1
drop your Short
mp4 or mov, vertical 9:16. anything up to 60 seconds works as a Short.
youtube shorts captions
add captions to your
YouTube Short, in one click.
drop your Short, pick a style, download a captioned video. no editor, no subscription — burned-in captions that survive silent autoplay.
2 free credits on sign-up — that's 2 minutes of captioned video, on us.
free to try · 2 free credits on signup · no card needed.
word-by-word highlight
vertical 9:16 preserved
12+ languages
$0.10 per minute
why Shorts need captions.
most Shorts are watched on mute — in transit, at work, in bed. Verizon Media's research on social video puts sound-off viewing at roughly 92% on mobile. on a Shorts feed where people scroll fast, no captions means no hook lands.
styled, animated captions also keep eyes on the screen longer. Facebook's internal study found a ~12% lift in view time when captions were added, and Verizon Media reported viewers were 80% more likely to watch to completion. YouTube's Shorts algorithm rewards watch time and completion heavily — captions compound directly into more reach.
how to caption a YouTube Short.
three steps, under a minute.
2
pick a caption style
word-by-word highlight, colored outline, animated reveal — the styles that punch through silent autoplay.
3
download and upload
captioned video back in seconds, burned in. upload it as a Short on YouTube.
what works on Shorts.
- word-by-word highlight — the eye locks onto the active word, which buys you the watch-time YouTube's algorithm cares about.
- middle-bottom third — above the YouTube channel name and Shorts title, well clear of the right-edge action buttons.
- readable on any background — use a strong outline or dark backdrop so captions hold up across bright outdoor shots and dark indoor ones.
- large, bold sans-serif — captions need to read instantly. small or thin fonts get swiped past.
free to start. $0.10 per minute after.
new accounts get 2 free credits on sign-up —
that's 2 minutes of captioned video, on us.
after that, 1 credit = 1 minute of video. Shorts cap at 60 seconds, so 1 credit each.
$9 for 90 credits. credits never expire.
youtube shorts caption questions.
why do i need to add animated captions to my Shorts? +
because most viewers scroll Shorts on mute. studies cited by Verizon Media and Publicis put sound-off viewing at around 92% on mobile and 83% on desktop — so without captions burned right onto the frame, your hook lands silently. Facebook's internal study found captions lifted view time by ~12% on average, and Verizon Media reported viewers were 80% more likely to watch to completion when captions were present. animated (kinetic) captions push that further: the eye locks onto the highlighted word, which industry reports peg at ~42% higher completion vs static text. on Shorts, where YouTube's algorithm heavily rewards watch time and completion, that compounds directly into more views.
do burned-in captions hurt YouTube SEO? +
no — burning in styled captions for visual appeal doesn't replace YouTube's transcript. YouTube still auto-generates a transcript from the audio, which is what its search algorithm reads. you get both: the indexable transcript YouTube generates, and the styled captions on screen.
what caption position works best for Shorts? +
the bottom-middle third. YouTube places the channel name and Shorts title at the very bottom, and the like/comment/share buttons on the right. center your captions horizontally, position them above the title — high enough to be clear of UI, low enough to leave the subject's face uncovered.
how much does it cost to caption a Short? +
the first 2 credits (2 minutes of video) are free — new accounts get them on signup, no card needed. after that, 1 credit per minute, rounded up. Shorts max out at 60 seconds, so each Short costs 1 credit. credit packs start at $9 for 90 of them. no subscription.
is there a free YouTube Shorts caption generator option? +
yes. new accounts get 2 free credits on signup — that's 2 minutes of captioned video, no credit card required. since Shorts cap at 60 seconds (1 credit each), that covers up to two Shorts on the free credits alone.
do you support YouTube's 60-second cap? +
autocaptionr doesn't enforce a length limit on input — keep your source clip under 60 seconds and it'll fit Shorts. for longer videos, you can still use autocaptionr; just upload them as regular YouTube videos.
can I use the same captioned file across TikTok / Reels / Shorts? +
yes. caption once, post everywhere. autocaptionr outputs an mp4 with burned-in captions — it plays the same on every platform.
also captioning…
ready to caption your Short?
sign up with google. 2 free credits on us. no card needed.
open the app →