AutoSub › Guides › Translate subtitles
Translate subtitles into 40+ languages
Subtitles in a viewer's own language can open a video to a far larger audience. AutoSub translates subtitles cue by cue, keeps every timing intact, and lets you correct the result in the same editor before you export or burn it in.
Open AutoSub free30 free minutes when you sign up. Works best in Chrome or Edge.
Where the subtitles come from
You can start from either side:
- Only the video. AutoSub transcribes the speech (40+ spoken languages, or auto-detect), then you translate the result.
- An existing SRT or VTT. Import it into the editor and translate directly. This is handy when you already paid for a professional transcript and just need other languages.
How to translate subtitles
- Open AutoSub. Go to autosub.isroot.in in Chrome or Edge. There is nothing to download, though you can install it as an app from the address bar if you'll use it often.
- Get subtitles in the original language. Either pick the spoken language and drop your video so AutoSub transcribes it, or import an SRT or VTT file you already have. Importing is free and doesn't need an account.
- Clean up the source first. Fix mistakes in the original-language subtitles before translating. Errors in the source carry into every translation, so a few minutes here saves time later.
- Translate. Open Translate in the editor, confirm the source language, pick the target language and run it. The app shows roughly how many minutes the translation will use before you start. Every cue keeps its original start and end time.
- Review, then export or burn in. Read through the translated lines, adjust wording and line breaks, then export SRT, VTT, ASS or TXT, or burn the translated captions into an MP4. To make another language, press Undo to restore the original and translate again.
Getting a good translation
Machine translation works best when the input is clean and the sentences are complete. A few habits help:
- Correct the source first. A misheard word in English becomes a confidently wrong word in Spanish.
- Avoid splitting sentences across many tiny cues. Translation works on the text of each cue. Merging fragments into fuller cues before translating often reads more naturally.
- Re-check line length. German and Finnish often run longer than English, while Chinese and Japanese run shorter. Split or merge cues after translating if lines look crowded.
- Keep names consistent. Use find & replace to fix a product or person's name everywhere at once.
Making several language versions
The translation replaces the text in the editor, and Undo brings the original back. So the workflow for multiple languages is: translate to language A, export, Undo, translate to language B, export, and so on. For YouTube, upload each SRT as a separate subtitle track. For social platforms that don't support subtitle tracks, burn each language into its own MP4.
Why translate with AutoSub
| Copy-paste into a translator | AutoSub | |
|---|---|---|
| Timings | Easy to break when pasting back | Kept automatically |
| Review | Text only, no video | Click a line to hear and see it in context |
| Output | Manual reformatting | SRT, VTT, ASS, TXT or burned-in MP4 |
| Your video | n/a | Stays on your device |
Translation and transcription share one minute balance: 30 free minutes on signup, then $9.99 a month for 1,000 minutes on Pro, or a $7 pack of 300 minutes that never expires.
Frequently asked questions
Which languages can I translate subtitles into?
Around 40 target languages, including Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Hindi and Arabic. Transcription itself supports more than 40 spoken languages.
Do the timings change when I translate?
No. Translation replaces the text of each cue and keeps its start and end time, so the translated subtitles stay in sync with the video. Word-by-word highlight styles spread each translated line evenly across the cue.
Can I translate an SRT file I already have?
Yes. Import the SRT or VTT file into the editor, then translate it. Importing is free; translation needs an account because it uses minutes from your balance.
How much does translation cost?
Translation uses minutes from the same balance as transcription, at about one minute per 1,000 characters of subtitle text. A typical 10-minute talk with around 8,000 characters of text would use roughly 8 minutes. The app shows the estimate before you start.
Is machine translation good enough to publish?
For many videos it gives a solid draft that needs light editing. For marketing copy, legal content or anything sensitive, have a fluent speaker review the result. The editor makes that review quick because each line sits next to its video moment.
Reach viewers in their language
Import your subtitles or drop your video, translate, review and export.
Open AutoSub free30 free minutes when you sign up. Works best in Chrome or Edge.