Subtitle and caption converter
Convert subtitles and captions in your browser. The file is parsed, converted and saved on your own machine, so there’s no upload queue and no copy of your dialogue sitting on someone else’s server. Nineteen conversions have a page of their own below, and the studio reads and writes all ten formats in either direction.
Converting to SRT or WebVTT
Most conversions end in one of two places. SRT is what almost every editor, player and platform will accept, which is why seven of the pages below convert into it; WebVTT is what an HTML5 <track> element wants, and five convert into that. Both are free, and neither needs an account.
SRT carries italics, bold, underline and a font colour. That’s all it carries: no positioning, no speaker tags. If your source has more than that, the page for your pair names what survives before you convert anything.
Closed caption converter
Closed captions are a different job from subtitles. CueForge reads and writes Scenarist SCC (CEA-608 line 21), MacCaption MCC (CEA-708 with a CEA-608 field-1 track), EBU-STL (Tech 3264), EBU-TT-D (Tech 3380), TTML and Apple iTT, with drop-frame and non-drop timecode on the 29.97 fps timebase where the format uses it. Those six take Pro: $99 a year or $12 a month, with a 7-day trial. The four core subtitle formats stay free.
Two things this won’t do. It won’t burn subtitles into a video, and it won’t pull a caption track out of an MP4 or MKV.
What each format can carry
A conversion loses whatever the target can’t express, so it’s worth knowing the ceiling before you pick one.
| Format | Italics | Bold | Underline | Font colour | Positioning | Voice / speaker tags | Styling override tags |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SRT | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| VTT | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| SBV | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| ASS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| SCC | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| STL | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| TTML | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| iTT | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| MCC | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| EBU-TT-D | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
SBV is the outlier: timing and plain text, no styling at all. Each pair page turns this table into a loss matrix for that one conversion, including the parts we drop silently.
Every conversion
Free formats
- SRT → VTT SRT to WebVTT for HTML5/web video; cues + styling intact, no upload
- VTT → SRT Clean, editor-friendly SRT out of web VTT
- SRT → ASS Add styling and positioning (fansub/anime); what ASS lets you do that SRT can't
- ASS → SRT Strip styling to universal SRT; the loss matrix shows exactly what's dropped
- ASS → VTT Styled subtitles to web video; what survives into WebVTT
- VTT → ASS Web captions to ASS for styling and positioning
- SRT → SBV Export SRT to YouTube’s legacy SBV caption format
- SBV → SRT YouTube SBV captions to universal SRT
- SBV → VTT YouTube SBV captions to WebVTT for HTML5 web video and players
Pro broadcast formats
- SCC → SRT CEA-608 broadcast captions to editable SRT, batchable across a folder (Pro · 7-day trial)
- SCC → VTT CEA-608 broadcast captions to WebVTT for web players, batchable across a folder (Pro · 7-day trial)
- STL → SRT EBU-STL (Tech 3264) broadcast subtitles to SRT, batchable across a folder (Pro · 7-day trial)
- TTML → SRT TTML / IMSC1 / DFXP timed text to SRT, batchable across a folder (Pro · 7-day trial)
- TTML → VTT TTML / IMSC1 / DFXP timed text to WebVTT for web players, batchable across a folder (Pro · 7-day trial)
- iTT → SRT Apple iTT to editable SRT, batchable across a folder (Pro · 7-day trial)
- SRT → MCC SRT to MacCaption MCC for US HD broadcast: CEA-708 digital captions plus a CEA-608 field-1 track, 29.97 fps drop-frame (Pro · 7-day trial)
- SRT → EBU-TT-D SRT to EBU-TT-D (Tech 3380) XML for BBC online and DVB-DASH delivery, full Unicode including Arabic (Pro · 7-day trial)
- SRT → SCC SRT to Scenarist SCC CEA-608 line-21 captions on the 29.97 fps timebase, drop-frame or non-drop (Pro · 7-day trial)
- SRT → TTML SRT to TTML timed-text XML, the same standard also delivered as DFXP or a plain .xml file, for OTT and broadcast (Pro · 7-day trial)
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free subtitle converter here?
Yes. SRT, WebVTT, SBV and ASS convert between each other on the free tier, with no account, no watermark and no size limit. The six broadcast formats need Pro.
Can I convert subtitles to SRT online?
Yes, and nothing uploads. "Online" here means you don’t install anything; the conversion runs in your browser on your machine, and it keeps working offline once the page has loaded.
Which closed caption formats can you convert?
SCC, MCC, EBU-STL, EBU-TT-D, TTML and Apple iTT, in both directions, plus the four core subtitle formats. Validate any broadcast export against your platform’s current spec before you deliver it.
Can you convert subtitles to text or Word?
No. There’s no plain-text or document output today, so if you want a transcript without timecodes, Subtitle Edit will do it for free.
Edit subtitles in the browser · Read the caption compliance guides · Open the CueForge studio →