Taia translates SRT (SubRip) and VTT (WebVTT) subtitle files directly, with no conversion step, because both are native, plain-text, timecode-based formats. AI or a professional linguist translates only the caption text in each entry — the timecodes that keep subtitles synced to the video are never touched.
How Does Subtitle Translation Work?
Translating an SRT or VTT file takes three steps, and none of them involve converting the file to a different format first.
- Upload the SRT or VTT file at translate.taia.io. Both formats are read directly — each is a plain-text file that pairs a timecode with a block of caption text, so there’s nothing to convert before translation can start.
- AI or a professional linguist translates the caption text in each entry, using your translation memory, glossary, and style guide as reference, so terminology and tone stay consistent across an entire video series.
- Download the translated SRT or VTT file with every timecode unchanged. Only the text between the timecodes is replaced — the file’s structure, entry numbering, and sync points come back exactly as they were in the source file.
Because SRT and VTT are already editable, structured text formats, this is a direct, native translation — the same kind of process DOCX or XLSX go through, and a simpler one than PDF, which has to be converted to an editable file before translation can even start.
What Gets Preserved When You Translate a Subtitle File?
The single most important fact about subtitle translation is that only the caption text is translated — timecodes are never touched, so translated subtitles stay perfectly in sync with the video. This is the subtitle equivalent of the formula-versus-text distinction in Excel or the key-versus-value distinction in JSON: one part of the file is structural and off-limits, the other is translatable content.
- Timecodes are never touched. The start and end time on every caption entry —
00:00:10,500 --> 00:00:13,000in SRT, or the equivalent WebVTT cue timing — carries over unchanged. Translation replaces the caption text; it never rewrites, shifts, or recalculates a timecode. - Entry numbering and cue structure stay intact. SRT’s sequence numbers and VTT’s cue identifiers are preserved, so the translated file loads into the same video players and platforms as the original.
- File encoding is preserved as UTF-8, which is what makes accented characters, non-Latin scripts, and right-to-left text display correctly in the translated file.
- VTT-specific styling and positioning cues (where WebVTT supports them) are left in place around the translated text, since only the caption text itself is a translation target.
One genuinely important caveat: translated caption text can run longer or shorter than the source text, and professional subtitling holds translated captions to the same reading-speed and characters-per-line constraints as the original. Some target languages produce more characters than English for the same meaning, which can push a translated caption past a comfortable reading pace or a platform’s line-length limit. This doesn’t affect timecodes — the sync is untouched either way — but it’s a real editorial constraint worth checking on longer or denser subtitle files, especially in a hybrid AI-plus-human-review workflow where a linguist can shorten a caption to fit. See the subtitle localization challenges guide for more on reading-speed and line-length practice in professional subtitling.
AI vs. Professional Translation for Subtitle Files
Use AI translation for internal or draft subtitle files where speed matters most; use professional translation for client-facing videos, marketing content, or any subtitle track where a linguist should check reading speed, line length, and cultural fit before it ships. Both options work from the same uploaded SRT or VTT file, so there’s no need to re-upload anything to switch between them.
Instant AI translation is subscription-based. Every plan shares the same translation memory, glossary, and style guide:
- Free — 5,000 words/month
- Basic — €9/month, 20,000 words/month
- Pro — €39/month, 100,000 words/month
- Enterprise — custom pricing
Subtitle translation requires the Basic plan or higher — SRT and VTT are not among the formats included in the Free plan.
Professional translation is always pay-per-word, never a subscription, and is especially useful for subtitles, where a linguist can adjust caption length for reading speed and adapt idioms that don’t translate literally. Three tiers are available, all combining machine translation with human post-editing:
- Essential — one linguist reviews and edits the machine translation, from €0.06/word
- Enhanced — a translator plus a revisor, ISO 17100-certified process, from €0.09/word
- Ultimate — full TEP (translation, editing, and proofreading by three separate linguists), from €0.12/word
Subtitle files with recurring content — a training video series, a recurring product-update video, an episodic show — benefit from translation memory the same way Hyundai cut turnaround time by more than 60% on repeat document sets, since prior approved captions are reused instead of re-translated from scratch.
How Much Does It Cost to Translate a Subtitle File?
AI translation of an SRT or VTT file is covered by your subscription, starting with the Basic plan; professional translation is billed per word on top of that subscription. There’s no separate “subtitle fee” — caption text is translated at the same word-count-based pricing as any other supported format. For AI translation: Basic (€9/month for 20,000 words), Pro (€39/month for 100,000 words), or custom Enterprise pricing — Free does not include subtitle formats. For professional translation: from €0.06/word (Essential), from €0.09/word (Enhanced), or from €0.12/word (Ultimate), scaled to the word count of the caption text (timecodes and formatting markup aren’t counted, since they’re never translated).
Taia is an AI-first localization platform that combines instant AI translation in 204 languages and 65+ file formats, a built-in CAT editor and translation management system (TMS), and ISO 17100-certified professional linguists — with translation memory, glossary, and style guide shared across all three. Subtitle translation runs on the same platform, so an SRT or VTT upload has access to every one of those resources, and repeat uploads for a video series reuse prior approved captions automatically.
Neither DeepL nor Google Translate accepts SRT or VTT uploads at all — DeepL’s file support tops out at Word, PowerPoint, PDF, Excel, and HTML, and Google Translate covers Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF, with no localization formats on either platform. See Taia’s AI Translator for the AI side of subtitle translation, or professional localization services for the human side.
For real-world troubleshooting (timestamp sync, encoding, baked-in subtitles) see subtitle localization challenges; for the case for subtitling in the first place (accessibility, SEO, subtitles vs. dubbing) see translating subtitles: the crown jewel of your video content.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can SRT and VTT subtitle files be translated online?
Yes. Upload an SRT or VTT file at translate.taia.io and it’s translated directly, with AI or a professional linguist, with no conversion step. The file you get back is the same format you uploaded, with only the caption text translated.
Do timecodes change when subtitles are translated?
No. Timecodes are never touched during translation — only the caption text between them is replaced. This is the single most important fact about subtitle translation: because the timecodes stay exactly as they were, the translated subtitle file stays perfectly in sync with the video.
Does Taia support both SRT and VTT?
Yes. SRT (SubRip) and VTT (WebVTT) are both supported natively, with no conversion step, since both are plain-text, timecode-based formats. Upload either format and get the same format back, translated.
Is subtitle translation included in the free plan?
No. SRT and VTT translation requires the Basic plan or higher. The Free plan covers 5 core formats and does not include subtitles; Basic and above add subtitles along with PDF, JSON, XML, and Markdown.
Can translated subtitle text overflow the reading-speed or line-length limits?
Yes, this is possible. Translated captions can run longer or shorter than the source text, and professional subtitling holds translated captions to the same reading-speed and characters-per-line constraints as the source. This doesn’t affect timecodes, but it’s worth a linguist’s review on longer or denser subtitle files.
How much does it cost to translate a subtitle file?
AI translation of an SRT or VTT file is covered by your subscription, starting with the Basic plan (€9/month for 20,000 words), then Pro (€39/month for 100,000 words), or custom Enterprise pricing. Professional translation is billed per word, from €0.06/word for Essential, from €0.09/word for Enhanced, or from €0.12/word for Ultimate.
Can I get subtitles professionally translated by a human linguist?
Yes. Three professional tiers are available, all pay-per-word: Essential (one linguist, from €0.06/word), Enhanced (translator plus revisor, ISO 17100-certified, from €0.09/word), and Ultimate (full TEP — translation, editing, and proofreading — from €0.12/word). This is especially useful for client-facing videos, where reading speed and cultural fit need a linguist’s check.
What’s the difference between SRT and VTT?
Both are plain-text, timecode-based subtitle formats where each entry pairs a start/end timecode with caption text. SRT (SubRip) is the more widely supported format across video platforms; VTT (WebVTT) is the HTML5 web standard and supports additional styling and positioning options. Both are translated natively, with no conversion step, and in either case only the caption text changes — timecodes are never touched.