AI Subtitle & Caption Tool Reviews
Which AI subtitle tools give you the .srt file on a free plan?
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The Short Answer
- Descript — Descript's help article documents subtitle export as .srt or .vtt with no plan restriction attached, while free video exports carry a watermark in the bottom-right corner.
- Kapwing — Kapwing marks "Download SRT/VTT files" with an X in the Free column of its own comparison table, and free exports carry a watermark on top of a one-minute cap.
- VEED.IO — VEED's own tool page says the auto subtitle generator is free to start and that a paid plan is required to download subtitle files.
- Submagic — Submagic publishes its free watermark and video caps precisely, and says nothing about .srt or .vtt on any plan, on any page we could open.
| Product | Best for | From | Free plan | Free-plan subtitle file |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Descript | The file is free, the clean video is not | $16/mo (annual) | Yes | File yes, video marked |
| Kapwing | The restriction you can check before signing up | $16/mo (annual) | Yes | Paid to get the file |
| VEED.IO | Free to subtitle, paid to keep the subtitles | $10/mo (annual) | Yes | Paid to get the file |
| Submagic | Never mentions the file at all | $12/mo (annual) | Yes | Not confirmed |
What we checked, and what we did not test
Every one of these tools will put captions on your video for free. That is the demo, and it is not the question. The question is whether the caption file — the .srt or .vtt that you can hand to YouTube, an editor, or a translator — comes out of the free plan, and whether the video that comes with it has someone’s logo burned into the corner.
Those are two different restrictions and vendors apply them independently, so we tracked both. On 6 August 2026 we opened each vendor’s pricing page, plus help documentation where the pricing page was silent, and quoted the sentence that decides it.
The result splits three ways, which is unusual on this site. Descript charges for the clean video and gives away the file. Kapwing and VEED charge for the file. Submagic publishes its watermark rule clearly and never mentions caption files anywhere — a gap, not a policy, and we record it as one.
The file is free, the clean video is not
1. Descript — The file is free, the clean video is not
Descript is the only tool here whose documentation puts the caption file outside the paywall and the watermark inside it.
Best for Getting the caption file free and paying only to clean the video
From $16/mo (annual). Free plan: Free — "60 minutes (1 hr) / month" of media per editor, 1 seat, "Dynamic captions … Unlimited", and local video export capped at 720p.
- Hobbyist — $24/mo, or $16/mo billed annually · 1 seat (Per person, 1 person included)
- Creator — $35/mo, or $24/mo billed annually · 3 seats (Per person; scales to a team of 3, billed separately)
- Business — $65/mo, or $50/mo billed annually · 5 seats (Per person; scales to a team of 5, billed separately)
- Enterprise — price not shown on the page we opened ("Custom … Talk to sales")
Descript's own export-subtitles help article tells you to "Set the file format to .srt or .vtt" and attaches no plan restriction to it, and the pricing page marks "Dynamic captions" as "Unlimited" on Free as well as every paid tier. The video is the part that is marked: "Exports from a Free drive will include a Descript watermark in the bottom-right corner. Upgrading to a paid Hobbyist, Creator, or Business plan removes the watermark from all future exports."
Pros
- The caption file is the one thing here that is not paywalled — the help article documents .srt and .vtt export with no plan restriction attached.
- "Dynamic captions" is marked Unlimited on the free plan, not metered.
Skip it if
- Free video exports carry a watermark in the bottom-right corner and are capped at 720p.
- Free media processing is limited to one hour a month per editor, which is the real ceiling on how much you can caption.
The restriction you can check before signing up
2. Kapwing — The restriction you can check before signing up
Kapwing’s answer is a no, published in the one place a buyer will actually look — a per-feature row in its own comparison table.
Best for Checking the restriction before you sign up
From $16/mo (annual). Free plan: Free — "10 credits", "Unlimited exports with a watermark", "Export videos up to 1 minute long", "720p video quality", with credits usable for "Auto-subtitling (up to 10 mins)".
- Pro — $24/mo, or $16/mo billed annually · 1 seat ("Per member, per month, billed annually" at $16, or $24 billed monthly)
- Business — $64/mo, or $50/mo billed annually · 1 seat ("Per member, per month, billed annually" at $50, or $64 billed monthly)
- Enterprise — price not shown on the page we opened ("Custom amount of credits" / "Contact Sales")
Kapwing's plan-comparison table lists "Download SRT/VTT files" and marks it with an X in the Free column while checking it for Pro, Business and Enterprise. The free card separately says "Unlimited exports with a watermark". The restriction is published per-feature, which is rarer than it should be.
Pros
- The SRT/VTT restriction sits in a per-feature comparison table, so it is checkable before signing up rather than discovered at the export button.
- The free plan states a specific auto-subtitling allowance: "Auto-subtitling (up to 10 mins)".
Skip it if
- Subtitle file download is marked unavailable on Free in Kapwing's own table.
- Free exports are capped at one minute and 720p, and carry a watermark.
Free to subtitle, paid to keep the subtitles
3. VEED.IO — Free to subtitle, paid to keep the subtitles
VEED states the restriction on the tool page rather than the pricing page, which is the page most people arrive on and the last place they would look for it.
Best for Trying auto-subtitling free, then paying for the file
From $10/mo (annual). Free plan: No free plan card appears on the pricing page — only a "Start for free" sign-up with "No credit card required", and no quantified free limits are published there.
- Creator — $20/mo, or $10/mo billed annually · 1 seat (Per user; annual toggle shows "billed yearly as $116")
- Pro — $44/mo, or $21/mo billed annually · 1 seat (Per user; "billed yearly as $257")
- Studio — $70/mo, or $35/mo billed annually · 1 seat (Per user; "billed yearly as $414")
- Enterprise — price not shown on the page we opened ("Custom pricing, Contact Sales" with no number)
VEED's own auto-subtitle tool page says it plainly: "The auto subtitle generator is free to start. Upgrade to a paid plan to subtitle longer videos and download subtitle files." The pricing FAQ adds that "The watermark is shown in the corner of videos that are created on the free plan." So on free you get subtitles on screen, and neither the file nor a clean video.
Pros
- Signing up needs no credit card, and subtitling itself is free to try.
- A pricing-page tooltip names the exact formats paid plans export: "Ability to export .srt, .vtt and .txt files with generated subtitles".
Skip it if
- The subtitle file is explicitly behind a paid plan, per VEED's own tool page.
- Free video exports carry a VEED watermark.
- The pricing page publishes no free-plan card at all, so free limits cannot be checked before signing up.
Never mentions the file at all
4. Submagic — Never mentions the file at all
Submagic answers the watermark half of this question precisely and the file half not at all.
Best for Nothing we can confirm on this axis yet
From $12/mo (annual). Free plan: Free — "$0 /month" with a "Submagic watermark", "3 videos / month", "200MB & 1mn30 max", starter templates and free stock media.
- Starter — $19/mo, or $12/mo billed annually · 1 seat (Page badges the annual rate as a "41% Annual Discount")
- Pro — $39/mo, or $23/mo billed annually · 3 seats ("billed yearly save $192")
- Business + API — $69/mo, or $41/mo billed annually (Unlimited users per workspace; "billed yearly save $336")
- Custom Plan — price not shown on the page we opened ("Contact us" with no number)
The pricing page confirms half the question — the free plan carries a "Submagic watermark" while every paid tier says "No Watermark". The other half has no answer on any Submagic surface we could reach. Neither the pricing page nor the homepage mentions .srt, .vtt or a standalone caption file, /faq, /help and /features all return 404, and its API documentation — the one place Submagic documents an export at all — describes rendering the finished video rather than producing a caption file. We cannot say whether the subtitle file downloads, so we do not.
Pros
- The free plan's limits are published as numbers: "3 videos / month" and "200MB & 1mn30 max".
- The annual discount is quantified on the page as "41% Annual Discount" rather than left as a badge.
Skip it if
- Nothing on Submagic's own pages says whether a subtitle file can be downloaded separately from the video, on any plan.
- Its API documentation exports a rendered video, not a caption file, and that is the only export it documents anywhere.
- Free exports carry a Submagic watermark, and free videos are capped at 90 seconds.
What this means if you are choosing today
If what you need is the caption file, Descript is the only one of these four whose own documentation says a free account can produce it, and the watermark it puts on exported video does not touch the .srt. If you need a clean video as well, you are paying either way, and Kapwing’s $16 a month billed annually is the cheapest published route of the three that publish one.
The pattern worth noticing is where each vendor chose to put the restriction. Kapwing put it in a comparison table you can read before signing up. VEED put it on a tool page. Submagic did not put it anywhere. That ordering tells you something about each product before you have opened an account with any of them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you export an .srt file from Descript's free plan?
Descript's own export-subtitles help article instructs you to "Set the file format to .srt or .vtt" and attaches no plan restriction to that step, while the pricing page marks "Dynamic captions" as Unlimited on Free. What free does cost you is the video: "Exports from a Free drive will include a Descript watermark in the bottom-right corner."
Does Kapwing let free users download subtitles?
No. Kapwing's plan-comparison table lists "Download SRT/VTT files" and marks it with an X for Free while checking it for Pro, Business and Enterprise. Pro is published at $16 per member per month billed annually, or $24 monthly. Free exports are also capped at one minute, 720p, and carry a watermark.
Is VEED's subtitle generator actually free?
It is free to run and paid to keep. VEED's auto subtitle generator page states: "The auto subtitle generator is free to start. Upgrade to a paid plan to subtitle longer videos and download subtitle files." The pricing FAQ adds that free-plan videos carry a watermark in the corner, so neither the caption file nor a clean video comes out of the free tier.
Why is Submagic's verdict blank when the others are not?
Because only half its answer is published. Submagic's pricing page confirms the free plan carries a "Submagic watermark" against "No Watermark" on paid tiers, but no page we could open — pricing, homepage, and the 404-ing /faq, /help and /features — mentions .srt, .vtt or a standalone caption file on any plan. We record what is stated and leave the rest empty.
Did you generate subtitles in each of these?
No. These verdicts were read on each vendor's own pricing page or help documentation on 6 August 2026 and are labelled as read, not run. For Descript that distinction matters most: the help article describes the export step without naming a plan, and only a hands-on export on a free account would prove the button is not disabled.
How We Keep This Updated
Prices move and vendors rewrite their plan tables, so every value on this page carries the date we read it. When a page changes, the change lands here rather than being edited away quietly. The procedure is on the methodology page. tell us and we will re-check it.
- 2026-08-06 — First published. Subtitle-file rows read on each vendor's own pricing page, plus Descript's export help articles; Submagic recorded as unstated after its pricing page, homepage and three 404 support paths were checked.