“Subtitles” and “captions” are used as if they were the same thing, but they are not, and the difference matters when a platform, a client or an accessibility rule asks for one of them.
Subtitles
Written for viewers who can hear but don’t understand the language. Only the dialogue, often translated.
Captions (closed captions, CC)
Written for viewers who can’t hear the audio. Dialogue plus the sounds that matter: [phone rings], (sighs), speaker names, music. Usually in the same language as the audio. SDH (Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of hearing) is the same idea in a subtitle file.
Closed vs open
- Closed: a separate track (SRT, VTT) that viewers turn on and off. Searchable, editable, can have many languages.
- Open (burned in, hardcoded): part of the picture, always visible. Works everywhere, including platforms with no caption support, but can’t be turned off or changed.
Which to use
- YouTube, websites, courses: closed captions (upload an SRT/VTT). Add translated subtitles for other languages.
- TikTok, Reels, ads in feeds: open captions, since most people watch muted.
- Accessibility requirements: captions with sound descriptions, not just dialogue.
Making them
Create the text from the audio with the AI subtitle generator, edit it in Subtitle Studio, and translate it for other languages. Already have SDH and want plain subtitles? Remove the hearing-impaired text.