Video caption generator
DaVinci Resolve Subtitles Alternative
DaVinci Resolve makes subtitles automatically only in the paid Studio edition: Blackmagic's own Resolve 21 reference manual (July 2026) heads the feature "Create Subtitles from Audio (Studio Version Only)", and on 30 October 2026 Studio was listed at $236, marked down from $295. The free edition still gives you a subtitle track to type into, SRT import, a full styling panel and a burn-in option on the Deliver page, but no transcription. So a free-edition editor has three routes. Buy Studio and run Timeline > AI Tools > Create Subtitles from Audio. Install a free on-device plugin such as AutoSubs, which writes an SRT you can drop onto a Resolve subtitle track. Or, for a clip of up to 10 minutes that just needs styled captions for Reels, Shorts or TikTok, skip Resolve for that step: upload the MP4 or MOV to CapsAI in a browser, correct the words, pick one of 37 caption styles and download the finished MP4. CapsAI does not export SRT or any subtitle file, so it cannot feed a Resolve timeline; it replaces the subtitling pass for short clips rather than plugging into it. Packs cost $4, $9 or $19 (₹49, ₹99, ₹299 in India; €4, €9, €19 in the euro area), paid once, with 3 free minutes to test your own audio first.
Start with 3 free minutes. Watermark-free export comes with every paid pack.
Upload Video
For best results, upload a video with clear speech. You can review and edit the captions after generation.
Drag and drop video or
MP4 or MOV, any aspect ratio.
English subtitle example: This is a preview of the subtitle design Please transcribe to get your video
What the captions look like
Colour-grading tutorial
Drop the gain first, then bring the mids back.
Newsroom (free) keeps a clean lower-third look that suits screen recordings and tutorials without competing with the UI.
Talking-head tip
Studio is $236 right now. Here is when it pays off.
Counter (Pro) animates the number counting up; type figures as digits so the style has something to count.
Fast cut for Shorts
Three settings. Thirty seconds. Cleaner audio.
Ice (free) shows one word at a time, which suits clipped delivery and short sentences.
Hinglish creator
Free version mein auto subtitles nahi milte, Studio chahiye.
Pick Hinglish as the spoken language; Blackmagic's own language list has no Hinglish entry, so this is a case the browser route covers and Resolve does not.
CapsAI, DaVinci Resolve free and DaVinci Resolve Studio on 30 October 2026
- Built for
- CapsAI: Captioning one short clip in a browser and downloading it finished
- DaVinci Resolve (free): Editing, colour, Fairlight audio and Fusion on the desktop, free of charge
- DaVinci Resolve Studio: The same editor with the DaVinci Neural Engine and, in Blackmagic's words, "over 100 advanced features"
- Automatic subtitles
- CapsAI: Yes. Speech recognition in 11 spoken languages, draft ready to edit after upload
- DaVinci Resolve (free): No. The manual labels Create Subtitles from Audio "Studio Version Only"; you type subtitles or import a file
- DaVinci Resolve Studio: Yes. Timeline > AI Tools > Create Subtitles from Audio, with a caption preset, characters per line and line count
- Styling and animation
- CapsAI: 37 fixed styles (8 free, 29 with any pack), including word-by-word and karaoke looks, Emoji Sync and AI Sound Effects
- DaVinci Resolve (free): Track Style panel: font, colour, size, spacing, position, opacity, drop shadow, stroke, background; Fusion title templates on the track header
- DaVinci Resolve Studio: Everything in free plus "AI Animated Subtitles (Studio Version Only)" such as the Word Highlight template, and word timing for imported captions
- Editing words and timing
- CapsAI: Every word editable; start and end typed as seconds; no cutting tools
- DaVinci Resolve (free): Captions panel per clip, Track panel for the whole track, find and replace, fade handles, drag to retime
- DaVinci Resolve Studio: As free, plus Update Word Timings and Synchronize Word Timings for word-level animation
- Languages
- CapsAI: English, Hinglish, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Kannada, Punjabi. No translation
- DaVinci Resolve (free): Not applicable: no transcription. Imported subtitle files can be in any language
- DaVinci Resolve Studio: 14 built-in languages plus 43 via the Extended AI Transcription Support Package, including Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu and Kannada; Hinglish, Bengali, Telugu, Gujarati and Punjabi are not in the list
- Price
- CapsAI: 3 free minutes, then 20 minutes for $4, 60 for $9 or 180 for $19 (₹49 / ₹99 / ₹299; €4 / €9 / €19), paid once
- DaVinci Resolve (free): Free download
- DaVinci Resolve Studio: "Was $295 Now $236" on blackmagicdesign.com, 30 Oct 2026; $94.99 as an in-app purchase in DaVinci Resolve for iPad
- Export formats
- CapsAI: One MP4 with captions burned in. No SRT, VTT or TXT
- DaVinci Resolve (free): Burn into video, or SRT and VTT as separate files; embedded captions on delivery
- DaVinci Resolve Studio: Same as free
- File and length limits
- CapsAI: One MP4 or MOV per upload, up to 10 minutes; 500 MB free, 10 GB with a pack
- DaVinci Resolve (free): Up to 60 fps and Ultra HD 3840 x 2160 for 8-bit formats, per the product page; no clip length limit stated
- DaVinci Resolve Studio: "10-bit video up to 120 frames per second and resolutions beyond 4K"
- Where it runs
- CapsAI: Browser on phone or desktop: Safari on iPhone, Chrome on Android, Chrome, Edge or Safari on a computer. Nothing to install
- DaVinci Resolve (free): Download for Mac OS, Linux, Windows x86 and Windows ARM; free iPad version (iPadOS 18 or later). No phone version listed
- DaVinci Resolve Studio: Same platforms; Studio needs a licence dongle, Blackmagic Cloud licence or activation code
- Extras
- CapsAI: Smart-Clips cuts a recording of up to 120 minutes into scored 9:16 clips (own minute balance)
- DaVinci Resolve (free): Cut, Edit, Fusion, Color, Fairlight and Deliver pages
- DaVinci Resolve Studio: Text-based editing, Magic Mask, AI noise reduction, Super Scale, stereoscopic 3D, scripting
Resolve facts come from blackmagicdesign.com, the DaVinci Resolve 21 Reference Manual (July 2026), the Resolve 20 and 21 New Features Guides, Blackmagic's support downloads page and the DaVinci Resolve for iPad App Store listing, all read on 30 October 2026. The $236 price was shown as a reduction from $295 that day; on 19 October 2026 the same page showed $295. CapsAI facts come from capsai.co the same day.
What you get
- No Studio licence needed to caption a short clip: 3 free minutes, then packs from $4 (₹49 in India, €4 in the euro area) paid once
- Nothing to install and no GPU to worry about: it runs in Safari on an iPhone or Chrome on a laptop
- 37 caption styles with motion already built, including word-by-word and karaoke looks that would take Fusion work in Resolve
- Hinglish and 10 Indian languages, five of which (Hinglish, Bengali, Telugu, Gujarati, Punjabi) are missing from Blackmagic's transcription list
- Every word and timing is editable before export, with AI Sound Effects placed on caption words in every account
Where it helps
- Free-edition Resolve users who cut long videos on the desktop but post short clips that only need burned-in captions
- Editors who do not want to pay $236 for Studio just to stop typing subtitles by hand
- Phone-first creators who film on an iPhone, caption in the browser and never open a desktop editor for Reels
- Hinglish or Indian-language creators whose language is not in Resolve's transcription package
- Anyone who needs a captioned MP4 in minutes and does not need an SRT back in the project
How it works
How it works
Step 1
Check which Resolve edition you have
Open DaVinci Resolve and look at the title bar or the About window: "DaVinci Resolve" is the free edition, "DaVinci Resolve Studio" is paid. In the free edition the Timeline > AI Tools menu has no Create Subtitles from Audio entry, so if you cannot find it, it is not a bug. Blackmagic's manual lists the feature as Studio only.
Step 2
Decide what the subtitles are for
If the subtitles must live inside the Resolve project as a track, because a client wants an SRT or you are delivering with embedded captions, you need something that produces a subtitle file: Studio or a plugin. If the clip is going straight to Reels, Shorts or TikTok and only needs captions burned into the picture, the browser route is fine and quicker.
Step 3
Route A: Studio
In Studio, open the timeline, choose Timeline > AI Tools > Create Subtitles from Audio, set the language, a caption preset, the maximum characters per line and the number of lines, then click Create. Fix any misheard words in the Captions panel, style the track in the Track panel, and export from the Deliver page as a separate file or burned in. The manual warns that overlapping dialogue on several tracks is where it still commonly fails.
Step 4
Route B: a free plugin that writes an SRT
AutoSubs (github.com/tmoroney/auto-subs, MIT-licensed, v3.11.0 released 29 September 2026) runs speech recognition on your own machine on Mac, Windows and Linux and exports SRT. Its README opens it from Workspace > Scripts > AutoSubs inside Resolve and says the Mac App Store build of Resolve is not supported. It does not say whether the free edition is supported, so test it on your install before planning around it.
Step 5
Route C: CapsAI for a short clip
Export the clip from Resolve as an MP4 (or use the phone MOV as recorded), go to capsai.co in any browser, upload it and choose the spoken language. Read the draft, click any word to correct it, and type new start or end times in seconds if a line sits wrong. Pick a style, then export. You get one MP4 with the captions burned in, 1080p on Starter and up to 4K on Creator and Pro.
Step 6
Know the hand-back limits before you start
CapsAI cannot send anything back into Resolve: there is no SRT, VTT or text export, no translation, and each upload is capped at 10 minutes and one file. Treat it as the last step for a clip, not a transcription engine for a long edit. Projects stay for 1 day on free minutes and 3, 7 or 15 days by pack, so download the MP4 when it is done.
Choose your spoken language
What to do next
Related tools
Questions
Can the free version of DaVinci Resolve create subtitles automatically?
No. Blackmagic's DaVinci Resolve 21 Reference Manual, dated July 2026 and read on 30 October 2026, heads the feature "Create Subtitles from Audio (Studio Version Only)", and the Cut page chapter repeats the label. The free edition lets you add a subtitle track, type or import subtitles, style the track and burn it in, but it will not transcribe your audio. Automatic subtitles need Studio, a third-party plugin, or a separate tool such as CapsAI.
How much is DaVinci Resolve Studio right now?
On 30 October 2026 both the DaVinci Resolve product page and the Studio page on blackmagicdesign.com showed "Was $295 Now $236" with a "Save 20%" label and a "Buy Online Now $236" button. When we read the same page on 19 October 2026 it showed $295, so the lower figure is a current listing, not a permanent price. DaVinci Resolve for iPad lists Studio as a $94.99 in-app purchase in the US App Store. Blackmagic's pages do not show a price in rupees or euros.
What does "Create Subtitles from Audio" do in Studio?
It analyses the speech in a timeline and builds a subtitle track automatically, with punctuation, capitalised proper names and a [Music Playing] cue when it detects music, according to the manual. You choose a language, a caption preset, the maximum characters per line and the number of lines. The manual says it still commonly fails when dialogue overlaps on several tracks, so you then correct lines in the Captions panel. Studio also offers AI Animated Subtitles such as Word Highlight.
Which languages can DaVinci Resolve Studio transcribe?
The Resolve 21 manual lists 14 built-in languages: Chinese (Simplified Mandarin), Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish. A further 43, including Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu and Kannada, come through the Extended AI Transcription Support Package in the Extras Download Manager. Hinglish, Bengali, Telugu, Gujarati and Punjabi are not in either list. CapsAI covers all 11 of its languages, including those five, with no package to download.
Is there a free plugin that adds auto subtitles to Resolve?
AutoSubs by Tom Moroney is the one most searchers land on. Its GitHub README calls it "Local-first AI subtitles" with no cloud and no subscription, the code is MIT-licensed, it runs on Mac, Windows and Linux, and it exports SRT. The latest release was v3.11.0 on 29 September 2026. It opens from Workspace > Scripts > AutoSubs inside Resolve and does not support the Mac App Store build. The README does not say whether the free edition of Resolve is supported, so try it on your own install.
Can CapsAI export an SRT for my Resolve subtitle track?
No. CapsAI produces one MP4 with the captions burned into the picture and has no SRT, VTT or text download. If your Resolve project needs a subtitle track, use Studio's transcription or a plugin that writes an SRT, then import it through the Media Pool. CapsAI fits when the clip is finished and only needs captions for social posting.
Can I import an SRT into the free version of DaVinci Resolve?
Yes. The manual's import section carries no Studio label and says Resolve accepts .srt, .srtx, .vtt, .xml and .ttml files: right-click in the Media Pool, choose Import Subtitle, then drag the file onto a subtitle track. Timecode has to match the clip. You can also use our free SRT editor in the browser to fix a file before you import it.
How do I caption a Resolve export with CapsAI?
Render the clip from the Deliver page as an MP4 of up to 10 minutes, open capsai.co in Chrome, Edge or Safari, upload the file and pick the spoken language. Correct any word by clicking it, retime a line by typing seconds, choose one of 37 styles and export. The result is a captioned MP4 you post directly. Watermark-free export comes with every paid pack, and packs are paid once: $4, $9 or $19 (₹49, ₹99, ₹299; €4, €9, €19).
Does DaVinci Resolve run on a phone?
Blackmagic's support page lists downloads for Mac OS, Linux, Windows x86 and Windows ARM, and the App Store lists DaVinci Resolve for iPad, free with Studio as an in-app purchase, requiring iPadOS 18 or later. No iPhone or Android version appears on the pages we read on 30 October 2026. CapsAI runs in the phone browser, so a clip shot on an iPhone can be captioned without a computer.
What each Resolve edition does with subtitles
Blackmagic marks paid-only features in its manual with the words "Studio Version Only", and in chapter 59 of the DaVinci Resolve 21 Reference Manual two subtitle features carry that label: Create Subtitles from Audio and AI Animated Subtitles. Everything else in the chapter is unlabelled: adding a subtitle track, typing captions, importing .srt, .srtx, .vtt, .xml and .ttml files, the Track Style panel with font, colour, size, spacing, position, opacity, drop shadow, stroke and background, per-word Customize Caption, find and replace, fade handles, and the Deliver page options to burn subtitles into the video or write them as separate files. That matches what the Reddit threads and tutorials in the search results say: the free edition is a capable manual subtitler and nothing more.
Studio adds the transcription engine. The Resolve 20 New Features Guide (April 2025) introduced Animated subtitle templates and extended language support as Studio features, and the Resolve 21 guide (April 2026) added word timing for manually entered or imported captions, so word-highlight animation no longer depends on Resolve generating the text itself. On the product page Studio is described as "everything in the free version plus the DaVinci AI Neural Engine", and that engine is what powers the subtitle tools.
Studio, plugin or browser: picking the route
Buy Studio if you cut in Resolve every week and want subtitles, text-based editing, Magic Mask and noise reduction in one place. At $236 on 30 October 2026 (listed as a reduction from $295), it is a single purchase that stays inside your existing timeline and exports SRT, VTT or burned-in captions from the same Deliver page you already use.
Use a plugin if you stay on the free edition and need an actual subtitle track, for example because a client wants an SRT or because you deliver with embedded captions. AutoSubs is open source, processes audio on your own computer and exports SRT; it needs a download from blackmagicdesign.com rather than the Mac App Store, and you should check it against your own Resolve install, because its README does not promise free-edition support.
Use CapsAI when the clip is short and the captions are the point. A 60-second Reel does not need a subtitle track; it needs readable, styled words on the picture and a file you can post. Uploading the MP4 or MOV to a browser, correcting a few words and exporting takes a few minutes, with no install, no GPU and no licence. The trade is clear: nothing comes back into Resolve, the limit is 10 minutes per upload, and captions stay in the spoken language.
Where the browser route is weaker
CapsAI is not a Resolve replacement and does not try to be. There is no SRT or VTT export, no translation, no audio-only upload, no batch, and one clip at a time with a 10-minute cap. Resolve's styling panel is more flexible than a fixed style set: in Resolve you can set any font, kerning, anchor and opacity, while CapsAI gives you 37 pre-built styles whose fonts and motion are fixed. Long documentaries, client deliverables with caption standards and anything that needs embedded CEA-608 captions belong in Resolve.
What CapsAI does do is cover a gap Resolve leaves: a short social clip from a phone or a Resolve export, captioned in one of 11 spoken languages including Hinglish, in a browser, on packs paid once. Run a clip through the 3 free minutes first; CapsAI's English has been used most on Indian English, so for other accents read the draft before you buy a pack.
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