Translating your channel into other languages: YouTube auto-dubbing, Meta AI translations and why language sets the rate

Updated 24.09.2026 · Kostas Obuchow

YouTube's auto-dubbing is open to everyone in 27 languages since February 2026; Meta AI translates reels in a growing list of languages, still without Ukrainian, Russian or Polish. What each tool does, and why on Facebook the language of a video decides which country sees it — with a 53-times gap in our own payouts.

Short answer

On YouTube, dubbing adds audio tracks to the same video. Auto-dubbing is open to everyone since February 2026, in 27 languages. Creators who add other languages get a noticeable share of watch time from them.

On Facebook, the logic is different. A video in a language reaches the people who understand it, and the country of the viewers sets the rate. In our own network the gap between the best- and worst-paying language was 53 times.

So for a Facebook author, translation is not a way to “reach more people”, but a way to choose the audience that pays.

YouTube: auto-dubbing and audio tracks

Per YouTube’s announcement of February 2026: “Auto dubbing is now available to everyone, with an expanded library of 27 languages.” Expressive speech, which keeps the tone of the voice, covers eight languages.

The pairs are not symmetrical:

• a video in English can be dubbed into the other supported languages;
• a video in many other languages, for example Polish, Russian or Ukrainian, can be dubbed only into English;
• auto-dubbing is on by default for eligible creators; videos over 120 minutes and videos with copyright claims are excluded.

You can also upload your own audio tracks in other languages; this is available to creators with access to advanced features. YouTube says creators who did so got “over 25% of their watch time” from non-primary languages.

Meta AI translations for reels

Since October 2025 Meta AI translates reels on Facebook and Instagram: it “mimics the sound and tone of a creator’s voice”, with optional lip sync.

• who has access: Facebook creators with 1,000 followers or more, and all public Instagram accounts, in countries where Meta AI is available;
• languages as of September 2026: English, Spanish, Hindi, Portuguese, then Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Kannada, Arabic, Indonesian, French, Thai, Vietnamese on Facebook, and French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean on Instagram.

Many large languages are not on the list yet, among them Urdu, Turkish, Polish, Ukrainian and Russian. If yours is missing, translation has to be done separately.

On Facebook, language sets the rate

Our own network, June 2026: 33 pages, 40.9 million views. RPM per thousand views by the language of the page:

The same kind of content, different languages, and a 53-times gap between the top and bottom rows. The algorithm shows a video to those who understand it, and so the language chooses the country for you. Full table and methodology in Facebook RPM by country.

English is not the answer by itself

The most common idea is “translate into English and get the US”. On Facebook it rarely works that way: English is read by India, the Philippines, Pakistan and Nigeria, huge markets with cheap attention. Views grow, the rate falls.

Small languages of rich countries often pay more than large languages of cheap ones. Norwegian brought us almost fifty times more per view than Portuguese.

How to choose languages

1. Start from the rate, not the size of the market. A small expensive language can beat a large cheap one.
2. Check that the content travels. Humour and local topics translate worse than stories, how-tos and animals.
3. Translate your own videos only. A translated copy of someone else’s video remains unoriginal.
4. One language, one page. Mixing languages on a page mixes geography, and the rate follows the cheapest part.
5. Measure after a month: RPM by country in the Professional dashboard shows whether the language brought the country you wanted.