6 Best Subtitle Translators for 2024 [Free & Paid]

It's no secret that subtitles can improve the reach of video and even convey the message appropriately — but translating the spoken words from one language to another can take a big chunk of your time. 

I often use my favorite subtitle translator app to translate video subtitles into different languages — and as a long-time user of these apps, I have pretty strong opinions on how they work. 

I've been keeping an eye on subtitle translators for the past year, and now we've reached the point where there are some apps to get started with. I tested around 20 apps, and based on my testing, here are my 6 best video subtitle translator picks. 

The Benefits of Adding Subtitles to Your Video 

There are a lot of viewers who watch online videos with sound off — and that's where the role of video subtitles comes into the picture. When you add subtitles to videos, the viewers are more likely to watch the video from start to end. Here are some other benefits of adding subtitles to video as well! 

• The subtitle text impacts the SEO positively and helps improve the ranking of video in the search results. 

• When you add subtitles in different languages, it expands the reach and allows you to connect with new audiences. 

For example, when you add subtitles in Japanese to an English video, you make the video accessible to all the people who understand Japanese but not English — thereby improving the engagement rate. 

How to Choose a Good Subtitle Translator? 

There's something amazing about seeing subtitles being translated into different languages. The subtitle translators you'll discover here come in two flavors. The first is established subtitle translating platforms that have AI to improve the overall translation process and offer many other features, too. The others are platforms that mainly focus on subtitle translation. 

Here's what I paid attention to during my research of the best video subtitle translators. 

• Supported File Formats: The best subtitle translators for you will depend on the file format of the source audio or video file — and even the format of the SRT subtitle file you want to create. 

• Languages: There are many AI translation apps that support only a few main languages, like English, Spanish, or French. For this reason, I looked for apps with the ability to translate subtitles into many popular languages.

• Ease of Use: Since AI subtitle translation is a new thing for many, I was looking for online tools that even beginners could use. The subtitle translators listed here are easy to use at a glance, but not in a way that compromises on features or functionality. 

• Audio File Support: Often, there are instances when you'll need to directly upload the audio or video file, get the subtitles in the text format, and then convert the output into different languages. While testing, I looked for apps that support this feature. 

List of the Best Subtitle Translators

I had a fun week of testing these subtitle translator apps. I signed up for each of these apps, uploaded the direct SRT file or video, and watched the output. While I've found some apps that offer accurate translations, there were other tools that promised a lot but delivered very little. 

#1 YouTube Tools: Best for YouTubers

If you often find yourself recording and publishing YouTube videos, then YouTube Tools might be your ideal bet! These online tools add captions and translated subtitles to videos — so you can attract more eyeballs to your content. When you add translated video titles and descriptions, the content becomes accessible to a large audience. 

Pros 

• These tools are specially designed for YouTubers. 

• With this YouTube subtitle translator, you can quickly add translated metadata and titles to videos. 

• It also allows you to add the same language captions to videos. 

Cons 

• These tools are inclined towards YouTubers. 

• They lack advanced features and do not support many languages. 

• The overall process can be time-consuming. 

Pricing 

• Free

#2 Notta: Best For Accurate Transcriptions & Translations 

If you're looking for a subtitle translator that works well for podcasts, interviews, YouTube videos, or anything you name it, then Notta is the right tool for you. It offers a lot of impressive features, such as transcription, translation, and summarization. 

It's pretty easy to use: just upload the video file or drop a link to YouTube or Google Drive video, and Notta will automatically transcribe the audio. Then, you can translate the generated transcript into 40+ languages with a single click. 

Pros 

• There's a free plan available. 

• The transcriptions and translations are more accurate compared to others in this list. 

• You can translate subtitles in 40+ languages. 

Cons 

• You'll need the paid Pro plan to use the translation feature. 

• It might not be able to translate SRT files directly. 

Pricing 

• Free Plan 

• Pro Plan: $14.99 per user per month

• Business Plan: $27.99 per user per month

• Enterprise Plan: Contact Sales

#3 Rev: Best For Professionals With Flexible Budget

Rev is an automated subtitle translator that allows anyone to translate video subtitles into 17+ languages. But there's a downside: you'll have to spend $5 per minute for Spanish or Hindi subtitles and $8 per minute for other languages like English, French, Dutch, German, Russian, and Italian. 

Pros 

• Rev's auto subtitle tool and editor make editing the translated subtitle file an absolute breeze.

• It has a high accuracy rate of 99%. 

• This online subtitle translator is quite easy to use. 

Cons 

• Rev subtitle translator is a bit pricey compared to other online tools on this list. 

• It has a turnaround of 48 hours or less, which can be a major problem for people with tight deadlines. 

• It can only translate to 17+ languages. 

Pricing 

• $5 per minute for Spanish and Hindi

• $8 per minute for Chinese, French, Dutch, Czech, Polish, Arabic, and 5 others

• $12 per minute for Japanese and Korean

#4 SubtitleBee: Best For Social Media Users

If you are looking for a free online subtitle translator, then SubtitleBee might be a great option to try. It's a simple but advanced auto video subtitle generator that combines style and accuracy in one. With the help of SubtitleBee, you can translate subtitles into 120+ languages in a few minutes. 

Pros 

• SubtitleBee makes direct sharing of video on social media channels, like TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram, absolutely easy.

• There's an editor available to add animation, colors, and other effects to your subtitles. 

• There's also an automated audio-to-text feature available. 

Cons 

• You can edit only 10 minutes of video with the free plan. 

• Sometimes, SubtitleBee makes mistakes while converting audio to text. 

• The free plan has limited features. 

Pricing 

• Free Plan: $0

• Starter Plan: $7.8 per month

• Premium Plan: $16.8 per month

• Business Plan: $144.5 per month

#5 Google Translate: Best for Beginners 

Google Translate is a popular subtitle translation tool that can be used to translate video subtitles into 100 languages. To use this tool, simply copy-paste the text or upload the SRT file directly to start the translation process. The downside, however, is that Google Translate has a pretty low accuracy level. 

Pros 

• Google Translate allows you to translate the video subtitles into 100+ languages. 

• It's absolutely free to use. 

• You can directly import documents to start subtitle translation. 

Cons 

• Google Translate sometimes chooses inaccurate words or phrases while translating. 

• Since it's not highly accurate, you'll have to spend time editing the output. 

• There's no security or confidentiality of your data. 

Pricing 

• Free

#6 Kapwing: Best For Auto-Subtitling 

Kapwing is another auto-subtitle translator that can speed up things for you. It's designed to translate subtitles in 75+ languages like English, Spanish, and German. There's a subtitle editor available that allows you to make changes to the translation — which can then be downloaded as SRT, VTT, or TXT files.

Pros 

• You can directly upload SRT or VTT files to start the subtitle translation process. 

• There are 100+ built-in editing tools available to translate and edit the subtitles. 

• The translated files can be downloaded with a click. 

Cons 

• The free plan has limited features. 

• If you are using the free version, the translated videos come with a watermark. 

• The free version only supports 10 minutes of subtitles. 

Pricing 

• Free Plan

• Pro Plan: $16 per month billed annually 

• Business Plan: $50 per month billed annually

• Enterprise Plan: Contact Sales

Best Subtitle Translators: At a Glance

I tested these best video subtitle translators over the course of a week — and here's a quick comparison between my top picks. 

FAQs 

How do I translate a video? 

Well, it's pretty easy to translate any video or audio file. There are many tools like Notta that can transcribe the audio/video file and even translate the transcript or subtitle file. Here's how to translate a video with the help of the Notta AI transcription app. 

• Go to the Notta dashboard and then upload the video that you'd like to translate. Notta will start transcribing what's being said in the video. 

• Open the transcribed file and then select the translation language of your choice.   

How can I translate subtitles? 

If you want to translate subtitles, all you need to do is choose an online subtitle translator tool. Google Translate is one of the popular online translation tools that comes with a subtitle translation feature. Here's how to translate a subtitle file: 

• Just upload the SRT file of the video and watch as the Google Translate tool translates the subtitles. 

• You can then choose the translation language and even edit the translated subtitle file before downloading it.

Key Takeaways 

The best subtitle translators on this list will save you a lot of time, smooth out the translation of subtitles from one language to another, and increase the reach of content. Most of these apps are absolutely free or at least have free trials, so you can take a look at the features before committing. 

If you record a lot of videos and wish for a simple yet versatile online tool, the Notta AI transcription app could be a great choice. The AI translation feature is already pretty solid, but there's much more. You can directly transcribe audio and video files — which can then be downloaded as SRT files for a smooth subtitle translation experience.