Subtitle software list
These are tools we consider genuinely useful for subtitle work. All free unless marked otherwise. This is not an exhaustive list and we have no affiliation with any of these projects.
Desktop subtitle editors
Subtitle Edit (Windows — free, open source)
The most capable free subtitle editor. Handles almost every format, has video preview, supports translation, spell check, batch operations and advanced timing tools. If you need a full subtitle editor and use Windows, this is the recommendation.
Aegisub (Windows/Mac/Linux — free, open source)
Focused on ASS/SSA subtitles with strong styling and karaoke support. Popular in the anime fansubbing community. Very capable for complex styling, less convenient for simple timing work.
Subtitle Workshop (Windows — free, open source)
Lighter than Subtitle Edit. Adequate for basic timing and text edits. Not as actively maintained.
EZTitles (Windows — paid)
Professional subtitle tool used by broadcast and streaming vendors. Handles STL, TTML, IMSC and proprietary formats. Expensive but comprehensive. Requires paid license.
Video editors with subtitle support
DaVinci Resolve (Windows/Mac/Linux — free tier)
Full professional video editor with subtitle support. Can import SRT files, burn in subtitles and export various subtitle formats. Free version is remarkably capable. Best for integrating subtitle work with editing.
Adobe Premiere Pro (Windows/Mac — paid)
Industry standard video editor. Import SRT, burn in subtitles, export subtitle files. Subscription-based.
Final Cut Pro (Mac — paid)
Apple's professional video editor. Subtitle support is more limited than Premiere or Resolve but adequate.
Video players with subtitle support
VLC (Windows/Mac/Linux — free, open source)
Universal media player. Handles every subtitle format. Supports external subtitle files (drop the SRT next to the video, or load it manually). Useful for verifying subtitle timing after edits.
mpv (Windows/Mac/Linux — free, open source)
Lightweight, scriptable media player. Excellent subtitle rendering. Popular with power users.
MPC-HC (Windows — free, open source)
Media Player Classic Home Cinema. Lightweight, handles subtitles well. Popular on Windows.
PotPlayer (Windows — free)
Feature-rich media player with strong subtitle support. Not open source.
Command-line tools
FFmpeg (cross-platform — free)
Swiss army knife of media processing. Can convert subtitle formats, burn in subtitles, extract subtitles from video and more. Steep learning curve but very powerful.
Transcription / speech recognition
Whisper (cross-platform — free, open source)
OpenAI's speech recognition model. Runs locally on your machine. Accurate for clean audio, supports many languages. Requires some technical setup but is free and private.
Whisper API / Deepgram / AssemblyAI (paid services)
Cloud ASR services. Fast, accurate, but require uploading audio to their servers.
Browser-based tools (like this site)
Subtitle Convert
The site you are on. 25 free tools for converting, validating, shifting and cleaning subtitle files. All processing happens in your browser.
Software we do not recommend
Some subtitle tools on the web are unreliable, ad-supported to the point of unusability, or worse — they upload your subtitles to a server you do not know. We recommend:
- Preferring local tools over web-based tools when privacy matters.
- Reading privacy policies before uploading subtitle files to any service.
- Not using tools with auto-generated content that you cannot review.