How to pick a subtitle editor
Start with the job, not the app:
- Timing and fixing existing subtitles: a desktop editor with an audio waveform lets you see where speech starts and stops. Subtitle Edit, Aegisub and Jubler show one.
- Styled subtitles with fonts, colors and positions: Aegisub says it has many powerful tools for styling with a real-time video preview.
- Subtitles from scratch: speech recognition writes a first draft. Subtitle Edit runs Whisper and other engines locally, and Buzz transcribes offline and exports SRT and VTT.
- A quick edit without installing anything: Subtitle Horse runs in the browser without registration.
- Videos already on YouTube: YouTube Studio lets you upload a file, auto-sync a transcript or type captions while the video plays.
Free limits compared
The values are from the official pages on the date in the list. An empty cell means the page states nothing about it for free use.
| Editor | Auto captions | Waveform | Free limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subtitle Edit | Whisper and other local engines | Yes, plus spectrogram | None, open source |
| Aegisub | Waveform and spectrum | None, open source | |
| Jubler | Yes | None, open source | |
| Buzz | Whisper, offline | None, open source | |
| YouTube Studio | In the video's default language | Your YouTube videos | |
| Kapwing | Up to 10 minutes | Watermark, 720p, videos up to 4 minutes | |
| VEED | Free to start | Longer videos and subtitle downloads need a paid plan | |
| Happy Scribe | 10-minute free trial | Yes | 45 minutes per recording; burned-in MP4 watermarked |
| Subtitle Horse | Zoomable timeline | Free version, no registration |
For the web editors, the free plan is mostly a trial of the automatic part. Kapwing states unlimited exports with a watermark on its Free plan, and VEED says to upgrade to download subtitle files.
Subtitle files and our tools
Editors and platforms differ in the subtitle formats they read and write. When a file does not fit the player or platform, our browser tools handle the common follow-up jobs without uploading the file:
- Subtitle converter: SRT, WebVTT, SBV and ASS in any direction, one file or many as a ZIP.
- Subtitle timing shifter: move all lines earlier or later, or stretch them after a frame rate change.
- Subtitles to text: turn a subtitle file into a clean transcript without numbers and times.
- Trim video: cut a short test clip to try your subtitles on before the full export.
- Speech to text: dictate lines with your microphone and paste them into the editor.
If the video itself will not play in the editor, our guide to MP4, WebM and MOV explains which container and codec work where.
Privacy: offline or upload
Web editors need your video on their servers. Desktop editors keep it on your computer: Subtitle Edit calls itself an offline, open-source application that does not collect or transmit your subtitle or media files, and its online speech engines, such as Google Cloud Speech-to-Text, are optional. Buzz says it transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer. For interviews, internal videos or anything under an agreement, an offline editor avoids the question of where the file goes.
If you need a transcript more than timed subtitles, compare the options in free transcription tools.
Frequently asked questions
Which free subtitle editor makes automatic captions?
Subtitle Edit runs speech recognition with Whisper and other local engines, and Buzz transcribes offline with Whisper and exports SRT and VTT. YouTube Studio makes automatic captions in the video's default language. Kapwing's Free plan includes up to 10 minutes of auto-subtitling, and Happy Scribe offers a 10-minute free trial.
Is Subtitle Edit only for Windows?
No. The current version 5 has builds for Windows 10 22H2 or newer, macOS 12 or newer (14 recommended) and Linux as a Flatpak or native package. It is open source under the MIT license.
Which editors show an audio waveform for timing?
Subtitle Edit shows a waveform and an optional spectrogram, Aegisub has a waveform and a spectrum display, and Jubler lists audio waveform visualization. Happy Scribe lets you adjust timing on a waveform in the browser. Subtitle Horse has a zoomable timeline where you drag subtitle times.
Can I edit subtitles online without an account?
Subtitle Horse says its free version creates captions without registration, in the browser. It exports SRT, TimedText and WebVTT.
Do free web subtitle editors add a watermark?
Kapwing's Free plan exports videos with a watermark, and Happy Scribe watermarks MP4 exports with burned-in subtitles on its free tier. Subtitle files such as SRT carry no image, so a watermark only concerns exported videos. VEED requires a paid plan to download subtitle files.