Burned in, not attached
The captions are rendered into the frames, so they survive the upload and every viewer sees them without switching anything on.
Captions alternative
Capster compared with Captions
An iPhone and web app that captions video and then keeps going: AI avatars, dubbing, eye-contact correction and a large template library, sold on a credit-based subscription. It is made by Captions, LLC.
Capster is an iPhone app that does one job: it transcribes a clip, lets you style the captions, and exports a video with them burned in. If you need more than captions, Captions is the larger product. If captions are the job, this page is the case for the smaller one.
iPhone, iOS 16.0+ · No account · Prices checked September 2026
Side by side
Every price below is the list price on each vendor's own pricing page, read in September 2026. Both change theirs, so the source is linked under the table — check it before you subscribe rather than trusting a comparison page, including this one.
| Capster | Captions | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on | iPhone app, iOS 16.0+ | iPhone app and web |
| Account needed | None. The app has no sign-in. | Required |
| Free tier | 5 transcriptions per install, clips up to 2 minutes, 2 styles. Export is never blocked — free exports carry a small badge and a short end card. | A free tier with basic editing and captioning, but no generative AI credits, so the AI features are effectively paid-only. |
| Paid plans | $6.99/month or $29.99/year | Max $24.99/month; Scale tiers $69.99, $139.99 and $279.99/month |
| What you get out | One finished video with the captions rendered into the frames. No SRT sidecar. | Captions rendered into the exported video. |
| Languages | 99 languages, detected automatically | Not compared — see the note below the table. |
Source: Captions's prices come from Captions's own pricing page, read in September 2026. Capster's come from this site's pricing page, which is generated from the same file the App Store listing is checked against.
There is no ratings column. Capster shipped in September 2026 and its App Store listing has no reviews yet, so a ratings row would be an empty cell next to a large number — which tells you about age, not about captions. Language counts are left out for the same reason: the two products count them differently and a bare number would compare nothing.Capster transcribes 99 languages and detects them automatically; which fonts render which scripts is the part that actually affects your export.
Where Captions wins
Not a formality. These are the reasons to pick Captions over Capster, and if one of them describes your work, pick Captions.
- A far larger product. AI actors, dubbing into other languages, eye-contact correction, a teleprompter and a template library Capster has no answer to.
- Runs on the web as well as on the iPhone, so a project can move between a phone and a desktop.
- A long track record and a large user base, where Capster shipped in September 2026 with no reviews yet.
An iPhone and web app that captions video and then keeps going: AI avatars, dubbing, eye-contact correction and a large template library, sold on a credit-based subscription.
Where Capster wins
- You only want captions, and you do not want to pay a generative-AI price for them.
- You would rather not create an account to caption a clip.
- $29.99 a year against $24.99 a month is the whole argument, if captions are all you need.
What you preview is what exports
The preview runs the same renderer as the export, so the caption you place is the caption in the file.
No account, no upload of your video
There is no sign-in. The video itself is never uploaded — only its audio track goes out for transcription, and the provider deletes it afterwards.
How to switch
- 1
Export your clip as it is
Finish the cut wherever you already cut it, captions off, and save it to your camera roll.
- 2
Open it in Capster
Import from Photos. The audio transcribes in the background; the language is detected, so there is nothing to pick.
- 3
Style once, export
A style applies to every caption in the clip at once. Export gives you one finished file, ready to post.
Cancelling Captions is done wherever you subscribed to it, not in this app — if you subscribed on an iPhone, that is Settings, your name, then Subscriptions.
Questions people ask
Is Capster a good Captions alternative?
It is if captions are the only thing you need. Capster does one job — transcribe a clip, style the captions, burn them into the file — on the iPhone, with no account, for $29.99 a year. Captions is a bigger product and costs more because of it.
How much does Captions cost?
Max $24.99/month; Scale tiers $69.99, $139.99 and $279.99/month. That is the list price on Captions's own pricing page as of September 2026. Capster is $6.99 a month or $29.99 a year, with a 3-day free trial on the yearly plan. Prices change, so check both before you decide.
Can I use Capster for free?
Yes, and you can export for free. The free tier gives you 5 transcriptions per install, clips up to 2 minutes, and 2 caption styles. Exporting is never blocked — free exports carry a small badge and a short end card instead.
Does Capster give me a subtitle file?
No. It produces one finished video with the captions rendered into the frames, which is what social platforms need. If you need an SRT or VTT file to hand to someone else, that is a real reason to use something else.
More on what Capster costs, or read the othercomparisons.
Read next
Try it on one clip before you cancel anything
5 free transcriptions, and the export is not blocked. Updated September 2026.
Free to try: 5 transcriptions, clips up to 2 minutes, exports carry a small Capster badge. iPhone, iOS 16.0+. No account.