Is this subtitle generator free?

Burning the subtitles into your video is free, with no watermark. Transcribing the speech uses credits, 2 a minute, and needs an account; the 60 credits you get on sign-up cover 30 minutes of video.

Does the subtitle generator upload my video?

No. The studio takes the sound out of the video on your device and uploads only that to be transcribed. The video stays on your device, and the subtitles are burned in there too.

Will the video lose quality?

The picture is encoded once more, because the subtitles become part of it, at the video’s own size and frame rate and about one and a half times its bitrate, more for a low-bitrate video. In our tests the parts of the frame without subtitles measured 37 to 47 dB PSNR against the original. The sound is copied exactly as it was.

Which video files can the subtitle generator take?

MP4, MOV, MKV and WEBM. Each comes back in the same container, so a camera’s MOV stays a MOV with its sound untouched.

Can I get an SRT file instead?

Yes. SRT and VTT are one click away, along with TXT, CSV and JSON, and they follow the style you choose.

Can I add subtitles in another language?

The subtitles are in the language spoken in the video, which can be any of the languages our transcription reads. For a dubbed version in another language, see the audio translator.

How long can the video be?

Its sound can run up to 3 hours. Burning the subtitles in is limited by the space your browser gives this site, which the studio checks before it starts.

Subtitle Generator: Add Subtitles to Video

to burn in, no watermark: Free
a minute to transcribe: 2 credits
uploads; the video stays here: Sound only
sound in step, copied as it was: 0 ms
two lines, or one with a lit word: 2 styles
and TXT, CSV, JSON: SRT, VTT

How do I add subtitles to video?

To add subtitles to video, open the subtitle generator and drop in the video. Its sound is transcribed into subtitles, timed to the speech. Read them through, correct any word, and press Burn subtitles: the studio draws them onto every frame in your browser and gives the video back with the sound unchanged. You can also download the subtitles as SRT or VTT.

Add subtitles to video in three steps

The subtitle generator takes MP4, MOV, MKV and WEBM, from a phone, a camera or a screen recording. Only the sound uploads, so even a large video starts at once.

Drop in your video
Choose two-line subtitles or short one-line captions first. A video with several sound tracks asks which language to transcribe.
Check the subtitles
Read them over the playing video, fix a name or a word, and see each cue exactly as it will be burned.
Burn them in, or download SRT
The studio puts the subtitles into the picture and keeps the sound as it was; SRT and VTT are one click away.

An auto subtitle generator that keeps your video as it was

This auto subtitle generator transcribes the speech with the same engine as our video to text tool; everything after that happens in your browser, for free.

A sofa with a blanket and popcorn by a warm lamp

Lines that end where sentences do

Every cue is chosen with the whole sentence in view: a line ends at a full stop or a comma where it can, and avoids ending on “the” or “of”. In two-line subtitles on the same 25-second video, another online subtitle tool split three phrases across lines; this one split none.

Burned in, free, with no watermark

Burning the subtitles in costs nothing and adds nothing: no logo, no watermark, no length limit beyond the space your browser gives the site. Only the transcription uses credits.

Same picture size, same frame rate, same sound

The video comes back at its own resolution and frame rate, frame for frame, in the container it came in. Its sound tracks are copied untouched and play in step with the picture. The picture is encoded once more, at about one and a half times its bitrate, more for a low-bitrate video, because the words are now part of it.

Only the sound goes up

The subtitle generator takes the sound out of your video on your device and uploads just that to be transcribed. The video itself stays with you, from the first preview to the burned file.

Two-line subtitles or short captions with a lit word

Standard subtitles sit low in two lines, as players show them. Short captions are one bold line in the lower third for vertical video, and can light each word as it is said.

Videos with several languages

A video with more than one sound track, a film with two languages or a talk with commentary, lets you pick which one to subtitle before anything uploads.

Subtitle generator samples

Videos made for this site, transcribed by the studio and with the subtitles burned in by it, exactly as it wrote them. Each card plays a smaller copy and says what the studio made.

Video caption generator guide: burned in or as a file

Burned-in subtitles or a subtitle file?

Burned-in subtitles are part of the picture: they show everywhere the video plays, on every phone and in every feed, and nobody can turn them off. That suits short videos people watch with the sound off.

A subtitle file, SRT or VTT, sits beside the video. Video sites and players let viewers switch it on or off and choose a size, and you can upload one file per language. That suits long videos, lessons and anything you may want to correct later.

Doing both is common, and this video caption generator makes both: burn short captions into the vertical cut, and upload the SRT with the long version.

Which style to choose

Standard subtitles hold up to two lines low in the frame, the way films and video sites show them; with several speakers, the SRT names who speaks.

Short captions show one line of about three words in the lower third, where vertical feeds leave room above their buttons. Lighting each word as it is said helps people follow along with the sound off.

How the burning works

To burn subtitles into a video, the subtitle generator reads it frame by frame in your browser, draws the subtitle on screen at that moment onto each frame, and encodes the picture again at the video’s own size and frame rate. The sound tracks are copied as they are, so they sound exactly the same and stay in step.

The file is written to your device as it is made, so long videos are fine as long as the browser has room. A browser that can’t encode video gives you the SRT and VTT files instead.

1MP4 and MOV come back as MP4 and MOV with H.264 picture.
2MKV comes back as MKV; WEBM as WEBM with VP9 picture.
3Every sound track is kept, untouched.

How long it takes

On a desktop computer in our tests, an 85-second 1080p video took 11 seconds in Chrome and 29 seconds in Firefox. A WEBM takes longer, because its VP9 picture is slower to encode.

Getting the words right

Names, brands and numbers are where any auto subtitle generator slips. Click a word to correct it, or use find and replace for a name that appears often; the preview shows each cue as it will be burned. Adding a full stop the transcription missed lets the subtitle break there.