Subtitle app for PC: auto captions on Windows
Installs with no account, runs on your PC and never adds a watermark. Free to start; the same app downloads and transcribes.
Updated: October 2026 · 6 min read
If you are looking for a subtitle app for PC that captions videos automatically on Windows, free to start and with nothing uploaded: AppGrabbit. It installs with no account, the AI engine runs on your PC, it produces the subtitles timed word by word (1 credit, 5 free a month), shows you how they look on your video in three styles (free) and burns them in with no watermark (Pro or the 7-day pass). The same app downloads videos and transcribes. 1 credit · burning: Pro
What you want when you search “app”
Whoever types “subtitle app for PC” has tried the websites and wants something installed: no account, no uploading the video, no watermark, nothing that breaks half-way. And on a PC, something that uses the graphics card when there is one. That is exactly what a desktop app can do and a website cannot.
The Windows apps out there, honestly
CapCut desktop edits very well, but since 2025 auto captions sit on its paid plan (about USD 20 a month) with a cap on free. Filmora is a full editor with AI subtitles, paid, and watermarks free exports. Overcaption is free and runs on your PC, with a subtitle editor and translation: a good pick if you want to edit line by line. Subtitle Edit is free and powerful, but it is a tool for people who already know subtitles. AppGrabbit goes another way: paste the link or drop the file, see how it looks and make the video; and the same app downloads from YouTube, TikTok and Instagram and transcribes to text.
What the app does, in numbers
- Install — a 109 MB installer with FFmpeg and yt-dlp inside; the AI engine downloads the first time (Fast 181 MB, Accurate 547 MB; with NVIDIA another 643 MB).
- Subtitles — timed word by word, two lines of up to 42 characters, three styles; .srt and .vtt to take with you.
- Video — burned with FFmpeg and the bundled Poppins font; 51 portrait seconds in about 9 seconds.
- Also — downloads from YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X and more; transcribes to text with a prompt for your AI; converts formats.
Comparison
| AppGrabbit | CapCut desktop | Filmora | Overcaption | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auto captions | ✓ Yes, word by word | ~ On Pro (cap on free) | ✓ Paid | ✓ Yes, free |
| No account | ✓ Yes | ✗ Account | ✗ Account | ✓ Yes |
| Your video never leaves your PC | ✓ Never | ~ By feature | ~ By feature | ✓ Yes |
| Watermark | ✓ Never | ~ By feature | ✗ On free | ✓ No |
| YouTube or TikTok link directly | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Cost | Get subtitles: 1 credit (5 free a month) · preview: free · Make the video: Pro $8.99/mo or 7-day pass $3.99 | Pro about USD 20/mo | Yearly subscription | Free |
Step by step
- 1Install AppGrabbit for Windows — Download the free installer (everything included). Windows will say it protected your PC because the installer is not code-signed: click More info, then Run anyway.
- 2Open Download › Subtitles with AI — Paste the video link (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X, Twitch) or drop your file (mp4, mkv, mov, webm). From the Library, any video has “Subtitles with AI” in its ⋯ menu.
- 3Click “Get subtitles” (1 credit) — The first time, the app gets the AI engine ready on your PC (a one-time download) and carries on by itself. Out come the .srt, the .vtt and the .txt in the Subtitles folder, timed word by word.
- 4Pick the style on a real frame (free) — Classic (two lines at the bottom), Box (on a black box) or Center (three or four large words, the spoken one in yellow). “Previous / next moment” shows another sentence.
- 5Click “Make the video” (Pro or the 7-day pass) — The subtitles are burned into the video, at its size and with no watermark. The MP4 is named after your video plus “_subtitulos” and lands in the Library.
Frequently asked questions
No. Install it and it works. Only if you buy Pro or the pass is there an email with your code.
With a file of yours, yes, after the first time (the engine and the model download once). With a link it needs internet to download the video.
Windows 10 or 11. With an NVIDIA card the engine uses it and takes about 30 seconds per 10 minutes of video; without one, on the CPU, about 2 minutes per 10.
Not today: it is a Windows app. On the phone, TikTok's and Instagram's native captions are the free option.
Getting the subtitles (.srt, .vtt and .txt) costs 1 credit; Free comes with 5 a month. Previewing them on your video, in the three styles, is free. Burning them in (“Make the video”) is for Pro (USD 8.99 a month) or the 7-day pass (USD 3.99, no renewal). There is never a watermark, not even on Free.
The .srt and .vtt are text: fix them in Notepad and use them on YouTube or in your editor. The video the app makes uses what the engine transcribed; a wrong word (about 5 to 8 in 100, mostly names) shows in the preview before you pay.
The app tells you and gives the credit back. A music-only video gets no made-up text.
Nothing. The video stays on your PC: the AI engine (Whisper, whisper.cpp) runs on your computer, on your NVIDIA card if you have one or on the CPU if not, and FFmpeg burns the subtitles right there.
Source on CapCut: CapCut Auto Captions Now Cost Money (Descript)
Related guides
Install it in a minute
Windows 10/11 · No account · Get subtitles: 1 credit, 5 free a month · Make the video: Pro or pass