What Are Subtitles and Why They Matter
Wondering what are subtitles and how they differ from captions and transcripts? Here's the plain-language answer, plus how to add subtitles to any video for free, online, with no install.
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Subtitles are the on-screen text of a video's speech and sounds, timed to match the picture so it appears exactly when someone speaks. Viewers can follow along even with the sound off or when the spoken language isn't their own.
Three terms get mixed up. Subtitles sit over the video and are tied to timecodes. Titles (like a film's opening title or end credits) are a separate text screen, not a translation of the speech. A transcript is just the full text with no timing, handy for reading or turning into an article.
Subtitles boost reach on social feeds (most people watch muted), improve accessibility, and open your video to other languages. With GetCaptions, AI creates subtitles right in your browser, word for word with second-by-second sync; you can then style them and export to SRT, VTT, TXT, or burn them into the video.
Three steps to a subtitled video
Upload
Drop in your MP4, MOV or WebM.
Generate
AI creates accurate, synced subtitles automatically.
Style & export
Pick a style, fine-tune, and you're done.
FAQ
Are subtitles and titles the same thing?
No. Subtitles reproduce the speech and scene sounds tied to timecodes, while titles are separate text screens, such as a film's name or the closing credits.
Are subtitles the same as a transcript?
No. A transcript is the full text with no timing, while subtitles are split into short lines synced to the moment each phrase is spoken.
Which subtitle format should I use?
SRT works almost everywhere like YouTube and editors, VTT suits web video, and burn-in bakes the text into the file for TikTok or Reels. GetCaptions exports all of them for free.