Submagic vs Captions app: features and pricing.

Cover photo by Mark de Jong on Unsplash

We make AnimateCaptions, so weigh our view accordingly; we’ve noted where other tools are stronger.

Should you choose Submagic or the Captions app?

The two overlap on the core job, auto-generated animated captions for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, but they grew from different places. Submagic is a web app aimed at turning uploads into finished shorts. Captions started as a phone app with a camera and teleprompter and has grown into an AI studio with avatars, dubbing and generated media.

Submagic vs Captions app at a glance

Figures checked on 31 October 2026 on Submagic’s pricing page and help center, and on Captions’ pricing page and help center. Prices are in USD, billed monthly unless stated. Captions says its listed prices reflect iOS plans and may differ in your local currency.

What does Submagic offer?

Submagic captions and edits short videos in the browser. You upload a clip, and it adds styled captions, B-roll and sound, with text-based trimming. Higher plans add auto zooms, removal of silences and bad takes, audio clean-up, a brand kit and social publishing. Submagic says its captions cover 123 languages.

• Price (as of Oct 2026): Starter $19/month ($12/month billed yearly), Pro $39/month ($23/month yearly), Business $69/month ($41/month yearly), all per member.
• Free plan: a free trial with 3 short video uploads, no credit card.
• Watermark: on trial downloads; none on paid plans.
• Max video length: 2 minutes (Starter), 5 minutes (Pro), 30 minutes (Business).
• Credits: 45, 120 or 300 a month. Its help center says an upload costs 3 credits, AI captions are free, other AI features cost 1 to 3 credits, and Magic Clips cost 8 credits each.
• Strengths: made for short-form, B-roll on every plan, 1080p at 30 FPS on Starter, up to 4K at 60 FPS on Business.
• Watch out for: no permanent free plan, and the entry plan’s 2-minute cap.

What does the Captions app offer?

Captions is a full AI video studio, with captions as one feature. Alongside auto captions in 100+ languages, it offers a camera and teleprompter, eye-contact correction, denoise, AI dubbing, AI Edit, a chat-based editor, AI Twins and generated B-roll, music and sound. Its export settings can also download the captions as a separate SRT file.

• Price (as of Oct 2026): per Captions’ help center, Basic $9.99/month (200 credits), Max $24.99/month (500 credits), Frontier $69.99/month (1,400 credits), plus an Android-only Lite plan at $4.99/month. The main pricing page currently shows Max and Frontier. Yearly billing is discounted.
• Free plan: 60 to 200 lifetime credits that don’t refresh, one caption template (Eclipse) and basic manual edits. Projects using AI features need a paid plan to export.
• Watermark: paid plans export without one, but a Basic subscriber who uses Max-only features (such as AI Edit) gets a watermark. Captions’ help pages disagree on free-plan watermarks, so test an export.
• Credits: unused credits roll over, up to 3x your monthly allowance.
• Strengths: works on your phone end to end, 100+ caption templates on paid plans, dubbing, avatars and AI editing.
• Watch out for: the features most people associate with Captions (AI Edit, Clips) start at Max, $24.99/month.

How does Submagic pricing compare with Captions app pricing?

Captions is cheaper to start; Submagic is cheaper than Captions Max on annual billing. As of October 2026, Captions Basic is $9.99/month against Submagic Starter at $19/month ($12/month yearly). For AI-driven editing, Captions Max is $24.99/month and Submagic Pro is $39/month or $23/month billed yearly. At the top self-serve tier the two are close: $69.99 vs $69/month.

They also count usage differently. Submagic credits map roughly to uploads (Starter’s 45 credits are about 15 captioned videos). Captions credits are spent on AI features such as generation and AI edits, so how far they go depends on what you use. Our Submagic alternative and Captions.ai alternative pages compare each with AnimateCaptions in more detail.

Which has better caption features?

Submagic is more focused on caption styling for shorts; Captions offers more templates and more surrounding tools. Submagic splits templates into Standard and Premium by plan and adds custom templates and fonts higher up. Captions gives one template on Free and 100+ on paid plans, with customisable captions and a downloadable transcript. Both auto-generate captions, so check the text before you export: the W3C warns that automatic captions usually need editing to be accurate.

Where does AnimateCaptions fit?

AnimateCaptions is narrower than both: it only burns animated captions into short videos. Upload an .mp4 or .mov up to 2 minutes and 500 MB, fix the transcript, pick from 32+ styles, drag captions where you want them, and export an MP4. There is no B-roll, dubbing, avatars or SRT export, so if you need those, Submagic or Captions is the better pick.

As of October 2026, per our pricing page, the free plan gives 3 videos and 10 renders a month with watermarked exports. Creator starts at €6.99/month without a watermark, and Pro starts at €12.99/month for videos up to 5 minutes and 4K export. For style ideas, see our short-form caption style guide.

Quick verdict: Submagic or Captions app?

• Edit and caption shorts in a browser: Submagic.
• Record, edit and caption on your phone: Captions.
• AI avatars, dubbing or generated footage: Captions Max or Frontier.
• Lowest paid entry price: Captions Basic at $9.99/month.
• Animated captions only, on clips up to 2 minutes: AnimateCaptions, from €6.99/month without a watermark.

We checked every price and limit here on 31 October 2026. Plans change often, so confirm on each vendor’s site before you subscribe.