CaptionSwift adds automatic captions to your Shorts, free, in your browser, with no signup. Add a clip up to 1 minute, get captions in Hinglish (Roman Hindi) or English, fix any mistakes, pick a style, and download a captioned MP4 ready to upload.
YouTube can auto-caption Shorts, and creators can edit those captions in YouTube Studio. The remaining differences are about style and control: platform captions render in YouTube's own look, while burned-in captions keep your styling and placement, are always visible, and let you review and fix every word before publishing. Platform captions have their own strengths too - viewers can toggle them and they work with screen readers - so you can use both.
A captioned MP4 from CaptionSwift is not tied to YouTube. The same file can go to Instagram Reels and WhatsApp, with the captions looking identical on each. If you post the same clip on several platforms, you caption it once and keep a consistent look everywhere.
1. Open CaptionSwift and add your video (up to 1 minute).
2. Press "Make auto captions" and choose Hinglish or English audio.
3. Read every caption and fix mistakes - AI captions can be wrong, especially names.
4. Pick a caption style in the Style tab, keeping text clear of the bottom edge where YouTube draws the title and buttons.
5. Press "Make captioned video" in the Export tab, download the MP4, and upload it as a Short.
On Chrome and Edge, the high-fidelity export makes MP4 with H.264 video and copies your original sound without re-encoding - for typical phone videos that is AAC. Both are formats YouTube accepts, and the original frame rate is kept, including 60 fps. If that path cannot run on your browser or video, the app tells you first and you can choose the standard export (maximum 30 fps, lower detail), which can fall back to WebM on some browsers.
Completely free, no signup: 2 successful videos per day per internet connection, each up to 1 minute. No watermark on the exported video. Manual captions (paste your own SRT) and editing always work without using the daily limit.
Yes. Completely free with no signup: 2 successful videos per day per internet connection, each up to 1 minute, and no watermark on the exported video.
YouTube can auto-caption Shorts, and you can edit those captions in YouTube Studio - but their look stays YouTube's. Burned-in captions keep your styling, are always visible, and you fix every word before publishing; platform captions can be toggled by the viewer and work with screen readers. You can use both.
Yes. Choose Hinglish audio when making auto captions. Captions come in Devanagari with an approximate Roman (Hinglish) version you can switch to in the editor - export either script. AI captions can be wrong, especially names - always read and fix captions before exporting.
On Chrome and Edge, the high-fidelity export makes MP4 with H.264 video and copies the original sound without re-encoding - for typical phone videos that is AAC. Both are formats YouTube accepts. If that path cannot run, the app tells you first and you can choose the standard export (maximum 30 fps, lower detail), which can fall back to WebM on some browsers. If YouTube ever rejects a file, tell us via the Contact page.
Your original video stays on your device; only its audio is sent for transcription when you use auto captions. The finished captioned video passes through our server only if you use the expiring download link (deleted after one download or about 10 minutes) - choose "Download video on this device" and it never leaves your device. See the Privacy Policy.
Auto captions are machine output and can be wrong. CaptionSwift lets you edit every caption before export so the published video says exactly what you meant.