Interpreting prices

Interpreting is spoken, live language work — different from written translation and certified documents. If you need a person to interpret in a meeting, appointment, court hearing, call or conference, you are in the right place. If you need a document translated, see translation prices instead.

Interpreter prices in the UK start from £95 plus VAT for up to one hour of telephone or video interpreting, rising to £400 for a full eight-hour booking. Face-to-face interpreting is quoted as a fixed package that includes travel, from £250 for up to two hours. Conference interpreting is quoted separately because it usually needs two interpreters per language plus equipment. Every price is confirmed as a fixed total before you book.

Interpreter prices in the UK start from £95 plus VAT for one hour, rising to £400 for a full eight-hour telephone or video booking, with face-to-face and conference work quoted as a fixed package. Interpreting is priced by time, and the way it is priced depends on how the interpreter works.

Telephone and video interpreting follow a fixed ladder that starts at £95 for up to one hour and runs to £400 for a full day. Face-to-face interpreting is quoted as a single fixed package that includes the interpreter, their travel time and their travel expenses, so there is nothing to add afterwards. Conference interpreting is quoted separately, because it usually needs two interpreters per language along with booths and headsets. Every price is plus VAT, and the minimum booking is one hour.

Telephone and video interpreting share the same fixed prices — the format does not change the cost. Both are quick to arrange, and common languages can often be set up the same day. The rate is fixed by the length of the booking:

Duration	Price (+VAT)
Up to 1 hour	£95
Up to 2 hours	£170
Up to 3 hours	£215
Up to 4 hours (half day)	£250
Up to 5 hours	£290
Up to 6 hours	£330
Up to 7 hours	£370
Up to 8 hours (full day)	£400

Longer bookings carry a lower effective hourly rate, so booking the full time you expect to need is usually better value than several short calls. We use only professional, qualified interpreters, on specially negotiated rates. You can read more about our telephone interpreting service, which is popular in the legal, medical and insurance sectors.

Face-to-face interpreting is quoted as a fixed package that includes the interpreter, their travel time and their travel expenses, whatever the transport. For a common language in a well-served area such as London, packages start from £250 for up to two hours and £300 for up to three hours, with all travel included, plus VAT. Other languages, less-served locations and longer or full-day bookings are quoted individually — a full day in London, for example, might be around £850 plus VAT.

We quote face-to-face work as a package after a few short questions, because the cost varies by language, location, date and availability. It helps to pre-book the full time you expect to need. Extra hours are charged at a fixed hourly rate and depend on the interpreter's availability, since interpreters often have more than one booking in a day.

The interpreter's time is only part of the cost of face-to-face work. Getting to and from an assignment takes time and money, and for off-site legal and business bookings travel can cost more than the assignment itself. We include all of it in one fixed package price, agreed before the interpreter sets off. We believe we are the only UK company that prices interpreting this way. You see the full total up front, with no surprise travel time or expenses added later, which makes budgeting straightforward and removes the main source of unexpected interpreting costs.

Legal work is a large part of what we do. We work with over 150 solicitor firms across the UK, covering prison visits, court hearings, High Court cases, client meetings and witness conferences. Our interpreters are qualified and approved for court use, including at the High Court, and are experienced in the impartiality and confidentiality that legal settings demand.

Legal bookings are priced as a fixed package that includes travel, which matters because legal interpreting is often off-site. Prison visits need at least 48 hours' notice, because the interpreter's name must be provided in advance — we supply this 48 hours before the visit. You can find more detail on our legal interpreting and court interpreting pages.

Conference and event interpreting is quoted separately and then given as one full package price. It usually needs two interpreters per language, who share the work and swap regularly to stay accurate. Equipment such as booths and headsets is supplied worldwide through partners we have worked with for more than twenty years.

Hybrid and online conferences are supported by an in-house technical expert, who sets up the platforms and virtual rooms for delegates and interpreters and stays on hand throughout the event. Larger on-site events also have in-house coordination, and this support is included in the package. For bigger events, the package can also cover flights, accommodation and transport. The final cost depends on the number of interpreters and languages, the equipment, the length of the event and the location. See our conference interpreting service for more.

Several things shape the price of an interpreting booking:

the type of interpreting — telephone or video, face-to-face, or conference;
the length of the booking and the one-hour minimum;
the language, with rarer languages sometimes costing more;
the location and travel for face-to-face work, which is included in the package;
the number of interpreters needed, which matters most for conferences;
any equipment required;
urgency and out-of-hours timing, which carry a surcharge (see below);
how much notice you can give.

We interpret in over 200 languages, and the right option is usually clear once we know these details.

Urgent, evening, weekend and bank-holiday bookings usually carry a 20% surcharge on the standard price. Where an interpreter is readily available, we may waive it, but it is best to assume it applies when you are planning out-of-hours work. We always confirm the full package price before you commit, so any surcharge is shown up front rather than added afterwards.

Common telephone and video languages can often be arranged the same day, subject to interpreter availability. Face-to-face and specialist legal bookings need more notice, so we can match the right interpreter and set the fixed package. Prison visits need at least 48 hours. Short-notice bookings are possible in principle, but they depend on who is available at the time, which is another reason to give as much notice as you can.

We have provided interpreting since 2001, more than twenty years, and now cover over 200 languages across the UK and worldwide. We are certified to ISO 18841:2018 for interpreting services and to ISO 9001 for quality management. We use only certified, qualified interpreters — not people who simply speak the language — and our interpreters are approved by medical councils and by the courts, including the High Court, for use in legal proceedings. We are highly rated on Trustpilot.

Your information is handled securely. We are GDPR-compliant, and our interpreters and staff work under signed confidentiality agreements. You can see the full range on our interpreting services page. We are one of the UK's leading interpreting providers: good value, fast and specialist, though not the cheapest.

To quote your booking, we need a few short details:

the date and timings;
the language or languages involved;
the location, or the platform for a video booking;
the subject of the assignment.

We then recommend the best option and price. If you would prefer a particular type of interpreting, we will quote that too. Enquiring does not commit you to booking, and your information is handled securely and confidentially.

You tell us the details, through our online quote tool or by email — just a few short questions.
Our dedicated quote manager checks interpreter availability.
We confirm the interpreter and a fixed package price.
You decide whether to go ahead. If you do, the quote manager confirms the booking with both the interpreter and you.

Assignment	Languages	Duration	Format	Price (+VAT)	Notice
Medical hospital appointment	English–Polish	1 hour	Video/phone	£95	Same day
Prison visit (legal)	Romanian–English	2 hours	Video	£170	48 hours
High Court hearing	English–Urdu	3 hours	Face-to-face (Manchester)	£300	1 day
Business share sale (financial)	English–Mandarin	Full day	Face-to-face (London)	£850	—
Environmental conference	Brazilian Portuguese, French, Spanish	3 days	On-site, 2 interpreters/language + equipment	£12,350 interpreting + £3,460 equipment	1 week

These examples show how the pricing works in practice; every assignment is quoted on its own details, so your price may differ. The equipment price for an event can hold for up to five days.

If you need written documents rather than a live interpreter, that is translation, which is priced per word — see our translation prices. For official documents that need to be accepted by a UK authority, see our certified translation services.

Interpreting prices: frequently asked questions

How much does an interpreter cost?

Interpreter prices start from £95 plus VAT for up to one hour by telephone or video, rising through a fixed ladder to £400 for a full eight-hour day. Face-to-face interpreting is quoted as a fixed package that includes the interpreter, travel time and travel expenses, starting from £250 for up to two hours in a well-served area such as London. Conference interpreting is quoted separately, as it usually needs two interpreters per language plus equipment. Every figure is confirmed as a fixed total before you book, so there are no surprises afterwards.

Why do you give a fixed package price, and does it include travel?

Yes — every face-to-face booking is a fixed package that includes the interpreter's fee, travel time and travel expenses, whatever the transport, so the total is agreed up front. We believe we are the only UK company that prices this way. For off-site legal and business work, travel can otherwise cost more than the assignment itself, and open-ended travel charges are hard to predict. A fixed package removes that risk: you know the full cost before the interpreter sets off, and you can budget with certainty. Telephone and video bookings are fixed too, priced by the hour band.

What is the difference between consecutive and conference interpreting, and which costs more?

Consecutive interpreting is where the speaker pauses and the interpreter relays each passage in turn, usually with one interpreter, which suits meetings, appointments and most court hearings. Conference, or simultaneous, interpreting is delivered in real time from a booth as the speaker talks, and it costs more because it normally needs two interpreters per language who swap roughly every 20 to 30 minutes, plus booths and headsets. A short, one-directional hour can sometimes use a single interpreter. We quote conference work separately and then give one full package price covering interpreters, equipment and event support.

How much does telephone or video interpreting cost?

Telephone and video interpreting share the same fixed prices, all plus VAT, with a one-hour minimum: £95 up to one hour, £170 up to two, £215 up to three, £250 up to four (half day), £290 up to five, £330 up to six, £370 up to seven and £400 up to eight hours (full day). Longer bookings therefore carry a lower effective hourly rate. We use only professional, qualified interpreters, on specially negotiated rates. Common languages can often be arranged the same day, subject to availability.

How do I book an interpreter, and how much notice do you need?

Tell us the date and times, the language, the location or video platform, and the subject, and we will confirm the right interpreter and a fixed package price. You can send these details through our interpreting quote tool or by email. Common telephone and video languages can often be arranged the same day, while face-to-face and specialist legal bookings need more notice so we can match the right interpreter. Prison visits need at least 48 hours, because the interpreter's name must be supplied in advance. Enquiring does not commit you to booking.