Why add captions at all?
Many people scroll with the sound off, so a video without captions often loses them in the first second. Captions also make your video accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing, help viewers in noisy places, and let platforms understand what your video is about.
The good news is that you no longer need to type them. Speech recognition can now run right in your browser, so captions are free and your audio never leaves your computer.
How to add auto-captions in Takejam (free)
- Open your video. Create a free project at app.takejam.com and drag your video in. The file stays on your computer.
- Open the Captions tab on the left.
- Pick a style. Choose Bold pop, Karaoke, Boxed word, Word reveal or Clean subtitle. Then set the position (top, centre or bottom) and how many words show at once.
- Pick the language and accuracy. Leave the language on "Detect automatically" or choose one of 17, including English, Spanish, Hindi, Bengali, Arabic and Japanese. Then pick Fast, Balanced or Accurate.
- Click Generate captions. The first time, your browser downloads the speech model once (about 55–210 MB, depending on accuracy). After that it's quick.
- Fix any word in the Script tab, or click a caption on the video to edit it.
- Export your video with the captions burned in, or download an SRT or VTT file to upload to YouTube or another platform.
Want English captions for a video in another language? Turn on "Translate to English" before you generate.
Which caption style should you use?
| Style | What it does | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Bold pop | Big uppercase words, the spoken word pops in colour | TikTok, Reels, Shorts |
| Karaoke | Words fill with colour as they're spoken | Music, tutorials, energetic talk |
| Boxed word | The spoken word sits on a colour box | Punchy edits, brand colours |
| Word reveal | Words appear one by one as they're said | Storytelling, slow reveals |
| Clean subtitle | Plain, classic subtitles | Interviews, documentaries, YouTube |
Words per caption: 2–4 words feels native on vertical video. For longer YouTube videos, use more words per line with the Clean subtitle style.
Position: keep captions out of the bottom fifth of vertical videos, where app buttons and descriptions sit. Centre or slightly above works best.
Burned-in captions or an SRT file?
- Burned-in captions are part of the picture. They look the same everywhere and always show. Use them for social video.
- SRT/VTT files are separate text tracks. Viewers can turn them on or off, and platforms like YouTube can index them. Use them for longer videos and accessibility.
You can do both: export the video with captions, and download the SRT for YouTube.
Tips for accurate captions
- Clean audio helps most. Turn up the voice, turn down music under speech, and use the Accurate model for accents or noisy rooms.
- Check names and brand words. Speech models guess unusual names, so search for them in the Script tab and fix them in one go.
- Restyle all at once. Changed your mind about the look? Pick another style and every caption updates together. An AI connected to Takejam can restyle them for you too.
Questions, answered
Can I add captions to a video for free without a watermark?
Yes. Takejam's Free plan includes auto-captions and 1080p export with no watermark, with no credit card and no time limit.
Is my video uploaded to make captions?
No. In Takejam the speech model runs in your browser on your own computer, so your audio and video aren't uploaded anywhere.
Which languages are supported?
17, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Turkish, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean and Chinese, plus automatic detection.
Can I download captions as an SRT file?
Yes. After generating captions, click SRT or VTT in the Captions tab to download a subtitle file.
Can I edit the captions after they're generated?
Yes. Edit any word in the Script tab or directly on the video, change the style for all captions at once, or move single captions on the timeline.
Mahfuj Khondoker
Founder of Takejam · designer and video editor. Building Takejam, the video editor you can drive with any AI.