Best Free Subtitle Translators in 2026 (and Where Each Stops Being Free)

“Free” means very different things on these sites: a 10-minute trial, a watermark on every export, a translation you can use once, or a file you can translate but not download. We checked each tool's own pricing and help pages in October 2026 and list exactly where the free part ends.

At a glance

Free with no account

Subtitle Edit — the free desktop editor

Subtitle Edit is a free, open-source desktop subtitle editor. Its auto-translate uses Google's free endpoint without an API key; it is rate-limited and translates line by line. You can also plug in DeepL, OpenAI, Gemini and others with your own API key, or a local model through Ollama or LM Studio. It is also the go-to tool for OCR'ing image subtitles (Blu-ray PGS/SUP).

• Free: everything — editing, syncing, OCR, Google auto-translate.
• Catch: a desktop app with a learning curve; the free engine has no context across lines, and better engines need your own API key and bill.

Subtitle Translator — open source, runs in your browser

An open-source web app (by rockbenben) that translates .srt, .ass, .vtt and .lrc files entirely in your browser, with batch processing for a whole season. The default engines (Google, Edge) are free and rate-limited; DeepL or an LLM need your own key.

• Free: no account, no watermark, batch files.
• Catch: line-by-line machine translation; no editor for reviewing the result in context.

Subtitle Cat — free SRT translation site

Upload an .srt and get it back translated, typically in about a minute on the free tier; a $6/month VIP plan is faster. SRT is the only format accepted.

Free tiers and trials (with AI translation)

SubtitleFlow — free preview, then pay per file

SubtitleFlow translates SRT and VTT with context-aware AI: a sentence split across several cues is translated as one sentence, names stay consistent across the file, and timestamps are never touched. You can start without an account.

• Free: files of up to 30 lines are translated in full; longer files get the first 30 or so translated free (the preview ends at a sentence break, not mid-sentence); up to 3 files a day, 50 MB each.
• Catch: free exports add one line, “Subtitles by SubtitleFlow”, to the first subtitle. A whole file beyond the preview needs credits — $5 buys 4,000, about 500 minutes of subtitles, and they don't expire.

Happy Scribe — 10-minute trial

Happy Scribe's trial covers 10 minutes of AI transcription, subtitling and translation, with no credit card. On the trial, subtitles export as SRT or TXT (VTT and other formats are on the business plan), and burned-in MP4 exports are watermarked.

Kapwing — 10 credits

The free plan comes with 10 credits (a one-time allowance, according to Kapwing's help center). Auto-translation costs 2 credits per minute and is capped at 5 minutes of video on the free plan; exports are limited to 4 minutes at 720p, with a watermark.

VEED — try translation once

VEED's free plan lets you use subtitle translation one time, exports at 720p, and puts a VEED watermark on free exports. Fine for testing a short clip, not for a regular workflow.

Maestra — try without signing up

Maestra's subtitle translator runs a trial without an account or card, and exports SRT, VTT or TXT — but exporting requires signing up, and Maestra says longer files and batch jobs run on paid plans.

Google Translate and DeepL

• Google Translate translates uploaded documents up to 10 MB, but only .docx, .pdf, .pptx and .xlsx — not .srt or .vtt. You can paste subtitle text in, but you will be rebuilding the file by hand.
• DeepL's free web plan includes one document translation a month (up to 5 MB) and 50,000 characters of text. For SRT files, DeepL points to its API.

Both are excellent translators, but they see one line at a time. Subtitles routinely split a sentence across two or three cues, which is where line-by-line translation goes wrong. More on this in Can ChatGPT translate SRT files?

Which should you choose?

• Zero cost, long files, rough translation is fine: Subtitle Edit or Subtitle Translator.
• You want natural, context-aware translation: try SubtitleFlow free on a short file or the preview, and pay only for the files you need.
• You also need to edit the video: Kapwing or VEED, accepting the watermark on the free plan.
• You need human transcription: Happy Scribe.

Comparing paid tools too? See the best subtitle translation tools in 2026.

Frequently asked questions