TikTok caption generator

Captions for TikTok

9:16 previewBurn-in MP4No upload to ByteDance

TikTok captions are doing two jobs at once. They help people who watch with sound off, and they keep viewers in the video longer (the platform reads watch time as a quality signal and uses it for distribution). The native TikTok caption tool works, but it caps you at the default styling, and any platform-side caption gets stripped the moment you cross-post to Reels or Shorts. Burning captions into the video file itself solves both at once.

Drop your video or audio file here

or click to browse

Supports video and audio files up to 2048MB

About Captions for TikTok

This page uses the same caption pipeline and the same style presets as the main tool. For TikTok, pick a bold sans-serif preset with a background pill so the text holds up on a 6-inch screen, then choose top, middle, or bottom placement while watching the live preview against where TikTok draws its like and comment column. Drop a vertical clip onto the page, fix the words Whisper got wrong, click Burn in, and download the captioned MP4 ready for upload.

The reason to do this client-side, even when the upload destination is TikTok itself, is that the editing tool does not need to be part of the supply chain. Unreleased clips, branded partnership material before launch, and any video tied to an embargo are better kept off third-party caches until the moment they go live.

When this fits

Sound-off retention

Plenty of viewers scroll TikTok muted on a commute or at work. Captions hold their attention through the first three seconds, which is the window the algorithm uses to decide distribution.

Cross-posting to Reels and Shorts

Platform-generated captions get stripped on cross-post. Burned-in captions survive every export and re-upload because they are part of the video frames.

Branded content under embargo

Sponsored TikToks tied to a launch date should not pass through a third-party caption server. Browser-local processing keeps the clip on your machine until you upload it yourself.

English audio only, today

The model here is English-only, so a TikTok recorded in another language will not caption correctly. For those, Orator at /text-based-video-editor can run a multilingual model on desktop.

How to add captions to a TikTok video

1 Drop your vertical clip

Click or drag your TikTok-ready MP4 onto the upload box. The file is read by the browser, not uploaded anywhere.

2 Generate and edit

Whisper transcribes the audio locally. Edit any wrong words in the transcript panel on the right.

3 Style for TikTok

Pick a bold preset with a pill background, then choose top, middle, or bottom placement. The live preview shows how it sits against the TikTok UI.

4 Burn in and download

Click Burn in and download MP4. The output is an MP4 (H.264 where your browser supports it) ready to upload to TikTok with captions baked into every frame.

Frequently asked questions

Why burn captions into the video instead of using TikTok's built-in captions?

TikTok's built-in captions live inside the TikTok app and get stripped when you cross-post the file to Reels or Shorts. Burned-in captions are part of the video frames, so they survive every platform and every re-upload. The styling control is also better when you bake them in.

Do you upload my TikTok to ByteDance servers?

No. Nothing about this tool goes through any ByteDance system. The transcription and the burn-in both run inside this browser tab, against a local Whisper model and the WebCodecs video encoder built into your browser. The MP4 export comes off your own disk.

What aspect ratio does this produce?

Whatever aspect ratio your source video is in. The tool does not resize. If your clip is already 9:16 (1080x1920), the output stays 9:16. If you need to convert from 16:9 to 9:16 first, use the resize tool, then bring the result here.

Will the captions cover TikTok's own UI elements?

They can, if you leave them at the very bottom. TikTok overlays the like and comment column on the right and the description at the bottom of the frame. The default position is bottom, so check the live preview and switch to the middle position if the text collides with either.

Can I use the MrBeast or Hormozi style word-by-word captions?

The karaoke highlight mode in the customize panel produces an active-word effect that is similar but simpler than the Submagic-style animated captions. Full word-by-word entrance animations are not available on this page today.