in real time across more than 30 languages, allowing participants to communicate as native speakers. It is designed for people who need to conduct meetings or discussions across language barriers. The platform uses artificial intelligence to process and translate speech during live conversations.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
Pinch is a virtual conferencing platform designed for cross-lingual communication. Real-time voice translation allows you to appear as a native speaker of over 30 languages.
Translate videos, podcasts, and audio into 10 languages with AI dubbing. Same voice, natural phrasing, background audio preserved. $0.50/min, no subscription, no watermarks. Free credits to start.
Translate your videos and podcasts into 10 languages while keeping the original speaker's voice, tone, and background audio. $5 in credits free on sign-up — about 10 minutes of dubbing. No card required. We dubbed the same videos with Pinch and ElevenLabs using default settings — no manual tuning. Switch tracks below to compare. Pinch translates to how a native speaker would actually say it, not a literal word-for-word. The speaker's tone and warmth carry through. It still sounds like them, not a replacement. The dubbing studio lets you check speaker identification, fine-tune the transcript and translation, then generate the dub once it's exactly right — all in your browser. Tweak the…from startpinch.com
In the maker’s words, at launch
Hey HN! I’m Christian, daily lurker and some might remember our original launch post (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42935355). Today we're launching Pinch for Mac, which we believe is a step-change improvement in real-time AI translation. Our vision is to make cross-lingual conversations feel as…
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TransLiteFeb 2026 · translite.app · ▲98Hello ! David from Spain here :) I built TransLite because I was tired of breaking my flow every time I needed to translate something before sending it. The usual workflow was: copy → open a browser tab → paste → translate → copy again → paste back. I've created a small macOS menubar app that lets you translate the current clipboard instantly using a keyboard shortcut, in any app. It works locally and supports using your own OpenAI / Claude API key. It’s intentionally simple — no accounts, no tracking, no subscriptions. Happy to answer any questions. Best regards, David
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