AutoCaption vs SmartSub
AutoCaption
autocaption.ioSmartSub
github.comSide by side
| Figure | AutoCaption | SmartSub |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $14/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 7 | 1 |
| Spec score · AI Video Caption Generators | 8.5 (#30) | 9.0 (#6) |
| Brand caption presets | Yes | Yes |
| Burn-in captions | Yes | Yes |
| Caption styling | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Maker | The terms identify the company as Byte SAS, registered in Paris, and give its address as 66 avenue des Champs Élysées, Paris (75008), France. | The GitHub account identifies the maker as Lin Xiaodong (buxuku), a frontend developer working in Chengdu. |
Plans
AutoCaption
- Starter$14 a month
- Expert$20 a month
- Pro$30 a month
- Starter$18 a month
- Expert$25 a month
- Pro$39 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
AutoCaption
AutoCaption has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
SmartSub
SmartSub is an open-source desktop app for transcription, subtitle translation, proofreading, AI dubbing and video subtitle rendering. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, and is free with no local usage limits. For local processing, its maker says models process files on the user's computer, so those files do not leave the device. Transcription options include whisper.cpp, faster-whisper, FunASR, Qwen3-ASR and FireRedASR. Translation includes 20 services, including built-in free translation and integrations such as DeepSeek, Gemini and Ollama. The proofreading workspace offers video-synced editing, undo and redo, search and replace, and AI proofreading. SmartSub can generate speech from subtitle lines, align audio to the timeline and clone voices with ZipVoice, Volcengine or ElevenLabs. It can burn subtitles into video or package soft subtitles, preview styles and include dubbed audio. It also downloads videos from links using yt-dlp and lux, supporting more than 1,800 sites. Cloud transcription uploads audio to the configured provider endpoint; the README advises against using it for sensitive content.