Captions app alternatives
Captions (captions.ai, by Mirage) charges $24.99/month for its Max plan on iOS, and its free version includes one caption template. If you only need the captions, SoCaptions is the cheaper alternative: $5/month for 100 minutes of word-level captions and watermark-free MP4 export, in the browser on phone or desktop, with SRT/VTT free. It has no AI avatars, eye-contact correction or AI edits; CapCut is the usual free phone editor, and Submagic and VEED add B-roll and full editing.
Updated . SoCaptions is our product; every competitor number below links to the page it came from.
Captions app and its alternatives side by side
Read on each vendor's own pricing or help page on . Prices exclude tax. VEED showed euro prices to our EU visitor. CapCut prices vary by region and platform.
| Tool | Free plan | Cheapest paid plan | Caption allowance | No-watermark export | SRT / VTT files | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Captions appAI video app by Mirage: captions, AI edits, avatars | Free version with basic editing and 1 caption template; no AI credits | Max $24.99/month (iOS price; yearly plans billed upfront at a discount) | Captions in 100+ languages; Max adds 500 AI credits/month | Basic manual edits export on Free; AI Edit and other Max features add a watermark below Max | SRT download in export settings | Phone-first creators who want AI edits, AI avatars and eye-contact fixes |
| SoCaptionsCaptions-only web app | 5 minutes of transcription, edit and download SRT/VTT; no MP4 export | Pro $5/month or $50/year | 100 min transcription + 100 min MP4 export per month | Pro: always, at the source resolution and frame rate | SRT and VTT, free on every plan | Captioning videos that are already edited, at the lowest price |
| CapCutFull video editor (mobile, desktop, web) by ByteDance | Free editor; CapCut's own Standard vs Pro guide lists the auto caption generator as Pro | Pro $19.99/month or $179.99/year (varies by region and platform) | Not published as a minute cap | Not stated on the pages checked | Not listed on the pages checked | Full edits — cuts, music, effects — with captions as one step |
| SubmagicAI short-form editor: captions, B-roll, zooms | No free plan on the pricing page; "no credit card required" to start | Starter $19/month, or $12/month billed yearly | Starter: 15 videos/month, up to 2 minutes each | All paid plans, 1080p 30 fps on Starter | Not listed on the pricing page | One-click viral edits with auto B-roll and zooms |
| VEEDBrowser video editor with AI video tools | Free to start; "No watermark" is listed from Creator up | Creator €11/month billed yearly (€129/year) | Paid plans: unlimited auto subtitles, 50 hours/month fair use | Paid plans | SRT, VTT and TXT download | Editing, recording and subtitling in one browser tool |
Captions app
AI video app by Mirage: captions, AI edits, avatars
- Free plan
- Free version with basic editing and 1 caption template; no AI credits
- Cheapest paid plan
- Max $24.99/month (iOS price; yearly plans billed upfront at a discount)
- Caption allowance
- Captions in 100+ languages; Max adds 500 AI credits/month
- No-watermark export
- Basic manual edits export on Free; AI Edit and other Max features add a watermark below Max
- SRT / VTT files
- SRT download in export settings
- Best for
- Phone-first creators who want AI edits, AI avatars and eye-contact fixes
SoCaptions
Captions-only web app
- Free plan
- 5 minutes of transcription, edit and download SRT/VTT; no MP4 export
- Cheapest paid plan
- Pro $5/month or $50/year
- Caption allowance
- 100 min transcription + 100 min MP4 export per month
- No-watermark export
- Pro: always, at the source resolution and frame rate
- SRT / VTT files
- SRT and VTT, free on every plan
- Best for
- Captioning videos that are already edited, at the lowest price
CapCut
Full video editor (mobile, desktop, web) by ByteDance
- Free plan
- Free editor; CapCut's own Standard vs Pro guide lists the auto caption generator as Pro
- Cheapest paid plan
- Pro $19.99/month or $179.99/year (varies by region and platform)
- Caption allowance
- Not published as a minute cap
- No-watermark export
- Not stated on the pages checked
- SRT / VTT files
- Not listed on the pages checked
- Best for
- Full edits — cuts, music, effects — with captions as one step
Submagic
AI short-form editor: captions, B-roll, zooms
- Free plan
- No free plan on the pricing page; "no credit card required" to start
- Cheapest paid plan
- Starter $19/month, or $12/month billed yearly
- Caption allowance
- Starter: 15 videos/month, up to 2 minutes each
- No-watermark export
- All paid plans, 1080p 30 fps on Starter
- SRT / VTT files
- Not listed on the pricing page
- Best for
- One-click viral edits with auto B-roll and zooms
VEED
Browser video editor with AI video tools
- Free plan
- Free to start; "No watermark" is listed from Creator up
- Cheapest paid plan
- Creator €11/month billed yearly (€129/year)
- Caption allowance
- Paid plans: unlimited auto subtitles, 50 hours/month fair use
- No-watermark export
- Paid plans
- SRT / VTT files
- SRT, VTT and TXT download
- Best for
- Editing, recording and subtitling in one browser tool
Sources: captions.ai/pricing, captions.ai/help: Export, captions.ai/help: Watermark, socaptions.com/pricing, capcut.com/help/auto-captions-in-capcut, capcut.com/resource/capcut-standard-vs-pro, submagic.co/pricing, veed.io/pricing.
Which Captions app alternative to choose
SoCaptions
Choose SoCaptions if captions are what you use the Captions app for. All 13 styles are available on every plan, each editable (font, colours, outline, spoken-word highlight, animation), and nothing in the video is changed except the captions.
CapCut
Choose CapCut if you want a free mobile and desktop editor with templates; its Standard vs Pro guide lists the auto caption generator as Pro ($19.99/month).
Submagic
Choose Submagic if you liked Captions' one-tap AI edits: it adds captions, B-roll and zooms to short videos, from $12/month billed yearly for 15 videos.
VEED
Choose VEED if you want a full editor in the browser rather than a phone app, with unlimited auto subtitles on paid plans.
Stay with Captions app
Captions app remains the better fit for phone-first creators who want AI edits, AI avatars and eye-contact fixes. If that is how you use it, switching only to save on captions costs you the rest of the toolkit.
Questions people ask
How much does the Captions app cost?
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Captions (captions.ai, from Mirage) lists Max at $24.99/month with 500 AI credits a month and Frontier from $69.99/month with 1,400 credits; Enterprise is custom. Those are its iOS prices, the only ones it publishes; yearly plans are billed 12 months upfront at a discount (captions.ai/pricing, 18 October 2026). For captions alone, SoCaptions Pro is $5/month or $50/year.
Is the Captions app free?
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There is a free version of Captions with basic tools such as trimming and transitions, one caption template (Max has 100+) and no AI credits. Basic manual edits can be exported on the free plan; Captions' help center says projects using AI Edit, AI-generated media or other Max features get a watermark until you upgrade to Max ($24.99/month on iOS).
What is a cheaper alternative to the Captions app for subtitles?
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SoCaptions does the subtitle part for $5/month: upload in the browser on phone or desktop, get word-level captions in 99 languages, pick one of 13 styles and export a watermark-free MP4, or download SRT/VTT free. It has no AI avatars, eye-contact correction or AI B-roll; if you use those, Captions Max ($24.99/month on iOS) is the tool.
Which app adds captions to short videos with word highlight?
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SoCaptions' Karaoke style highlights each word as it is spoken, using word-level timestamps, and works in the browser on phone or desktop. VEED's auto subtitle tool can also highlight specific words, and CapCut offers caption templates in its mobile app.
What is the best AI caption generator for TikTok and Reels?
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For a full edit, CapCut is the usual pick: a free editor, though CapCut's own Standard vs Pro guide lists its auto caption generator as a Pro tool ($19.99/month). If the video is already edited and you only need captions, SoCaptions is built for that: upload, get word-level captions in 99 languages, pick one of 13 styles (including karaoke and spoken-word highlights) and export a watermark-free MP4 for $5/month with 100 minutes included. Submagic and VEED are paid all-in-one options with B-roll and editing.