A lot of apps will caption a video, and they're less alike than they look. Two questions sort out most of them: does the video need editing as well as captions, and is it all right for it to leave your device? Most caption apps upload it, because their speech recognition runs on a server.
I make CapiCap, which runs the speech recognition on your device instead, so I'm not neutral. Below is what I'd reach for in each case. What I say about the other apps comes from their own pages and App Store listings, linked at the bottom, which I checked on 17 October 2026.
If the video needs editing too
Then you want an editor that also captions; CapiCap only captions. CapCut is free, runs on almost everything, and makes its captions on CapCut's servers1. I wrote a longer comparison with CapCut.
Instagram's Edits is free too, but you sign in with an Instagram account, and it's a phone app: on an iPad it runs as an iPhone app5. Instagram doesn't say where Edits makes its captions; its App Store privacy label lists photos or videos and audio data as linked to you6.
Final Cut Pro's Generate Captions works on the device, but only in U.S. English7.
If you want the app to do the editing
Captions, made by Mirage, is an AI editor that works on its servers8: it can edit the video for you, dub it and translate the captions. After a one-time batch of free credits it's a subscription9. I compared it with CapiCap in more detail.
If the video shouldn't leave your device
This is the case I built CapiCap for. It runs OpenAI's Whisper speech model on your iPhone, iPad or Mac, so the video is never uploaded, and it understands 99+ languages. It burns the captions into a new video at the original resolution, frame rate and bitrate, 4K60 included, or exports an .srt. There's no account, and its App Store privacy label says "Data Not Collected"10.
Mac transcription apps like MacWhisper run Whisper locally too, but they make transcripts and subtitle files; they don't put the captions on the video11. There's more in captioning a video without uploading it.
If you work in a browser
VEED, Kapwing and Submagic run in a browser, and Zeemo has a web version as well as phone apps. They're what I'd look at on Windows, or on a computer where you can't install anything. All four make captions on their servers, put a watermark on free exports, and keep the free tier small12, 13, 14, 15; the table has the limits.
Side by side
| App | Runs on | Captions are made | Free version | Paid | .srt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapCut | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android, Windows, web | On CapCut's servers1 | Usually no watermark2 | Pro $19.99 a month3 | Yes4 |
| Edits | iPhone, Android | Not stated6 | Free, no watermark; Instagram account required5 | None yet | Not documented |
| Final Cut Pro | Mac, iPad | On the device; U.S. English only7 | 1-month trial | $299.99 (Mac) or $12.99 a month | Yes (Mac) |
| Captions | iPhone, Android, web | On its servers8 | One-time credits, no watermark | Basic $9.99 a month9 | Yes |
| CapiCap | iPhone, iPad, Mac with Apple silicon | On the device | 3 exports a month, no watermark | $9.99 once | Yes |
| VEED | Web, iPhone, iPad | On its servers12 | 10 minutes of subtitles a month, 720p, watermark | Creator $20 a month | Paid plans |
| Kapwing | Web | On its servers13 | 720p, 4-minute exports, watermark | Pro $24 a month | Paid plans |
| Submagic | Web | On its servers14 | 3 short videos, watermark | Starter $19 a month | Yes |
| Zeemo | iPhone, Android, web | On its servers15 | 1-minute videos, 720p, watermark | Pro $9.99 a month | Paid plans |
US prices on 17 October 2026. Most of these apps charge differently by country, and by whether you buy on the web or in the App Store.
Apple's own apps
iMovie doesn't make captions from speech; you type titles by hand. Clips, whose Live Titles captioned you while you recorded, stopped being available to new users on 10 October 202516. I wrote up what Apple's video apps can and can't do.
The captions TikTok and Instagram add
TikTok and Instagram can caption a video when you post it, and viewers can turn those captions on or off17. They belong to that post on that platform. To post the same video somewhere else with the words on it, burn the captions in before you upload. There's more in captions for Reels, TikTok and Shorts.
Sources
Checked 17 October 2026. Prices and terms change, so check the links before you decide.
- CapCut Help Center, Auto captions (24 March 2026): "relies on speech recognition and cloud processing".
- CapCut Help Center, How to export video without watermark (18 March 2026).
- CapCut, Pricing; App Store prices differ, see the US listing.
- CapCut Help Center, Captions fail to export (3 February 2026).
- Instagram Help, signing in to Edits; App Store, Edits: Video Editor: "Export your videos in 4K with no watermark".
- The Edits App Store listing above, App Privacy section: Photos or Videos and Audio Data linked to you.
- Apple Newsroom, Apple Creator Studio gets smarter, faster and more connected (30 June 2026); Final Cut Pro; Apple Creator Studio; Export closed captions.
- Mirage, Privacy Policy (effective 10 November 2025) and Safety and security.
- Captions Help, Subscriptions, Watermark on exported video and Publish and export.
- App Store, CapiCap: Video Captions, App Privacy section; the CapiCap privacy policy.
- MacWhisper.
- VEED, Pricing and How to export your project.
- Kapwing, Pricing and FAQ.
- Submagic, Pricing and Does Submagic have a mobile app?
- Zeemo, Pricing and FAQ; App Store listing.
- Apple Support, About the Clips app (11 October 2025); Apple, Add titles in iMovie on iPhone.
- TikTok Support, Accessibility; Instagram Help, Closed captions on Instagram.
