Subtitle generator # Add Subtitles to Video (auto or manual) Auto from audioEdit inlineBurn-in or SRT There are two ways to add subtitles to a video. Generate them from the audio (auto-caption), or write them yourself based on a script you already have (manual). This page does both. Auto-caption is the default path because it is faster, and the inline editor lets you fix any words the model got wrong. Manual is available for cases where you do not have audio, or where you want a translation that does not match the spoken words. ### Drop your video or audio file here or click to browse Supports video and audio files up to 2048MB ## About Add Subtitles to Video The output options cover the common cases. Burn the subtitles into the video for platforms that strip or hide opt-in captions. Export SRT for YouTube, Vimeo, and most editing software. Export VTT for embedded HTML5 video on a website you control. The same transcription run produces all three, so you do not have to pick which output you want before you start. What this page does not do is grab subtitles from a streaming service or a DVD. That is a different workflow that requires source files we do not have. If you are looking to extract embedded subtitles from an MKV, a desktop tool like MKVToolNix is the right path. For everything else (auto-generating, editing, styling, and exporting subtitles for video you own), this page covers it. ## When this fits #### Marketing videos for the web Sound-off viewing dominates social and most web embeds. Subtitles on every video are the cheapest engagement win available. #### Internal training Onboarding videos and product demos benefit from subtitles for accessibility, for non-native speakers, and for noisy office environments. #### Course content Online courses with subtitles see higher completion rates and serve a wider audience. The auto-flow produces a starting point that the instructor cleans up. #### Translation prep A clean source-language transcript is the input that translators work from. Generate it here, then hand the SRT to a translator for localisation. ## How to add subtitles to a video #### 1 Drop the video Upload the file. It stays on your device the whole time. #### 2 Auto-generate from audio Whisper produces a time-coded transcript. Edit it inline to fix mistakes or rewrite for translation. #### 3 Style the subtitles Pick a styling preset or customise font, color, position, and background. The live preview shows what the burn-in will look like. #### 4 Burn in or export Download the burned-in MP4, the SRT sidecar, or the VTT for HTML5 video. The same run produces all three. ## Frequently asked questions ### How do you add subtitles to a video file? Drop the video on this page. Whisper transcribes the audio in your browser, producing time-coded subtitle text. You edit any wrong words, style the subtitles if you plan to burn them in, then export. The export options are burn-in MP4, SRT sidecar file, or VTT for HTML5 video. ### Can I add subtitles manually instead of auto-generating? Yes, by way of the inline transcript editor. After Whisper produces an initial pass, you can rewrite every line, delete segments, or merge them. If your audio is unintelligible or non-existent (silent video, music-only), start with the auto-generated empty transcript and type each line manually with timecodes set in the editor. ### What is the difference between subtitles and closed captions? Subtitles transcribe spoken dialog and are aimed at viewers who can hear the audio but want the text (often for translation or noisy environments). Closed captions add non-speech audio cues like \[door slams\] and speaker labels for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers. The closed-captions page covers the second workflow specifically. ### Can I add subtitles in a different language than the audio? Translation is not built into this page. The workflow is: generate the source-language SRT here, then translate the SRT in a tool like Google Translate, DeepL, or by paying a human translator. Bring the translated SRT back to a video editor to burn it in or attach it as a sidecar file. ### How long does adding subtitles take? For a 5-minute video, around 30 to 60 seconds for the transcription pass plus however long you spend editing. For a 60-minute video, 5 to 10 minutes of processing plus the editing pass. The burn-in step adds about 1x to 2x of the video duration on top. Privacy by architecture ## All processing happens locally in your browser, and your files never leave your device. No upload step, no server queue, no waiting. Verify in 30 seconds 1. 01`⌘⌥I` Open DevTools and switch to the Network panel. 2. 02 Filter to fetch and XHR requests. 3. 03 Drop your file in and start the tool. 4. 04 You will see the app bundle, the WASM binary on first visit, and nothing involving your file. How this works Video and audio processing runs through FFmpeg compiled to WebAssembly. Hardware decoding goes through the browser's WebCodecs API. Speech recognition runs against a Whisper model that downloads once and caches in your browser, never streamed from a third-party server. ## Related Tools and Resources #### [Burn Subtitles into Video](/burn-subtitles-into-video) Focused flow for hardcoded subtitles. #### [Closed Captions Generator](/closed-captions-generator) WCAG-oriented version with non-speech audio conventions. #### [Free SRT Generator](/free-srt-generator) Standalone SRT export flow. #### [Subtitles and Text](/subtitles) Manual subtitle overlay tool that accepts an existing SRT. --- Source: [https://vidstudio.app/add-subtitles-to-video](https://vidstudio.app/add-subtitles-to-video)