Professional Subtitling Services
Subtitling services convert spoken dialogue in video into synchronized on-screen text — either in the same language (intralingual) or translated into another language (interlingual). At Vanan Services, our professional subtitling team delivers 99% accuracy, 24-hour turnaround, and support for 100+ languages across all major file formats (SRT, VTT, SCC, STL, TTML). Pricing starts at $11.20 per minute of source video, with no setup fees.
How Much Do Subtitling Services Cost?
Vanan subtitling services start at $11.20 per minute of source video, with no setup fees and no hidden charges. Pricing scales by turnaround speed and complexity.
| Tier | Price (per minute) | Turnaround | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $11.20 | 3–5 business days | Marketing videos, training, social media |
| Rush | $14.50 | 24–48 hours | Broadcast deadlines, press releases |
| Same-day | $19.90 | Within 8 hours | Breaking news, live event recap |
| Translated subtitles | +$4.50 / min / language | Add 1–2 business days | Multilingual global releases |
Need a custom quote for a long-form project (over 60 minutes)? Request a free quote — we respond within 2 business hours.
How Subtitling Works at Vanan
From file upload to final SRT delivery — our 5-step process with built-in quality review.
Upload your video
Send via secure upload (encrypted file transfer up to 5GB), email, cloud link (Drive/Dropbox/WeTransfer), or FTP. We support MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV, WAV, MP3, and 20+ other formats.
Project scoping
Our team reviews speakers, languages, technical terminology, and target deadline. You receive a fixed quote within 2 business hours.
Subtitling by certified linguists
A native-speaker subtitler transcribes, time-codes, translates, and outputs your file type (SRT, VTT, SCC, STL, TTML, or burned-in / open captions). Our software synchronizes each subtitle to the audio with frame-level precision (23.976 or 25 fps).
Quality review by a second linguist
A senior reviewer checks accuracy, reading speed (max 17 characters per second), line breaks, and cultural localization. This is how we hit 99% accuracy.
Receive your subtitle file
Final SRT/VTT/SCC file delivered by email or download link, ready to upload to YouTube, Vimeo, broadcast playout, or your video editor.
Human Subtitlers vs AI vs Hybrid — Which Should You Choose?
Pure AI is fast and cheap but error-prone. Human-only is accurate but slow. Hybrid is Vanan's default.
| Method | Typical Accuracy | Turnaround | Starting Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pure AI / Machine | 85–90% | Minutes | $0.10–$0.50 / min | Internal drafts, rough cuts, clear single-speaker audio |
| Human-only | 99%+ | 3–5 business days | $11.20 / min | Broadcast, legal, medical, multi-speaker, accented audio. Handles noisy or low-quality audio that AI cannot transcribe reliably. |
| Hybrid (AI + Human review) ★ | 99% | 24–48 hours | $11.20 / min | Vanan default. Fast turnaround projects where accuracy still matters. |
Why Subtitles Matter — The Numbers
Quotable, citation-ready statistics with named sources.
What Our Clients Say
"Vanan delivered our 90-minute documentary subtitled in 6 languages in just 4 days. The accuracy on technical medical terminology was flawless, and the SRT files dropped straight into our broadcast pipeline. We've now used them for 12 follow-up projects."
File Formats We Deliver
Standards-compliant output for every workflow.
Subtitling Services for English to Spanish — Full Documentary
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Subtitling Services — Frequently Asked Questions
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What is the difference between subtitling and captioning?
Subtitles assume the viewer can hear and translate spoken dialogue into another language (or onto the screen as text). Captions assume the viewer cannot hear and include not only dialogue but also non-speech sounds (music cues, sound effects, speaker identification). U.S. broadcasts typically require closed captions for accessibility; international releases use translated subtitles.
How much do subtitling services cost?
Vanan subtitling services start at $11.20 per minute of source video for Standard turnaround (3–5 business days). Rush is $14.50/min (24–48h), Same-day is $19.90/min (within 8 hours), and Translated subtitles add $4.50/min per additional language. No setup fees.
How fast can you deliver subtitles?
Standard turnaround is 3–5 business days. Rush turnaround is 24–48 hours. Same-day delivery is available within 8 hours for projects under 30 minutes of source video. Translated subtitles add 1–2 business days per language.
Which subtitle file formats do you deliver?
SRT (universal), VTT (HTML5 web players), SCC (broadcast captioning), STL (EBU broadcast standard), TTML (iTunes/Netflix), plus burned-in/open captions as MP4. We can also deliver custom formats on request.
Can you subtitle in any language?
We support 100+ languages including Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi, Russian, Turkish, Greek, Polish, Dutch, Swedish, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, and many more. All translations are completed by native-speaker linguists.
Why use a professional subtitling service instead of auto-generated captions?
Auto-generated captions (YouTube auto-captions, Otter, Whisper, Zoom AI) average 85–90% accuracy on clean audio and drop to 60–75% on accented, multi-speaker, technical, or noisy audio. Professional subtitling guarantees 99% accuracy, correct speaker attribution, proper line breaks (max 32 chars/line, 17 chars/sec reading speed), accurate timing to frame boundaries (23.976/25/29.97 fps), and broadcast-compliant file delivery. For anything published externally — marketing, broadcast, legal, medical, e-learning — professional subtitling pays back in audience completion rate, ADA defensibility, and brand perception.
How does subtitle translation work?
Our subtitling team first transcribes the source audio, then a native-speaker translator localizes the text into the target language while respecting reading-speed limits (17 chars/sec) and cultural context. A second reviewer checks the translation for accuracy, idiom, and on-screen length before final delivery.
Is your subtitling ADA and WCAG compliant?
Yes. Our captions meet WCAG 2.2 AA, FCC closed-captioning rules, and Section 508 standards. For U.S. broadcast we deliver SCC at 23.976 / 25 / 29.97 fps with the standard 17-chars-per-second reading speed and 32-character line limit.
Can you handle noisy or low-quality audio?
Yes — our Human-only tier is built for difficult audio. We routinely subtitle field recordings, court depositions, multi-speaker meetings, conference recordings with background noise, and footage with heavy regional accents. AI subtitling cannot reliably transcribe these scenarios.
Do you offer same-day subtitling?
Yes. Same-day delivery is available within 8 hours for projects under 30 minutes of source video at $19.90/min. For longer projects, contact us directly — we have surge capacity for breaking news and live event recap workflows.
Can you subtitle videos for YouTube, Vimeo, and broadcast?
Yes — we deliver platform-ready files for every major destination. YouTube/Vimeo: SRT or VTT. Broadcast: SCC, STL, or TTML. iTunes/Netflix: TTML. Social (open caption): burned-in MP4 with platform-specific aspect ratios.
Related Localization Services
Vanan's full language stack.