CapCut is probably the first app you tried for captions, and it's a good one: it's free to start, it runs on everything, and it does far more than captions. I make CapiCap, which does one part of that job. It puts captions on a video you already have, and it does it on your iPhone, iPad or Mac rather than on a server.
So I'm not neutral. What follows is what I know about both, with links to CapCut's own pages for everything I say about CapCut. I checked them on 17 October 2026.
Where your video goes
This is the real difference between the two, so it's worth being exact.
CapCut makes its captions on its servers. Its help center says auto captions rely on "speech recognition and cloud processing"1. Its privacy policy says CapCut may collect your content "through pre-uploading at the time of creation, import, or upload", for things like generating captions, whether or not you end up saving the video, and that it uses data to train its "machine learning models and algorithms"2. That's typical for a free cloud editor. It only matters if the video is something you'd rather keep to yourself: an interview, a client's footage, your kids.
CapiCap runs OpenAI's Whisper speech model on the device itself. The app goes online once, on first launch, to download that model. After that it works in airplane mode. There's no account, and the App Store privacy label says "Data Not Collected"7.
Side by side
| CapCut | CapiCap | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A full video editor | A captioning app |
| Captions are made | On CapCut's servers1 | On your device |
| Price | Free; Pro is $19.99 a month on CapCut's site3 | 3 exports a month free; $9.99 once for unlimited |
| Watermark | Usually none; an ending clip or premium assets can add one4 | None |
| .srt export | Yes5 | Yes |
| Caption languages | "30+"6 | 99+ |
| Runs on | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android, Windows, web | iPhone, iPad, Mac with Apple silicon |
When I'd use CapCut
When the video needs editing, not just captions. Cutting clips together, music, transitions, effects, templates: CapCut does all of it and CapiCap does none of it. CapCut is also the answer if you work on Android, Windows or in a browser, or if you want its big library of animated caption styles. CapiCap has twelve looks you can adjust, which covers most videos, but it isn't the same thing.
When I'd use CapiCap
When the footage is private and you'd rather it never left your device. When you don't want another account or subscription: three exports a month cost nothing, and $9.99 once removes the limit. When you're offline, on a plane or on location. When the language isn't one of the big ones: CapCut lists about 30 caption languages, and Whisper knows 99+. And when you care about the file you get back: CapiCap keeps the original resolution, frame rate and bitrate, 4K60 included, and copies the sound as it was.
CapiCap can also set the caption behind the person in the shot and works out, frame by frame, where that keeps every word readable. I wrote up how that works.
Using both
Plenty of people edit in CapCut and caption somewhere else, or the other way round. If you do, export the edited video without captions and open it in CapiCap with Choose Video. Just keep in mind that if privacy is why you're here, importing into CapCut can already upload the video, per the policy quoted above.
On availability: CapCut is on the US App Store today (it was pulled for about a month in early 2025), but not on the App Store in India8.
Sources
Checked 17 October 2026. Prices and terms change, so check the links before you decide.
- CapCut Help Center, Auto captions (24 March 2026).
- CapCut, Privacy Policy (last updated 15 April 2026), sections 1 and 2.
- CapCut, Pricing: Pro USD 19.99 a month or USD 199.99 a year, "for reference only". App Store prices differ; see the listing.
- CapCut Help Center, How to export video without watermark (18 March 2026).
- CapCut Help Center, Captions fail to export (3 February 2026).
- CapCut Help Center, How to import subtitles (30 January 2026).
- App Store, CapiCap: Video Captions, App Privacy section; the CapiCap privacy policy.
- TechCrunch, 18 January 2025; TechCrunch, 13 February 2025; the India App Store page is not available.
