Captions vs Subtitles: What's the Difference?

The difference between captions and subtitles is who they are for: captions write out the speech and important sounds (music, laughter, a door slamming) in the same language as the audio, for people who are deaf, hard of hearing or watching with the sound off, while subtitles translate the speech into another language for people who can hear it but don’t understand it. In the UK and many other places, “subtitles” is used for both.

This guide explains the terms you will meet (closed captions, open captions, SDH, burned-in subtitles), shows what each looks like, and helps you decide what your video needs.

The short answer

Captions are a same-language text version of the speech and non-speech audio, such as [applause] or [music], made for viewers who can’t hear the sound. Subtitles are usually a translation of the dialogue for viewers who can hear but don’t speak the language, and normally leave sound effects out. Either can be closed (switchable) or open (burned in).

Key takeaways

• Captions: same language, speech plus important sounds, for accessibility.
• Subtitles: usually another language, speech only, for translation.
• SDH (subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing) combines both: subtitles with captions’ sound cues.
• Open vs closed is a separate question: whether the text is burned in or can be switched off.
• In British English and on many platforms the words are used interchangeably, so check what a platform means before you upload.

Disclosure: we make QuickVeed and show how to do this in it, along with other ways. Details about other products come from their public pages, checked in October 2026 and linked at the end.

Captions vs subtitles: the difference at a glance

The W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative describes captions as a text version of the speech and non-speech audio needed to understand the content, and notes that subtitles for translation are generally not an accessibility accommodation on their own. It also points out that the two words mean the same thing in some parts of the world. That’s the source of most confusion: an American producer and a British broadcaster may use the words the other way around.

Platforms add their own twist. YouTube’s menu is called Subtitles and holds both same-language captions and translations. Streaming services label tracks such as “English (CC)” or “English SDH” for captions and plain “Spanish” for translated subtitles. Social apps tend to say “captions” for any on-screen text of the speech. So when a client or platform asks for “subtitles”, ask whether they mean a translation, a same-language file, or text burned into the video; the answer changes what you deliver.

What captions include (and an example)

Good captions carry everything a hearing viewer gets from the soundtrack. Compare the same moment:

Professional style guides set rules for this. Netflix’s English timed-text guide, for example, puts sound effects and speaker IDs in square brackets in lowercase, uses speaker IDs only when the speaker can’t be identified visually, and describes the sound rather than what’s on screen. It also limits lines to 42 characters and two lines.

For a business video with one presenter, captions and a transcript of the speech are almost the same thing. The differences matter more for videos with music, several speakers or important sounds, such as a product demo with alert tones.

SDH, closed captions and open captions explained

• Closed captions (CC): captions viewers can turn on or off. They are a separate track or file, such as an SRT on YouTube.
• Open captions: always shown and cannot be turned off, because they are burned into the picture. Common on social video.
• SDH (subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing): subtitle-format text that includes caption information such as sound cues and speaker labels. Streaming services often use SDH where broadcast TV used closed captions.
• Burned-in or hardcoded subtitles: another name for open subtitles or captions drawn onto the frames.
• Forced subtitles: subtitles that appear only for foreign-language parts of a video, such as a sign or a line in another language.

Open vs closed is about delivery, not content: you can have open captions, closed captions, open subtitles or closed subtitles. Our guide to open vs closed captions covers that choice in detail, and how to burn subtitles into a video shows how to make open ones.

How to write good captions: a short style guide

Whether you call them captions or subtitles, the same habits make them readable. Most come from broadcast and streaming style guides and apply just as well to a product video.

1. Keep lines short. Around 42 characters per line and two lines at most is a common professional standard.
2. Give people time to read. Keep each subtitle up for at least about a second, and cap reading speed at roughly 17 to 20 characters per second.
3. Break lines at natural pauses. Keep an article with its noun and a verb with its subject.
4. Write what was said. Light editing of ums and false starts is fine; changing the meaning isn’t.
5. Label sounds that matter. [notification chime] in a software demo, [laughter] after a joke. Skip sounds that add nothing.
6. Identify speakers when you can’t see who’s talking, such as a voice-over or someone off screen.
7. Be consistent with numbers, names and spelling across the whole video and series.

For subtitles in another language, add two more: translate meaning, not word order, and recheck reading speed after translation, because some languages run longer than others. Our guide on subtitle reading speed has the numbers, and how to translate subtitles covers the workflow.

Do you legally need captions?

It depends on where you are and who you are. Broadcasters, public bodies, schools and some businesses have captioning duties under accessibility laws in many countries; a small company posting on social media usually doesn’t. If your organisation might be covered, check the rules that apply to you rather than relying on a blog post. Captioning is good practice either way: it helps viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing, people watching on mute, and people watching in their second language.

Which does your video need?

Two rules hold almost everywhere: if a video autoplays in a feed, burn captions in; if a video lives on a player that supports tracks, upload files so viewers can choose. If you are making your own subtitle files, SRT vs VTT explains which format to use.

When budget is tight, do it in this order: accurate captions in the spoken language first, because they serve the most viewers, then subtitles for your largest second-language audience, then any others. A translation is only as good as the captions it starts from.

Making captions and subtitles in QuickVeed

QuickVeed’s Captions & subtitles makes both from one transcript: captions in the spoken language and subtitles in up to 32 translated languages, as files or burned in.

1. Open Captions & subtitles and upload the video (up to 3 hours), or pick one from your library. The upload keeps going if you switch to another page.
2. Pick a caption style (11 to choose from, such as Bold yellow, Karaoke fill or Classic subtitles) and a position: bottom, middle or top. Leave “Make the captioned video when it’s ready” ticked if you want the burned-in copy made automatically.
3. Press Transcribe. The app estimates about a minute of processing per 10 minutes of video.
4. On the Edit tab, correct any line, click a time to jump to it in the player, and press Save changes.
5. On the Translate tab, tick up to 5 of 32 languages at a time. Each line keeps its timing.
6. On the Download tab, get an SRT, VTT or TXT file for each language. On the Burn in tab, make a captioned copy per language; it is saved to your library.

The transcript costs 1.5 credits a minute, rounded up. Each burned-in copy is 1 credit a minute (3 minimum, videos up to 30 minutes), and translation is billed by AI use, usually a credit or two per language. New accounts get a 14-day trial with 75 credits, no card needed.

What it doesn’t add for you: sound-effect labels such as [applause] and speaker names. The transcript is the speech. If your video needs SDH-style captions, type the sound cues and speaker labels into the lines on the Edit tab before you download or burn in. For translation by voice rather than text, see AI dubbing vs subtitles.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between captions and subtitles?

Captions are a same-language text of the speech and important sounds, for viewers who can’t hear. Subtitles are usually a translation of the speech, for viewers who don’t understand the language.

Are closed captions the same as subtitles?

Not quite. Closed captions are switchable captions that include sound cues and speaker labels. Subtitles usually contain only translated dialogue. In the UK, “subtitles” often covers both.

What does SDH mean on subtitles?

Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing: subtitles that also include sound effects, music cues and speaker labels, like captions.

What does CC mean on a video?

Closed captions: text you can turn on or off with the CC button in the player.

Are captions better than subtitles for social media?

For social video in your own language, use captions of the speech, burned in so they show with the sound off. Add subtitles in other languages if you have an audience that speaks them.

Try it with your own video

Make captions in the spoken language and subtitles in up to 32 others from one transcript. Upload a video, add a translation, and compare the captions and subtitles for yourself. QuickVeed plans start at $18/month, and new accounts get a 14-day trial with 75 credits, no card needed. Sign up or see pricing.

Sources

Competitor details in this post were checked against these public pages in October 2026. Products and prices change, so confirm with each vendor before you decide.

• W3C WAI: Captions/Subtitles
• Netflix: English (USA) Timed Text Style Guide