Generate WebVTT captions for HTML5 video and YouTube.
WebVTT is the caption format browsers read. Upload a recording or paste a link and download a .vtt timed to the speech, ready for a track element, Vimeo or a course platform.
How it works
How to create a VTT file in three steps.
Upload or paste a link
Drop a video or audio file into the box above, or paste a public link. Files over 500 MB continue on the upload page.
Review the transcript
Most files are ready in under a minute. Correct names and terms on their lines; the corrections go into the file you download.
Download .vtt
Open the download menu and choose .vtt, then host it beside your video or upload it to Vimeo, YouTube or your course platform.
What you get
A WebVTT file that just works in HTML5 video.
A clean WebVTT file
WEBVTT header, full-stop timing (hh:mm:ss.ms) and a blank line between cues: the plain, widely compatible form of the format, accepted by browsers, Vimeo, YouTube and course platforms.
Style it in your player
The file holds timed text only. Set font, size and background from your own stylesheet with the ::cue selector, or in your player's caption settings.
Timed to the speech
Each cue is a spoken phrase with its start and end time, measured from the audio. Most cues run a few seconds; a passage with no pause can be longer.
Drop into a track element
Paste the file URL into <track src='captions.vtt' kind='subtitles'> and the browser renders captions natively. Works in Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Edge — no JavaScript player library required.
VTT vs SRT
When to use VTT instead of SRT.
✗ An SRT pasted into HTML5
Some browsers tolerate it, most don't. Comma timing isn't VTT-spec; styling is unsupported; positioning is impossible. Works in VLC, breaks in <track>.
- Comma-separated timing — not VTT spec
- No cue styling support
- No positioning, alignment, or vertical text
- Inconsistent browser rendering
- No metadata or chapter cues
✓ A real Whipscribe WebVTT
WEBVTT header, full-stop timing, timed text. Loads in the track element in every modern browser and uploads to Vimeo, YouTube and course platforms. Packs from $4 cover long files and whole batches.
- WEBVTT header with full-stop timing
- A start and end time on every cue
- 99+ languages, auto-detected
- Correct a line before downloading
- HTML5 <track> drop-in
Sample VTT
What the output looks like.
Real output: a public-domain reading of the Gettysburg Address, transcribed here in October 2026.
Export
One transcript. Five clean formats.
Every pack exports all five — no format is held back for a higher tier.
WebVTT
HTML5 player + YouTube uploads.
SRT captions
Timed to the speech. Every video editor reads this.
Plain text
De-ummed paragraphs. Ready to paste.
Show notes
Formatted with chapters and pull-quotes.
Machine-readable
Timestamped text for your own tools.
Pricing
Honest pricing, no surprises.
A pack from $4 (300 minutes) opens the full transcript. After that, no subscription and no auto-renew — every tier is a one-time minute pack, and credits never expire. Buy once, use the minutes whenever you need them.
Casual pack
$4/300 min
5 hours of audio — $0.80 an hour. One-time — credits never expire.
- 300 minutes of audio
- All export formats
- AI chat over the whole transcript
- Executive summary & key quote
Best value
$18/3,000 min
50 hours of audio — $0.36 an hour. Credits never expire.
- 3,000 minutes of audio
- Summary, chapters and key quotes
- All export formats
- AI chat over the whole transcript
Bulk pack
$32/6,000 min
100 hours of audio — $0.32 an hour. Credits never expire.
- 6,000 minutes of audio
- Summary, chapters and key quotes
- API access for batch pipelines
- All export formats
Before you rely on it
What the VTT file is, and what it is not.
Measured on our own output, so nothing here is a surprise after you pay.
Cues sized for reading
Each cue holds at most two lines of about 42 characters and stays on screen for one to seven seconds, breaking at the end of a sentence or clause where it can. The words are exactly the transcript's; only the breaks are chosen for the screen.
Timing comes from the audio
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.
Accuracy we measured
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.
Fix a line before you download
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.
A plain file, not a styled video
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.
Subtitles in another language
An unlocked transcript translates into 99 languages from the language control above it, and each language downloads as SRT, VTT, TXT or DOCX. Timing is kept from the original, so the translated file fits the same video; translating an unlocked transcript adds no charge beyond the minutes the transcription used.
Packs
Pick a pack and go straight to checkout.
The preview is free. When the full transcript needs a pack, one-time packs are $4 for 300 minutes, $18 for 3,000 minutes, $32 for 6,000 minutes. Credits never expire.
A button opens secure checkout for that pack. Every export format is included.
FAQ
WebVTT generator questions, answered.
How do I create a VTT file?
Upload the video or audio, or paste a link, in the box at the top of this page. When the transcript is ready, open it and download .vtt. The file is made from the speech in the recording.
Is the VTT generator free?
The preview is free. Opening or downloading the full transcript may need a pack; the smallest is $4 for 300 minutes, and credits never expire.
What's the difference between WebVTT and SRT?
WebVTT (.vtt) is the HTML5 standard — period-separated timing (00:00:01.200), supports cue styling, positioning, and metadata. SRT (.srt) is older, simpler — comma timing (00:00:01,200), no styling. Use VTT for HTML5 <track>, YouTube native upload, and styled captions. Use SRT for editors like Premiere, Final Cut, and Resolve.
Does YouTube accept VTT?
Yes. YouTube Studio's caption upload accepts both VTT and SRT; choose the With timing option when you upload.
Can I style the captions?
Yes, in your player. Browsers style WebVTT captions through the ::cue selector in CSS: font, size, colour and background. The file made here contains timed text without cue settings, so the look is entirely your stylesheet.
Which players support styled VTT?
The native HTML5 video element with a track element in Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Edge, and player libraries such as Video.js and Plyr, apply ::cue styling. YouTube and Vimeo use their own caption styling.
How accurate is the timing?
Cue times are measured from the audio, phrase by phrase, so the file lines up with the recording you uploaded. Background music, overlapping speech and long passages without a pause make cues less tidy; adjust those in a subtitle editor.
Is the file stored anywhere?
Transcripts are kept in your private library, and you can delete a recording and its transcript at any time. Your audio is never used to train AI.
I already have an SRT. Can I convert it to VTT?
Yes, and that needs no transcription. The SRT to VTT converter on this site changes the format in your browser.
Related
Related tools and pages.
Generate WebVTT captions. Drop them into your HTML5 player.
Generate VTTSubtitles and captions
Every page in this set uses the same upload box and the same export. All subtitle pages
Make subtitles
From a link or a file
WebVTT
For a platform or an editor
- Subtitles for DaVinci Resolve
- YouTube subtitle generator
- Subtitles for Final Cut Pro
- Subtitles for CapCut
- Subtitles for Shorts and Reels
Convert a subtitle file
Formats and rules
- Captions for ADA compliance
- WCAG caption requirements
- Captioning use case
- SRT file format
- VTT file format
By language
To English subtitles
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