You can add subtitles in both versions of DaVinci Resolve, but only DaVinci Resolve Studio writes them for you. As of 19 October 2026, Blackmagic's DaVinci Resolve 21 Reference Manual (July 2026) labels "Create Subtitles from Audio" and "AI Animated Subtitles" as Studio Version Only. The free version still lets you add a subtitle track, type and time each line, import an SRT, style the track and burn it into the export.
So the short answer: in the free version you add subtitles by hand or import a file made elsewhere; in Studio (listed at $295) you choose Timeline > AI Tools > Create Subtitles from Audio and correct the draft. Both finish the same way on the Deliver page, where you burn the subtitles in or export them as a separate file. Steps for each follow, then styling, export, and an honest shortcut for animated social captions.
Free vs Studio: which has auto subtitles
Blackmagic marks every paid-only feature in its manual with "(Studio Version Only)". Here is how the subtitle features are labeled in the Resolve 21 manual and on the DaVinci Resolve product page, both read on 19 October 2026:
| Subtitle task | DaVinci Resolve 21 (free) | DaVinci Resolve Studio 21 |
|---|---|---|
| Add a subtitle track and type subtitles | Yes | Yes |
| Import SRT, VTT, XML or TTML files | Yes | Yes |
| Style the track: font, color, size, position, stroke, background | Yes | Yes |
| Create Subtitles from Audio (automatic) | No | Yes |
| AI Animated Subtitles (word highlight templates) | No | Yes |
| Export SRT or VTT, or burn into video | Yes | Yes |
| Price | Free | $295 |
Two caveats. "Yes" for the free version means the manual describes the feature without a Studio label; Blackmagic doesn't publish a separate subtitle comparison. And the free version has its own ceiling: the product page says it works with 8-bit formats at up to 60fps and up to Ultra HD 3840 x 2160.
Add a subtitle track by hand in the free version
This works in both versions and is the only built-in route in the free one. From the manual's "Adding Subtitles and Captions Manually" section:
- On the Edit page, right-click any track header and choose Add Subtitle Track. A track named "Subtitle 1" appears above the video tracks. Rename it with the language, because track names are used at export.
- Move the playhead to where the first line should start.
- Add a subtitle clip. Open the Inspector and click Create Caption in the Captions panel (or Add New once the track has captions), or right-click the subtitle track and choose Add Subtitle, or drag the Subtitle generator from Effects Library > Titles onto the track.
- Type the line in the Captions panel of the Inspector.
- Drag the clip's start and end to match the speech. Subtitle clips trim, slip and ripple like any other clip.
- Repeat. The list at the bottom of the Captions panel, with Prev and Next buttons, is the quickest way to move between lines.
Budget real time for this: you type every word and set every in and out point. For a 30-second clip it's manageable. For a long interview, a subtitle file from elsewhere is faster. If you have one, right-click in the Media Pool, choose Import Subtitle, then right-click the file and choose Insert Selected Subtitles to Timeline Using Timecode. Resolve accepts .srt, .srtx, .vtt, .xml and .ttml.
Create Subtitles from Audio in Studio
Studio transcribes the timeline and builds the subtitle track for you:
- Go to the Edit page and open the timeline.
- Set an In and Out range if you want only part of it subtitled; leave it blank for the whole timeline.
- Choose Timeline > AI Tools > Create Subtitles from Audio. On the Cut page, the same command sits in the Timeline Actions menu.
- Set the options: Language (Auto lets Resolve detect it), Caption Preset, Max Characters per Line, Lines (one or two) and Gap Between Subtitles in frames.
- Click Create. Resolve writes the subtitles to the highest subtitle track, or makes one if none exists.
Then read every line. The manual names the main failure case itself: overlapping dialog on several audio tracks. Mute any track you don't want analyzed before you run it. Use Find and Replace in the subtitle inspector to fix a name the transcription got wrong across the whole track.
Languages, from the same manual: Chinese (Simplified Mandarin), Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish out of the box, plus 43 more through the Extended AI Transcription Support Package in the Extras Downloads Manager, including Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Kannada, Urdu, Tagalog and Indonesian.
One change in version 21 matters if you mix routes. Blackmagic's Resolve 21 New Features Guide (April 2026) says word timing analysis now runs on captions you typed or imported, not only on generated ones: select a subtitle clip and press Update Word Timings in the Inspector's Caption tab, or right-click the track header and choose Synchronize Word Timings for the whole track. That keeps word-highlight animation in step after you correct the text. The guide doesn't give an edition for this, and since it relies on transcription, plan on Studio.
Style the subtitles and burn them in on export
Styling works the same in both versions:
- Whole track: click the subtitle track header, open the Inspector's Track panel, and set Font, Color, Size, Line Spacing, Kerning, Alignment, Position X and Y, Zoom, Opacity and Text Anchoring. Drop Shadow, Stroke and Background controls sit at the bottom of the panel; Background gives you the boxed look.
- One subtitle or one word: select the clip, tick Customize Caption, then change that line only, or highlight words in the Caption box to restyle just those.
- Reuse a look: in the subtitle inspector's options menu (three dots), choose Save Track as Preset. Presets can be exported and imported between machines.
- Fades: Resolve 21 subtitle clips have fade-in and fade-out handles, like video clips.
- Fusion templates: drag a Fusion title template onto the subtitle track header to style the whole track. It overrides the Inspector styling.
- Animated templates (Studio): the templates in the Animated section of the Titles tab, such as Word Highlight, highlight each word as it is spoken. Drag one onto the subtitle track header.
To export, open the Deliver page, go to Render Settings > Video and scroll to Subtitle Settings. Tick Export Subtitle, then pick a Format:
- Burn into video: the selected subtitle track becomes part of the picture. Use it for short-form feeds where people watch with the sound off.
- As a separate file: IMSC1, DFXP, SRT or WebVTT, one file per track you tick, for platforms such as YouTube and Vimeo that accept caption files.
- As embedded captions: CEA-608 inside MXF OP1A or QuickTime files, for broadcast-style delivery.
To get just the file, choose File > Export Subtitle, or right-click the track header and choose Export Subtitle; both offer SRT and VTT. That is how the free version produces a free SRT: type or import the subtitles, then export. Our SRT vs VTT vs TXT guide covers which file a platform wants, and burned-in vs closed captions covers when to bake them in.
Word-by-word or animated captions: the browser route
If what you want is the social look, big words that pop or change color as they're spoken, the free version has no automatic route. You can hand-animate Fusion titles, or buy Studio for the Animated templates. For one-word-at-a-time captions in Resolve, CapCut and Premiere Pro step by step, see how to make word-by-word captions.
The other route skips Resolve's subtitle track entirely: finish the edit, deliver the video without subtitles, and caption that file in a browser. With CapsAI the limits are plain:
- Upload an MP4 or MOV of up to 10 minutes. 3 free minutes to start. Files up to 500 MB, or 10 GB with a pack.
- Pick the spoken language (English plus 10 Indian languages), read the draft, then fix words and timings.
- Choose from 37 styles. 8 are free; the other 29 need any paid pack, from $4 (₹49 in India, €4 in the euro area), paid once.
- Download one MP4 with the captions burned in, at 1080p on Starter and up to 4K on Creator and Pro. Watermark-free export comes with every paid pack.
What it doesn't do: there's no SRT or VTT export, no Resolve plugin, and nothing goes back into Resolve as an editable subtitle track. The MP4 is the finished video. If you keep editing, drop it into Resolve as a clip and treat the captions as part of the picture, so trim before you caption, not after. For how this compares with staying in desktop software, see desktop subtitle software vs an online generator.
What to do next
Free version and a short video: add a subtitle track and type it. Anything long: import an SRT, or try Studio's Create Subtitles from Audio. Need the subtitle file: export it from Resolve with File > Export Subtitle. If an imported file drifts, our guide to fixing subtitles that drift out of sync walks through the causes. If you want animated social captions without Studio, deliver the edit and run it through the animated caption generator.
