Adding subtitles is two steps: getting the words with timing, and putting them on the video. This page does the first properly and shows you the quickest honest way to do the second.
How it works
Upload the video or paste a link. Correct the transcript and download .srt.
Switchable subtitles are a file you upload beside the video. Permanent ones are drawn into the picture by re-exporting the video.
Upload the SRT to the platform, or run the video and SRT through an editor or a free tool. Both routes are below.
Route A: attach the file
This is the quickest route and keeps the video untouched. It works wherever the host accepts a subtitle file:
video.mp4 and video.srt in the same folder with the same name. VLC and most desktop players load the subtitles automatically.ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -i video.srt -c copy -c:s mov_text out.mp4.Route B: draw them into the picture
Instagram, TikTok and messaging apps play only what is in the picture, so subtitles must be part of it. We do not render video; these do, and all of them take the SRT from here:
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vf subtitles=video.srt out.mp4.Before drawing subtitles in, split any very long cue so it does not fill the screen, and keep text clear of the area the app covers with its own buttons. Drawn-in text cannot be corrected later without re-exporting, so proof-read first.
Sample output
1 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:46,500 fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation conceived in in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition 2 00:00:46,500 --> 00:00:50,300 that all men are created equal. 3 00:00:50,300 --> 00:00:57,500 Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived 4 00:00:57,500 --> 00:01:01,620 and so dedicated, can long endure. 5 00:01:01,620 --> 00:01:07,920 We are met on a great battlefield of that war we have come to dedicate a portion of that field 6 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:14,240 as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that their nation might live 7 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,800 it is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this
Real output, unedited: a public-domain LibriVox reading of the Gettysburg Address (2 min 41 s) transcribed here in October 2026. The repeated word and the missing capitals are what came back; you would fix those on the transcript before downloading.
Before you rely on it
Each cue is a phrase from the transcript with its start and end time. Most run a few seconds. A passage spoken without a pause can come out as one long cue of up to about half a minute, so split those in your editor if your platform wants two short lines at a time.
Cue times are taken from the recording itself, so the file lines up with the video or audio you uploaded. If you trim the start of the video afterwards, shift the cues by the same amount in your editor.
On public test recordings, about 7 words in 100 differed from the reference for clean English read speech, between 4 and 9 in 100 for Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, French and German, and about 21 in 100 for Hindi. Noisy rooms, music and crosstalk do worse. Method and every number: the benchmark.
Open the transcript, correct a misheard name or number on its line, and the SRT and VTT you download carry the correction with the timing unchanged.
You get the subtitle file. Fonts, colours, position and captions drawn into the picture are done in your video editor or player, which reads this file.
Up to 10 hours or 5 GB per recording. The box on this page takes files up to 500 MB; larger ones continue on the upload page. 99+ languages, detected automatically.
Pricing
The preview is free. When the full transcript needs a pack, one-time packs are $4 for 500 minutes, $8 for 1,000 minutes, $12 for 2,000 minutes, $24 for 5,000 minutes. Credits never expire, which comes to about $0.29 to $0.48 per hour of audio.
| Recording | $4 or $8 pack | $12 pack | $24 pack |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-minute video | $0.02 | $0.02 | $0.01 |
| 20-minute video | $0.16 | $0.12 | $0.10 |
| 90-minute film | $0.72 | $0.54 | $0.43 |
Figures are the share of a pack each recording uses. A button opens secure checkout for that pack. Every export format is included; full details on the pricing page.
FAQ
Upload the video here to generate an SRT from the speech. Then either upload the SRT to the platform hosting the video, or use an editor or HandBrake to draw the subtitles into the picture.
No. It makes the subtitle file. Attaching the file is an upload on your video platform, and drawing subtitles into the picture is done with a free tool like HandBrake or your video editor.
Use HandBrake: open the MP4, import the SRT on the Subtitles tab, tick Burn In and encode. Or with ffmpeg: ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vf subtitles=video.srt out.mp4.
Keep them as a separate file. Upload the SRT to the hosting platform, place it beside the video with the same file name for desktop players, or add it as a track inside the MP4 with ffmpeg using stream copy.
Switchable when the platform supports a subtitle file: viewers can turn them off, you can fix them later, and several languages are possible. Permanent for Instagram, TikTok and anywhere with no subtitle upload.
Every page in this set uses the same upload box and the same export. All subtitle pages
Free preview. One upload gives SRT and VTT; packs from $4.