TikTok-style captions in seconds

Paste a script or transcript and turn it into timed, animated subtitles. Preview the look on a phone-shaped frame, then download a standard SRT file that drops straight into CapCut, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve and Final Cut.

Generate your captions

What the VidMints caption generator actually does

Most videos are watched with the sound off, so captions are no longer a nice-to-have — they are how people decide whether to keep watching. The VidMints caption generator takes text you already have and turns it into a timed subtitle track. You paste a script or transcript, and the tool splits it into short, readable chunks (called cues), assigns each cue a start and end time, and hands you back a plain .srt file plus a live on-screen preview so you can see the rhythm before you export.

One thing worth being clear about up front: this tool works from text, not audio. It does not listen to your video and guess the words — it lays out the words you give it and paces them for you. If you need captions generated from spoken audio, that is a different job. Use our transcription tool to convert speech to text first, then paste that transcript here to style and time it.

Burn-in vs. SRT: which one do you want?

This is the single most common question about captions, and getting it right saves a lot of re-exporting.

• An SRT file is a separate text file that sits alongside your video. Platforms like YouTube read it as a togglable closed-caption (CC) track, and editors import it as an editable subtitle layer. It is small, universally supported, and you can fix a typo in seconds without re-rendering anything.
• Burned-in captions (sometimes called open captions or hardcoded subtitles) are baked into the pixels of the video. They cannot be turned off, which is exactly what you want for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, where a native CC track is unreliable and the styling matters.

VidMints gives you the SRT and a visual preview of how a burned-in version could look. To actually burn the captions into the frame with full control over position and animation, import the SRT into your editor of choice, or use the AI video editor. A good rule of thumb: SRT for long-form and YouTube; burn-in for vertical short-form.

Step-by-step walkthrough

1. Paste your text into the box above. Short, spoken-style sentences caption better than dense paragraphs.
2. Pick a style. TikTok Bold and Impact are made for vertical hooks; YouTube CC is the classic readable bar; Minimal stays out of the way for cinematic or luxury content.
3. Set the animation speed and a max duration (15, 30 or 60 seconds). Duration tells the tool how much screen time to spread your cues across.
4. Click Generate Captions. Watch the live preview loop through your cues in the 9:16 frame.
5. Download the .SRT, or use Copy text to grab the raw lines. Not happy with the pacing? Hit Regenerate.
6. Import the SRT into your editor, line it up with your audio, and nudge any cue that drifts.

Real use cases

• Short-form creators adding punchy word-by-word captions to TikToks, Reels and Shorts so the hook lands in the first second.
• Podcasters and interviewers turning episode transcripts into shareable captioned clips.
• Marketers captioning ad creatives, where sound-off viewing is the norm and readable text lifts completion rates.
• Educators and explainer channels that want clean, accessible YouTube CC tracks.
• Accessibility — giving deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers, and anyone in a quiet room, a full text version of your video.

Honest limitations

No caption tool is magic, and it is better to know the edges before you rely on it:

• Timing is estimated from your text and the max duration you set, not measured against your real audio waveform. Expect to fine-tune cue timings in your editor so they match speech exactly.
• Because it starts from text, it cannot transcribe audio for you. Pair it with transcription when you only have a recording.
• The four styles preview a look; the exact on-screen animation and font in your final video depend on the editor or player that renders the SRT.
• Very long scripts get split into many cues. For anything longer than a minute or two, work in sections.
• Some AI features across VidMints use credits and require a signed-in account — see pricing for what is included.

Troubleshooting

• Captions appear too fast or too slow? Change the max duration or animation speed and regenerate — a 30-second clip crammed into a 15-second setting will feel rushed.
• Generation failed? Confirm you actually pasted text, trim any unusual symbols, and try again. A refresh clears most transient errors.
• SRT won't import? Keep the .srt extension intact and make sure your editor is set to import subtitles rather than open the file as plain text.
• Cues drift out of sync in your video? That is expected with text-based timing — drag the cues to match your audio, or transcribe first for tighter timing.

Practical tips for captions that convert

• Keep lines short — one or two thoughts per cue reads far faster than a full sentence.
• Write the way you speak. Contractions and natural phrasing time better than formal prose.
• For vertical video, keep captions clear of the bottom UI where the platform stacks buttons and the caption bar.
• Match the style to the content: bold uppercase for energy, minimal for calm, high-contrast for outdoor or busy footage.
• Building a full clip? Grab your source with the downloader, polish the visuals in the photo editor, then caption last so the words match your final cut.

How it compares to other options

Editor-native auto-captions (like CapCut's) transcribe your audio directly, which is convenient but locks the styling and workflow into that one app. Standalone subtitle software is powerful but has a learning curve. VidMints sits in between: it runs in the browser with nothing to install, gives you a portable SRT that every editor accepts, and keeps the whole workflow — download, caption, edit — in one place. See the full lineup on the tools page.

Frequently asked questions

Still stuck? The help center has more guides, and the blog covers captioning workflows in depth. A note on rights: only caption and download content you created or have permission to use.

Start generating captions now