SmartSub vs Subtitle AI
SmartSub
github.com
Subtitle AI
subtitle.aiSide by side
| Figure | SmartSub | Subtitle AI |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $15/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 5 |
| Spec score · AI Video Caption Generators | 9.0 (#6) | 8.9 (#11) |
| Burn-in captions | Yes | Yes |
| Caption styling | Yes | Customizable subtitle styling and caption design options are available. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Speaker identification | Yes | Yes |
| Subtitle export | other formats | srt and vtt |
Plans
Subtitle AI
- FreeFree
- Creator$15 a month
- Team$49 a month
- Pro$99 a month
- Enterprise$199 a month
In their own words
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.
Subtitle AI
Subtitle AI has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.