YouTube video subtitles

Subtitles for a YouTube video

YouTube subtitles: take the audio of a video, get an SRT or a VTT file with the timings of the speech, and put it next to the video. Free $0, 3 files a day.

3 files a day up to 30 minutes, free99+ languagesSpeaker separation and timestamps
In short

Upload the audio of the video and the words come back with the moment each of them was said, so the track can be exported as SRT or VTT. A file holds up to 30 minutes; the free plan is $0 with 3 files a day.

How it works

How to make subtitles for a YouTube video

  1. 1

    Decide who the track is for

    A browser player reads VTT through the track element of HTML5; editors and platforms read SRT. Export the one that the screen you publish on actually asks for.

  2. 2

    Upload the file of the video

    Drop the file on the widget above. The video file and the audio file give the same track, and one file is up to 30 minutes at most.

  3. 3

    Watch the moments that talk fast

    Listen to two or three places where the people speak quickly. A line that arrived late is the one the viewer notices, not the one with the spelling mistake.

  4. 4

    Put the file next to the video

    Both formats carry the start and the end of every line. The same transcript also goes out as TXT, Markdown, CSV, and DOCX on Pro.

Formats

What you get

  • TXT

    Plain text for an email, a note or a chat

  • SRT

    Subtitles for video editors and platforms

  • VTT

    Subtitles for a browser and a website

  • CSV

    A table: time, speaker, text

  • DOCX

    A Word document with speakers and times

  • Markdown

    Text with headings for notes

The numbers

What a subtitle file carries

The two subtitle files

SRT for editors and platforms, VTT for the browser

Where the timings come from

the start and the end time of every segment of the speech

One video

up to 30 minutes per file on the free plan, no minute limit on Pro

A competitor and its subtitle file

VEED exports TXT, SRT and VTT; the download of the subtitle file belongs to its paid plans

The case

A subtitle has to arrive before the picture moves on

A video without a track is a video that a part of the audience cannot use, and a video with a bad track is worse: the words appear half a second late and the viewer reads instead of listening. The timings of a subtitle are not decoration. They are taken from the speech itself, so the line arrives while the person is still talking.

Tips

  • Read the track on the screen you publish on.

  • A comma in the timecode is SRT, a dot is VTT.

  • Check the first minute for the name of the speaker.

  • Keep the subtitle file in UTF-8.

Questions this page answers

Is a subtitle file the same as a transcript?

The words are the same and the job is not. A transcript is read at your own pace; a subtitle has to stay in step with the picture, so the timings and the length of the line matter.

Which format does YouTube itself take?

We did not measure what the platform accepts, so we do not say. What we can say is what the export gives: SRT and VTT, each with the start and the end of every line.

What does a competitor give for a track?

VEED exports TXT, SRT and VTT, and the download of the subtitle file belongs to its paid plans (veed.io/tools/audio-to-text, read on 22 October 2026). Ours has both formats on the free plan.

Can I fix a word in the track?

Yes. The editor in the app lets you correct the transcript, and the corrected text is what the TXT export carries, so the notes and the track can be checked against each other.

Related pages

Sources

  1. V
    VEED — audio to text, read on 22 October 2026veed.io · checked 22 October 2026

Reading: 5 minutesUpdated Transcribsi editorial team

Drop a recording — the text arrives in a minute

Speakers by name, a time on every line, export to TXT, SRT, VTT, CSV and Markdown.

3 files a day up to 30 minutes, free99+ languagesSpeaker separation and timestamps