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.
Submagic alternative
Capster compared with Submagic
A browser-based tool for short-form creators: it captions clips, cuts long videos into shorts, and adds B-roll and sound effects, on a per-seat monthly plan.
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, Submagic 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 | Submagic | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on | iPhone app, iOS 16.0+ | Web browser. There is no first-party iPhone app. |
| 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. | Free tier: 3 videos a month, 200 MB and 1 minute 30 seconds per video, with a Submagic watermark. |
| Paid plans | $6.99/month or $29.99/year | Starter $19/month, Pro $39/month, Business + API $69/month (billed yearly: $12, $23 and $41/month) |
| What you get out | One finished video with the captions rendered into the frames. No SRT sidecar. | Captions rendered into the exported video, downloaded from the browser. |
| Languages | 99 languages, detected automatically | Not compared — see the note below the table. |
Source: Submagic's prices come from Submagic'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 Submagic wins
Not a formality. These are the reasons to pick Submagic over Capster, and if one of them describes your work, pick Submagic.
- Magic Clips turns a long podcast or stream into short clips. Capster does not cut video at all — you bring it a clip that is already the right length.
- B-roll, sound effects and a team plan with an API, none of which Capster has.
- Handles videos up to 30 minutes on the top plan. Capster is built for short-form and everything it does is tuned for clips.
A browser-based tool for short-form creators: it captions clips, cuts long videos into shorts, and adds B-roll and sound effects, on a per-seat monthly plan.
Where Capster wins
- You work on a phone. Submagic is a browser tool, so every clip means moving the file off the iPhone and the finished video back onto it.
- You caption a handful of clips a month rather than dozens — the per-video monthly quota is the thing people hit.
- Free means free to finish: Capster's free exports carry a badge, but they are not capped at 90 seconds and are not limited to three a month.
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 Submagic 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 Submagic 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. Submagic is a bigger product and costs more because of it.
How much does Submagic cost?
Starter $19/month, Pro $39/month, Business + API $69/month (billed yearly: $12, $23 and $41/month). That is the list price on Submagic'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.