Burned-In Captions vs SRT Files: Which Should You Use?

Use burned-in captions when the video will be watched in a feed, where you control the look and captions must always show. Use an SRT file when viewers should be able to turn captions on and off, or when the platform can use the text, as YouTube does. Many creators use both: burned-in captions for Shorts and Reels, an SRT for the long-form video.

What each one is

• Burned-in (open) captions are drawn into the video frames. Everyone sees them, on every platform, exactly as you designed them.
• SRT (closed) subtitles are a separate text file with a start and end time for each line. The player draws them, in its own style, and viewers can switch them off.

Burned-in captions: best for

• TikTok, Reels, Shorts and other feeds where videos autoplay without sound.
• Styled captions: animated highlights, brand fonts and colors are only possible when you draw them yourself.
• Reposting: the captions travel with the file wherever it goes.

Trade-offs: viewers cannot turn them off, and fixing a typo means exporting again.

SRT files: best for

• Long-form YouTube videos, where viewers expect a CC button.
• Courses and platforms that ask for a subtitle file.
• Offering several languages: one SRT per language on the same video.

Trade-offs: no custom styling, and some social platforms ignore uploaded subtitle files.

Doing both from one transcript

The hard part of either format is the same: an accurate, well-timed transcript. Once you have it, exporting both costs nothing extra. In Captixa you transcribe once, fix any word, then click Export video for an MP4 with captions burned in (up to 4K), or the SRT button for a subtitle file from the same words.