Category
AI captioning and subtitling software: what they are and who makes them
transcript-first platforms with subtitle export, editor-led tools for short social video, human-assisted subtitle workflows, live and compliance captioning vendors: Happy Scribe, Sonix, Maestra through AI-Media.
Types of AI captioning and subtitling software
Transcript-first platforms with subtitle export
Happy Scribe, Sonix and Maestra start from speech-to-text and add subtitle files, translation and team seats. They bill by minutes or hours, which makes costs easy to forecast for interviews, lectures and long recordings that need accurate SRT files and a translated version.
Editor-led tools for short social video
Kapwing, Submagic, Zubtitle and Captions put styled, animated captions inside a video editor and bill by video count, credits or plan tier. They suit creators and marketers publishing vertical clips, and the styling usually ends up burned into the exported file.
Human-assisted subtitle workflows
Amara pairs a cloud subtitle editor with review workflows and a human linguist service, while Happy Scribe sells proofreading by the minute. These fit teams that treat the machine draft as a starting point and need a named person to review and sign off the final text before it ships.
Live and compliance captioning vendors
Verbit, 3Play Media and AI-Media sell live captions, post-production captions and audio description to universities, broadcasters and enterprises. Prices are quote only, and the pitch is accessibility compliance and service levels rather than a self-serve subscription, and evaluation happens through demos and contracts.
Facts at a glance
| Tool | Publisher | Based in | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Happy Scribe | Happy Scribe Limited (trading as HappyScribe) | Ireland | Free tier |
| Sonix | Sonix, Inc. | Not stated on the vendor pages | Trial |
| Maestra | Katara Tech Inc. | Not stated on the vendor pages | Trial + API |
| Kapwing | Not stated on the vendor pages | Not stated on the vendor pages | Free tier |
| Submagic | Not stated on the vendor pages | Not stated on the vendor pages | Trial + API |
| Zubtitle | Zubtitle LLC | United States | Free tier |
| Captions | NOCAP, Inc. d/b/a Captions (pricing page); the terms name Mirage US LLC as operator | Not stated on the vendor pages | Free tier |
| Amara | Participatory Culture Foundation | Not stated on the vendor pages | Paid + API |
| Verbit | Verbit, Inc. | Not stated on the vendor pages | Paid + API |
| 3Play Media | Not stated on the vendor pages | Not stated on the vendor pages | Paid |
| AI-Media | Not stated on the vendor pages | Not stated on the vendor pages | Paid |
