What is a transcript?
A transcript is a written record of spoken content. It may be continuous text, paragraphs, or dialogue with speaker names and timestamps. It is useful for reading, searching, quoting after verification, and taking notes.
A plain transcript is not necessarily synchronized to the video. If you need each line to appear at a particular moment, you need a timed caption or subtitle format.
What are subtitles?
Subtitles display dialogue as text synchronized with a video. They are often used to make dialogue understandable to viewers who do not speak the language or prefer to read along. Translation subtitles communicate meaning in another language rather than reproduce every word literally.
Subtitle files such as SRT and WebVTT include timing information. A plain TXT transcript generally does not provide playback synchronization.
What are captions?
Captions are synchronized text that represents speech and may also describe meaningful non-speech audio, such as music, laughter, alarms, or speaker changes. Captions are especially important for viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Which format should you choose?
Choose a transcript when you need searchable notes or a readable record. Choose subtitles when dialogue needs to be displayed in sync, especially for translation. Choose captions when viewers need access to speech and meaningful audio cues.
Do not label a plain text transcript as a complete caption file. If accessibility is the goal, timing, speaker changes, sound cues, and readability all deserve attention.
Frequently asked questions
Are transcripts and subtitles the same?
No. A transcript is usually a readable text record; subtitles are timed to appear with the video.
Do captions include sound effects?
Captions can include meaningful non-speech audio cues as well as spoken dialogue.
Does TXT work as an SRT subtitle file?
No. SRT requires timed caption blocks and timestamps.
Ready to work with a public video? Open the free video transcript generator. Supported platforms include TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, subject to source availability.