Captioning and subtitling software turns spoken audio into timed text for video, from a free editor you drive by hand to a sold service with reviewers and live encoders.
This guide ranks on setup effort, the real bill once limits and translation apply, whether subtitle files export, vendor independence, and the kind of video each tool suits.
Vendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.
In short
What captioning and subtitling software does
Captioning and subtitling software creates, times, edits and exports on-screen text for video, usually from speech recognition, and often adds translation, review workflows, live captions and standard subtitle file formats.
Setup effort, true cost, data portability, exit options and buyer fit are the five tests, applied in that order to every captioning and subtitling tool here. A challenger rule applies on top. Places 1 to 3 are kept for lesser-known vendors when the category has them; large brands rank from 4. Why those five, and why there is no score out of ten, is on the how we work page.
Nonprofit-run subtitle editor with team roles and review workflows
Ranked #1 of 13 in Best Captioning and Subtitling Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Amara combines a browser subtitle editor with a paid service. The editor covers review and approval workflows, team roles and permissions, and an API for automation. Amara On Demand adds subtitles in 50+ languages from 2,500+ linguists.
For a team that wants to keep control of who approves each line, that structure is useful. The cost of the managed side is only visible after a request, and the sign-up page leaves its limits unstated.
What stands out
Nonprofit operator
Review workflows
Managed subtitles
Where it costs you
Managed subtitle prices are not shown, only a request route.
The page does not describe what the sign-up option contains or under which licence.
Right for
Teams that want to run their own subtitle review process with named roles
Wrong for
Buyers who need a price before contacting anyone
United StatesQuoted for managed subtitles; sign-up option shown
Dublin-based transcription and subtitle service with EU data residency
Ranked #2 of 13 in Best Captioning and Subtitling Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestEurope
For subtitling work the useful detail is output: SRT and VTT export, plus Word and PDF for transcripts, across 150+ languages. Pay as you go per minute suits irregular volume, while subscriptions and per-seat enterprise pricing cover steady use.
The company names a Dublin address and offers EU data residency. Its AI notetaker is a separate meeting feature, so the captioning buyer is paying for a wider platform than the task needs.
What stands out
Per-minute billing
EU data residency
SRT and VTT export
Where it costs you
Reading the plan limits means leaving the homepage for another page.
A permanent entry tier is not confirmed, only a try-without-a-card offer.
Right for
Teams that bill by the minute and want subtitle files in standard formats
Wrong for
Buyers who need every plan limit stated on one page
IrelandPay as you go per minute, subscriptions, per-seat enterprise; try without a card
Caption generator for short videos with animated styles and SRT export
Ranked #3 of 13 in Best Captioning and Subtitling Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingElsewhere
The entry tier allows 2 videos per month at up to 720p and adds a Zubtitle watermark. Guru raises that to 10 videos at up to 4K without the watermark, and Agency allows 30 videos.
Because the unit is a video rather than a minute, a short clip costs the same as a twenty-minute one. That favours brief social content and punishes longer material, and the 20-minute upload limit applies on top.
What stands out
Animated captions
SRT export
Per-video plans
Where it costs you
Each upload is capped at one gigabyte and twenty minutes.
The Guru yearly price differs between the comparison table and the plan card.
Right for
Creators captioning a few short clips each month on a small budget
Wrong for
Teams captioning long recordings or hours of footage
Not stated by the vendorFree tier with watermark; published monthly or yearly plans by videos per month
Cross-platform open source editor for timing and styling subtitles
Ranked #4 of 13 in Best Captioning and Subtitling Software in 2026.
Free tierOpen sourcePublished pricingElsewhere
Aegisub sits at the manual end of this market. The site describes timing subtitles to audio, styling tools and a real-time video preview, all in an open source package with BSD-style licences.
Because no vendor sells it, nothing in it can be turned into a plan or a quota. That also means no named operator to hold to a service level, so whoever adopts it carries the support burden.
What stands out
Open source
Timing and styling
Video preview
Where it costs you
Only editing features are listed; automatic transcription and translation are absent from the page.
No operator or country is named, only AegiSite contributors.
Right for
Subtitlers who time and style lines by hand and want no licence fee
Wrong for
Teams that expect the tool to produce the first draft
Not stated by the vendorFree, open source under BSD-style licences
Hourly-billed transcription and subtitle platform with an in-browser editor
Ranked #5 of 13 in Best Captioning and Subtitling Software in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
Pay as you go bills per hour, prorated to the second, for a single user with 5 GB of storage. Core adds 5 hours a month and 25 GB, and Advanced and Pro raise both, with Pro adding priority support.
A heavy month on Core simply moves to the hourly rate, so there is no penalty tier. Integrations named include Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, Webex and Adobe Premiere, and it also offers an API.
What stands out
Per-hour billing
Subtitles and captions
54+ translation languages
Where it costs you
Extra hours on a subscription are billed at the pay-as-you-go hourly rate.
The only trial is 30 minutes, and ownership or a parent company is not stated.
Right for
Teams with irregular volume who want to pay per hour of media
Wrong for
Buyers who want a long trial before they commit
United StatesPublished per-hour pay as you go and monthly or yearly plans by hours; 30-minute trial only
Short-form caption generator with 123 languages and credit plans
Ranked #6 of 13 in Best Captioning and Subtitling Software in 2026.
Published pricingEurope
Monthly plans are credit based: Starter has 45 credits and 2-minute videos, Pro has 120 credits and 5 minutes, and Business has 300 credits, 30 minutes and 4K at 60 FPS.
Yearly billing lowers each monthly rate, and prices are also shown in euros. The trial needs no card. Everything points to social clips, so a subtitling team working on long-form material will meet the length caps before the credit count.
What stands out
Credit plans
123 languages
Short-form clips
Where it costs you
Starter accepts videos of only 2 minutes and Pro of 5 minutes.
The 99% accuracy figure is the vendor's claim and the trial length is not stated.
Right for
Short-form creators who want styled captions and clips from long footage
Wrong for
Producers captioning feature-length films or hour-long lecture recordings
FrancePublished monthly or yearly credit plans; trial only, no card
Browser video editor with a subtitler, translation and dubbing tools
Ranked #7 of 13 in Best Captioning and Subtitling Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
The free tier gives 10 credits, a 2 GB upload limit and 30 minutes of export a month. Pro costs more per seat and lifts exports to 120 minutes, 4K and 200 GB of storage with no watermark.
Business adds 4,000 credits plus voice clones and lip sync. These are editing tools wrapped around subtitling, so a pure caption workload pays for credits and features it may never use.
What stands out
Browser editor
Credit metering
Watermarked free tier
Where it costs you
The free tier stamps a watermark and caps exports at 4 minutes and 720p.
Paid plans come without a trial and meter credits that other features share.
Right for
Social teams that caption short clips inside the same editor they cut in
Wrong for
Buyers who only want subtitles, not general video editing
United StatesFree tier with watermark and export limits; published paid plans by credits and storage
Live AI captions and translation for events, plus on-demand file captioning
Ranked #8 of 13 in Best Captioning and Subtitling Software in 2026.
Published pricingElsewhere
Rehearsal mode lets a host practise without limit in one room with up to 5 test viewers, watermarked and not recorded, which suits checking a setup before a real event.
Live captioning is the main product, so someone who only needs subtitles on finished video should look at Studio and compare it with the file-based tools. Custom dictionaries help with names, and summaries exist for some platforms only.
What stands out
Live captions
Event translation
Zoom and Teams
Where it costs you
Each session has limits, and the Events plan supports only 5 translation languages.
Katara Tech, Inc. is named in the footer, with no country given.
Right for
Event and webinar hosts who need live captions in several languages
Wrong for
Teams that caption finished video files only, never live events
Not stated by the vendorPublished monthly plans with per-session limits; free trial; enterprise via sales
Mobile-first captioning app with stylised subtitles and AI avatars
Ranked #9 of 13 in Best Captioning and Subtitling Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingElsewhere
Paid plans are measured in credits: 500 on Max, 1,400 on Frontier, and larger multiples on Frontier 2x and 4x. Credits cover AI work such as avatars and edits, which are not the same thing as subtitle files.
Compared with a pure subtitle tool, much of the product is video generation, so a buyer wanting only captions pays for a wider toolkit. No trial is mentioned.
What stands out
Mobile app
Stylised captions
Credit plans
Where it costs you
Quoted figures cover iOS plans, per the pricing page.
The free tier offers one caption template and no AI usage credits.
Right for
Individual creators who caption their own clips on a phone
Wrong for
Organisations needing a documented price for desktop or team use
Not stated by the vendorFree tier with one caption template; published monthly credit plans
London video editor with automatic subtitles, subtitler and video translator
Ranked #10 of 13 in Best Captioning and Subtitling Software in 2026.
Published pricingEurope
The homepage lists an automatic subtitle generator, a subtitler, transcription, dynamic subtitles and a translator with dubbing. A start-for-free option exists.
Because every editor is billed, adding reviewers raises the cost, even when only one person generates subtitles. The 50-hour fair use limit is generous for most teams, but it is stated, and translation minutes need their own tracking month by month.
What stands out
Per-seat billing
Fair-use subtitles
Video translator
Where it costs you
Translation minutes form their own allowance, lost each month.
Enterprise trials start at three users and go through sales.
Right for
Marketing teams captioning and translating videos they also edit in the browser
Wrong for
Large editor teams that need a flat price per workspace
United KingdomPer-seat plans; free option; enterprise trial through sales
Captioning vendor with legal, media, corporate and education plans
Ranked #11 of 13 in Best Captioning and Subtitling Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
The plans page splits the offer by sector rather than by size, which suits an institution with a defined use such as lectures or proceedings. Campus Complete promises unlimited live and post-production captions, though without figures that cannot be audited.
Legal Capture and Legal Visor are multi-user. A buyer comparing against Happy Scribe or Sonix cannot do so on price, because Verbit publishes none and its pages do not mention a free trial.
What stands out
Demo-led sales
Legal and education
Unlimited campus captions
Where it costs you
No plan shows a price, and every route starts with a demo or sales call.
No numeric minute or seat limits are stated, only the word unlimited.
Right for
Universities and legal teams buying captioning at institutional scale under contract
Captioning, subtitling, dubbing and audio description platform billed per minute
Ranked #12 of 13 in Best Captioning and Subtitling Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestElsewhere
The homepage lists captioning, subtitling, localization dubbing, global audio description, integrations and Pulse, an AI accessibility audit tool. That breadth is useful when accessibility work goes beyond subtitles.
Billing is by uploaded minute, and Pro covers 10 hours a year, which a busy channel would use quickly. The contradiction in the Enterprise hours means a buyer should get volume terms in writing, not rely on the page.
What stands out
Per-minute billing
Audio description
API
Where it costs you
Neither a price nor a currency is shown.
Enterprise volume is stated inconsistently on the same page.
Right for
Organisations that want captioning, dubbing and audio description from one supplier
Wrong for
Buyers who need a stated price per minute before talking
Not stated by the vendorQuoted per minute of video; pay as you go or annual
Live and recorded captioning with encoders, cloud and on-premises options
Ranked #13 of 13 in Best Captioning and Subtitling Software in 2026.
Self-hostablePricing on requestElsewhere
This vendor is built around live delivery. The suite lists SDI, IP and cloud encoders, the LEXI UHD592, and hosting through iCap Cloud Network, LEXI Local on premises, or hybrid setups.
Disaster recovery appears among the features. A buyer with only recorded files would pay for infrastructure they do not use, and the 12-month hardware term means the commitment is longer than a typical software trial.
What stands out
LEXI toolkit
Hardware encoders
On-premises option
Where it costs you
Encoders carry a minimum 12-month term and no prices are shown.
Neither a headquarters nor a parent company is stated.
Right for
Broadcasters and venues that need captioning hardware and on-site deployment
Wrong for
Small teams captioning uploaded files without live requirements
Not stated by the vendorQuoted; hardware encoders on a subscription with a 12-month minimum
Captioning and subtitling software creates, times, edits and exports on-screen text for video, usually from speech recognition, and often adds translation, review workflows, live captions and standard subtitle file formats. Compare on the following points, in this order, before you compare features.
01
Work out how much a sales call is worth to you
5 vendors on this page sell by quote, while 8 publish a pricing model you can read today: Zubtitle, Aegisub, Sonix, Submagic, Kapwing, Maestra, Captions, VEED.
02
Ask which country the contract runs through
These 13 vendors are established in 5 countries across 3 regions (Elsewhere 6, North America 4, Europe 3). That decides whose disclosure law applies to what the vendor holds, wherever the servers are.
03
Consider whether you want the source
Open source here means Aegisub. The price of self-hosting is the time your team spends maintaining it.
Captioning and subtitling software: find the billing unit first
Vendors in this market count different things, so two quotes rarely compare. Sonix bills per hour of media, 3Play Media and Happy Scribe bill per minute, Zubtitle counts videos per month, and Kapwing, Submagic and Captions meter credits. VEED multiplies the plan by the number of editors, and Maestra limits each live session.
A podcast network with many long files does badly on a per-video count and well on an hourly rate. A social team posting thirty short clips does the opposite. Write down your monthly minutes, the number of files, their average length and the number of editors, then ask each vendor to price exactly that volume, including any seat or session charges that sit outside the headline figure.
List monthly minutes, file count and average length before any quote
Count how many people need an editing seat
Ask whether subtitle translation draws on the same allowance
Length and resolution caps that stop an ordinary upload
Caps decide fit more often than price. Submagic Starter takes videos up to two minutes, Pro five, and Business thirty. Kapwing free exports stop at four minutes, 720p, and carry a watermark, and Zubtitle stops uploads at 20 minutes and 1.0 GB. VEED applies fair use to subtitle generation at 50 hours monthly, and Maestra limits each live session.
None of these appear in a headline price, so a buyer usually finds them only after signing up and uploading a first file. Take your longest real file, not a demo clip, and run it through a trial before choosing a plan, and note which limits the vendor only mentions in a table or footnote.
Test the longest file you really publish
Check resolution and watermark rules on the entry plan
Read the fair use wording for subtitle generation
Machine output or a human review: ask who checks the text
Accuracy claims need a source. Submagic claims 99% for captions in 123 languages, and Amara On Demand lists 2,500+ linguists for subtitles in 50+ languages, but those are vendor statements. Verbit and 3Play Media publish no prices, so a pilot file is the only fair test. For regulated accessibility duties, ask in writing who reviews the text and what happens if an error is found.
For social clips, a quick correction pass in an editor such as Happy Scribe or Aegisub may be enough. Test names, numbers and accents, because those are the places where a first machine draft is likeliest to need correction, and time those corrections. Multiply that time by your monthly volume to see the true cost.
Run one recording with names, numbers and accents
Ask in writing who reviews the text
Find out who fixes errors and at what price
Live captions, hardware and export formats
Live work needs different software from finished files. Maestra Live covers events and connects to Zoom, Teams, Meet, OBS and vMix, and AI-Media sells hardware encoders on a subscription with a minimum 12-month term. File-based tools should export standard formats: Happy Scribe lists SRT and VTT, Zubtitle exports .srt, and Aegisub edits subtitle files you keep yourself.
Check that the subtitle file leaves the platform without a paid upgrade, because a locked workspace makes switching vendors expensive, and keep a copy of every approved file outside the vendor account. Also ask whether audio description or dubbing sits in the same contract, as 3Play Media lists both. Live and file work often come from different suppliers, so budget for two tools if your plans include both.
Export a subtitle file during the trial
Ask for the minimum term on any hardware
Check whether live and recorded work share one contract
What goes wrong most often when buying captioning and subtitling software
Choosing on the headline price and finding the length cap or watermark only after the first upload.
Comparing a per-minute quote with a per-video plan without converting both to your real monthly volume.
Trusting a stated accuracy figure instead of running your own worst recording through a trial.
Buying a video editor for subtitling alone and paying for credits and features that never get used.
07
Frequently asked questions
8 answers
What is the best captioning and subtitling software in 2026?
Amara takes first place among the 13 we reviewed. Amara is run by the Participatory Culture Foundation, which describes itself as a nonprofit working since 2006.
The cloud editor adds review and approval steps, team roles and permissions, and imports from hosts such as YouTube and Vimeo. One operator with one product keeps buying simple. The weak spot is cost clarity: managed subtitles show no prices, and the sign-up option is left undescribed.
Which captioning and subtitling tools publish their pricing?
Published pricing exists for 8 products on this page:
Zubtitle: Free tier with watermark; published monthly or yearly plans by videos per month.
Aegisub: Free, open source under BSD-style licences.
Sonix: Published per-hour pay as you go and monthly or yearly plans by hours; 30-minute trial only.
Submagic: Published monthly or yearly credit plans; trial only, no card.
Kapwing: Free tier with watermark and export limits; published paid plans by credits and storage.
Maestra: Published monthly plans with per-session limits; free trial; enterprise via sales.
Captions: Free tier with one caption template; published monthly credit plans.
VEED: Per-seat plans; free option; enterprise trial through sales.
Everything else on the list is priced on request.
Is there a free captioning and subtitling tool?
Zubtitle, Aegisub, Kapwing, Captions can be used for free, either as a free plan or a self-hosted edition.
Where are these captioning and subtitling software vendors established?
In 5 countries across 3 regions: Elsewhere 6, North America 4, Europe 3.
Amara: United States.
Happy Scribe: Ireland.
Zubtitle: Not stated by the vendor.
Aegisub: Not stated by the vendor.
Sonix: United States.
Submagic: France.
Kapwing: United States.
Maestra: Not stated by the vendor.
Captions: Not stated by the vendor.
VEED: United Kingdom.
Verbit: United States.
3Play Media: Not stated by the vendor.
AI-Media: Not stated by the vendor.
Which captioning and subtitling tools are open source?
Aegisub.
Which captioning and subtitling tools can you host yourself?
AI-Media. 12 products offer no self-hosted option.
What should you use instead of Amara?
The next in line are Happy Scribe, aimed at teams that bill by the minute and want subtitle files in standard formats, and Zubtitle, aimed at Creators captioning a few short clips each month on a small budget.
Who should not buy Amara?
Buyers who need a price before contacting anyone. Managed subtitle prices are not shown, only a request route..
Your captioning and subtitling software product is not among these 13? Tell us what it is for and who it serves, and we will consider it. The decision is editorial, and the ground rules are set out under software advice.
