What happens if Kairos puts the wrong verse on screen during the service?

Two safeguards. Every detection carries a visible confidence score in the operator panel — low-confidence hits never auto-go-live, they sit in a queue for the operator to approve or skip. And the operator always has a one-click "clear overlay" to pull anything off the broadcast instantly. The default posture is "surface, don't override": Kairos suggests, the operator decides.

What if our internet drops mid-sermon?

Kairos ships with a local Whisper model that runs entirely on the booth machine — no internet required for transcription or detection. If you use cloud STT (Deepgram, Gladia, or our managed option) and the connection drops, Kairos falls back to the local model automatically so the broadcast keeps moving.

Will the pastor notice a delay?

Typical end-to-end latency from the spoken word to the verse on the broadcast is 0.6 seconds. The pastor will not feel it; the congregation perceives it as the verse appearing as it's being preached, not after. The hardest case — a paraphrased quote — takes a beat longer because the semantic match runs after the phrase completes.

Who can hear the audio Kairos records? Where is it stored?

Live transcription audio is streamed to the STT provider you choose and is not retained after transcription — that holds for BYOK Deepgram/Gladia, our managed option, and local Whisper (which never leaves your machine). Optional session recordings are saved to your own cloud account on Kairos Cloud, accessible only to operators you invite. You own the audio; we don't train on it.

If our current operator quits, can the next volunteer figure this out?

Yes. Operators control Kairos from a single panel — Prev / Next / Send Live, with keyboard shortcuts and a queue of pending detections. Most teams hand it off to a new volunteer in under fifteen minutes. Setup happens once, on the booth machine, and survives reboots.

Kairos is a free desktop app that detects Bible verses in real time from live sermon audio. It listens to a sermon feed, transcribes speech as it happens, identifies scripture references (including paraphrased quotations), and renders broadcast-ready overlays via NDI for OBS, vMix, and other live production tools. Kairos is built with Tauri v2, a React frontend, and a Rust backend.

What equipment do I need to run Kairos?

A computer running Windows or macOS, an audio feed from your sound system (system audio, NDI, or a USB mic), and a projector or display screen on the output side. Kairos works with your existing audio setup and NDI-compatible switcher. No specialised hardware required.

What Bible translations does Kairos support?

Kairos supports KJV, ESV, NIV, NKJV, NLT, and more. You can switch between translations on-the-fly from the operator panel, and each translation is stored locally in your app database for offline use.

What happens if the pastor paraphrases a verse?

Kairos is trained to recognise paraphrased scripture references, not just exact quotations. A semantic / vector model surfaces the intended passage even when the wording differs from any source translation, and tags the match with a confidence score so the operator can decide whether to go live.

Do we still need a projection or media operator?

Yes, but their role becomes simpler. Instead of typing verse references into a search bar mid-sermon, the operator triages incoming detections — approving high-confidence hits, overriding the few that need correction. The job moves from data entry to judgement.

Does Kairos work with OBS Studio and vMix?

Yes. Kairos outputs broadcast-ready overlays via NDI, which integrates natively with OBS Studio, vMix, Resolume, and other professional live production software. The overlay is a single NDI source you drop onto a layer above your existing scene.

How do I get started?

Download the free desktop app for Windows or macOS, plug in your audio feed, and you're ready to go. Most teams are running in under five minutes. Full setup instructions live in-app and in the online documentation.

Is Kairos difficult to set up or use?

No. Kairos is designed for church teams of all technical skill levels. Setup is straightforward, and once running, it operates with minimal interaction during services.

How much does Kairos cost?

Kairos is free for every church when you bring your own transcription key (Deepgram or Gladia) or run our bundled local Whisper model fully offline. No account required, no usage limits. If you'd rather not manage a transcription account, every new account gets 2 free hours of managed transcription to try it — no card required. After that you can stay on a prepaid wallet ($10 ≈ 20 hours) or move to a Pro annual plan ($200/year with 60 hours included every month). See the pricing page for details.

What is managed transcription and do I need it?

Managed transcription means Kairos handles the speech-to-text connection for you — no key paste, no separate STT account, no surprise bills. We meter usage by the minute and charge a flat per-hour rate via Paystack. You don't need it: the free BYOK and local Whisper options work the same as they always have. Managed is purely for teams that want a single bill and zero setup.

Do Kairos and Pewbeam solve the same problem?

Yes — both listen to live sermon audio and surface the scripture being preached on screen in real time. The differences are pricing model (Kairos is free, Pewbeam is freemium subscription) and feature surface (Pewbeam emphasises animated verse presentations and offline reliability; Kairos emphasises STT provider choice and multilingual translation bundles).

Is Kairos really free, or is there a hidden subscription?

The desktop app is free with no account required. The only paid layer is optional managed transcription ($10 prepaid wallet, or $200/year Pro) — and you can bypass it entirely by bringing your own Deepgram or Gladia key, using Apple Speech on macOS, or running the bundled local Whisper model.

Can Kairos run offline like Pewbeam?

Yes. Kairos bundles a local Whisper model that runs the full speech-to-text and detection pipeline on-device, no internet required. Pewbeam similarly emphasises offline reliability as a core feature.

Does Kairos do semantic verse matching, or only exact references?

Kairos detects both explicit references ("John 3:16") and paraphrased or quoted scripture where the pastor isn't reading verbatim — which is the same job Pewbeam's "semantic Bible search" framing describes.

Comparison

Kairos vs Pewbeam

Kairos and Pewbeam both detect Bible verses from live sermon audio and surface them on screen as the pastor speaks. The key differences are pricing model and breadth of speech-to-text options: Kairos is free with published macOS and Windows builds and a choice of STT provider; Pewbeam is a freemium subscription with paid tiers and a heavy emphasis on offline reliability and animated verse presentations.

Pewbeam (pewbeam.com) is a real-time sermon companion that detects Bible verses from live preaching using semantic search and animated verse presentations, with an emphasis on offline reliability. Pricing is freemium with paid monthly subscription tiers.

Side by side

How the two compare.

Dimension	Kairos	Pewbeam
Core job	Real-time Bible verse detection from sermon audio, including paraphrased quotations.	Real-time speech recognition with semantic Bible search to surface the right verse.
Pricing model	Free for every church. Optional managed transcription on a $10 prepaid wallet or $200/year Pro plan.	Freemium with paid monthly subscription tiers. See pewbeam.com for current pricing.
Detection framing	Detects explicit references and paraphrased / quoted scripture from the audio.	Semantic Bible search that, in Pewbeam's words, "understands meaning, not just words."
Offline operation	Local Whisper mode runs the full detection pipeline on-device. Audio is not retained.	Heavy emphasis on offline reliability — pewbeam.com states it "works perfectly without internet."
Bible translations	Ten translations bundled across four languages (KJV, NIV, ESV, NASB, NKJV, NLT, AMP, SpaRV, FreJND, PorBLivre). All stored locally.	Translation list not stated on pewbeam.com.
Broadcast output	NDI to OBS, vMix, Resolume, and any NDI-capable switcher.	NDI output (referenced in pewbeam.com testimonials).
Operating systems	macOS, Windows.	Not stated on pewbeam.com.

Honest comparison

Where each one shines.

Both tools exist because both jobs are real. Here's where each one lands.

Pewbeam is the right call when…

Strong emphasis on offline reliability as a first-class feature.
Animated verse presentations as a differentiator on the rendered output side.
Semantic Bible search framing — surfaces verses by meaning, not just keyword match.
Simple freemium entry point for churches that want to try before buying.

Kairos is the right call when…

Free for every church — no subscription required for the core detection app.
Multiple speech-to-text options: bring your own Deepgram or Gladia key, run local Whisper, use Apple Speech on macOS, or use Kairos's managed STT.
Ten bundled translations across English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese — multilingual services are supported by default.
Published platform support for both macOS and Windows.

Verdict

Which one should your church pick?

Pick Kairos when:

— You want a free, no-subscription tool for the core scripture-detection job.
— On-device data handling matters to your church or denomination.
— Your services are multilingual, or you run translations beyond English.
— You want to choose your own STT provider rather than be tied to one vendor's stack.

Pick Pewbeam when:

— Animated verse presentations are a meaningful upgrade to your broadcast look.
— Semantic search framing matches how your media team thinks about verse lookup.
— You prefer a single proprietary subscription with everything bundled.

Download Kairos free

Free for every church. No account required for the desktop app.

FAQ

Questions teams ask before switching.

Do Kairos and Pewbeam solve the same problem?: Yes — both listen to live sermon audio and surface the scripture being preached on screen in real time. The differences are pricing model (Kairos is free, Pewbeam is freemium subscription) and feature surface (Pewbeam emphasises animated verse presentations and offline reliability; Kairos emphasises STT provider choice and multilingual translation bundles).
Is Kairos really free, or is there a hidden subscription?: The desktop app is free with no account required. The only paid layer is optional managed transcription ($10 prepaid wallet, or $200/year Pro) — and you can bypass it entirely by bringing your own Deepgram or Gladia key, using Apple Speech on macOS, or running the bundled local Whisper model.
Can Kairos run offline like Pewbeam?: Yes. Kairos bundles a local Whisper model that runs the full speech-to-text and detection pipeline on-device, no internet required. Pewbeam similarly emphasises offline reliability as a core feature.
Does Kairos do semantic verse matching, or only exact references?: Kairos detects both explicit references ("John 3:16") and paraphrased or quoted scripture where the pastor isn't reading verbatim — which is the same job Pewbeam's "semantic Bible search" framing describes.

Bring scripture to screen, as it's spoken.

Free for every church. We built Kairos so scripture lands where it belongs — on the screen, the second it's preached. If it serves your church, tell another.

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