5 Free TurboScribe Alternatives For Transcription 2026

TurboScribe provides unlimited transcriptions for $10 per month, with a free option allowing three daily transcriptions.

However, it doesn’t support embedding permanent subtitles into videos.

In this blog post, we’ll explore five turboscribe alternatives that offer free transcription services and the capability to create videos with embedded subtitles.

Table of Contents

• 1. ZapCap
  • The Ultimate Tool for Video Creators
  • What’s New?
  • Developer-Friendly API
  • Why ZapCap?
• 2. ClipChamp
• 3. Capcut
• 4. Freesubtitles ai
• 5. Otter
• Other Paid Alternatives
  • Happy Scribe
  • Veed
• Final Words

1. ZapCap

The Ultimate Tool for Video Creators

ZapCap is your go-to solution for adding stylish, animated subtitles and transcribing your videos effortlessly. Powered by OpenAI’s advanced Whisper technology, ZapCap delivers highly accurate transcriptions, minimizing errors and providing professional-grade captions. It’s the perfect tool for creators aiming to increase engagement and expand their audience reach. Whether you’re just starting or looking to level up your content, ZapCap has something for everyone.

What’s New?

Long-to-Short Converter: Transform lengthy videos into bite-sized, attention-grabbing clips perfect for platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. This feature is ideal for repurposing content to maximize its impact across multiple platforms.

Developer-Friendly API

ZapCap isn’t just for creators—it’s also built for developers. With its API, you can seamlessly integrate captioning and transcription into your apps, streamlining workflows and saving valuable time.

Why ZapCap?

• Accurate Transcriptions: Backed by OpenAI’s Whisper technology.
• Stylish Subtitles: Fully customizable and animated for professional-quality videos.
• Free Trial: Get started with a no-cost plan or unlock premium features at an affordable price.

2. ClipChamp

ClipChamp is a free, cloud-based video editing platform that offers a range of features without adding watermarks to your videos, allowing your content to maintain its original branding. Alongside adding subtitles, ClipChamp enables you to cut videos, apply effects, and much more.

One of the cool things about ClipChamp is that you can either integrate subtitles directly into your videos, so they always show up, or you can create separate subtitle files like SRT files. This flexibility is great whether you’re making videos for YouTube, school projects, or any other purpose.

For creating subtitles, ClipChamp uses Azure Speech-to-Text technology. This service is really strong at converting spoken words into written text and supports many different languages. This means you can make videos in English, Spanish, French, and more, and expect accurate subtitles.

ClipChamp is particularly useful for content creators because it offers a lot of useful tools without any cost. Whether you’re making videos for fun or for your followers, you have everything you need to start.

In the free version of ClipChamp, you can export as many subtitle files as you want. There are no limits. If you choose to upgrade to a paid plan, which starts at $10 per month, you’ll unlock even more features. These premium features include advanced video effects, better video quality, and additional editing tools, which can help make your videos stand out.

In summary, ClipChamp is a versatile and accessible option for anyone looking to enhance their video content, making it particularly appealing for new and experienced content creators alike.

3. Capcut

Capcut is a very popular video editing app used by people who make short videos. It works on many devices—like Macs, Windows computers, Android phones, iPhones, and even directly on the web.

Capcut is completely free and doesn’t put a watermark on your videos, so your final product looks clean and professional. Just like ClipChamp, Capcut offers features for adding subtitles and transcribing audio, but it also has many other video editing tools.

Capcut uses its own technology to turn spoken words into text. It can transcribe in less than 20 languages, including English, Spanish, and Portuguese. However, it does not support languages like Hindi and Tamil. With Capcut, you can create videos that include subtitles or just make subtitle files like SRT files. While it doesn’t let you export TXT files directly, you can use websites like subtitle tools to convert SRT files into TXT or other formats.

Capcut offers more video editing features than ClipChamp, although its ability to accurately turn speech into text isn’t as good as TurboScribe, ZapCap, or ClipChamp. One of the coolest things about Capcut is its animated subtitles. It has lots of pre-made templates that make your videos look great with just one click.

Capcut doesn’t have any limits for free users in transcription. You can create as many subtitle files as you need.

4. Freesubtitles ai

Free Subtitles offers a no-cost option that is great for smaller projects. You can upload files as large as 300 MB and transcribe or subtitle videos up to 1 hour long. It uses the Whisper Model Medium for transcriptions, which provides decent accuracy but lower than turboscribe and ZapCap.

One thing to remember is that if you close your browser tab, the transcription will stop. So make sure to keep it open while your files are being processed.

You have to wait in the queue when a lot of users are transcribing files.

For those who need to work with bigger files or longer videos, Free Subtitles has a paid option. You can handle files up to 10 GB and videos as long as 10 hours. This premium version uses the Whisper Model Large V2 for even better transcription accuracy. For translations, it uses services like DeepL and Yandex, which are known for their high-quality results.

Another benefit of the paid version is that your transcriptions can run in the background, even if you close your browser tab.

5. Otter

Otter.ai is another excellent paid alternative for transcription that provides real-time, highly accurate voice-to-text services. While it’s commonly used for meetings and lectures, Otter is perfect for transcribing media files too.

Starting at $8.33 per month, Otter offers unlimited transcription minutes, making it a cost-effective solution for those needing frequent, high-quality transcriptions. It also integrates with tools like Zoom and Google Meet, allowing you to transcribe and caption live conversations. Although Otter doesn’t specialize in subtitle creation, it’s perfect for anyone who needs accurate transcripts with the ability to review, edit, and export files easily.

Other Paid Alternatives

Here are the other paid alternative options to Turbo Scribe that you consider if you are not satisfied with free tools.

Happy Scribe

Happy Scribe starts you off with one free transcription file, which is great for testing out the service. After that, if you want to keep using it, their plans begin at $17 per month and include up to 2 hours of transcription.

The platform also features a robust editor, which makes it easy to adjust and perfect your transcripts. If you need even higher accuracy, Happy Scribe offers human transcription services starting at $1.75 per minute.

Veed

Veed is an online video editor that is cloud-based, meaning you can use it right from your browser without installing anything. Subtitles are just one of the many features available on Veed. You can try adding subtitles for free, but you won’t be able to export your video unless you choose a paid plan.

The paid plans start at $25 and offer only 60 minutes of video editing per month, which might seem expensive. However, considering all the other features you get, it could be worth it if you need a powerful video editing tool.

Veed is known as one of the best cloud-based video editors available, so it’s a strong choice if you need more than just subtitles.

Final Words

Choosing the right transcription and subtitle service depends on your needs. If you’re just starting out or have smaller projects, affordable options like ZapCap may be ideal. ZapCap offers a free plan to test things out before committing to more advanced features.

For larger projects or more specific needs, more expensive alternatives such as Veed might be worth considering.

FAQ

Can I transcribe and embed subtitles directly into videos?

Not all tools support embedding subtitles directly into videos. For example, TurboScribe only provides transcription files, while tools like ZapCap, ClipChamp, and Capcut allow you to create and embed animated or permanent subtitles into videos. This feature is crucial for social media or professional presentations.

What are the benefits of embedding subtitles into videos?

Embedding subtitles makes videos more accessible and engaging, especially for viewers watching without sound. It also helps improve comprehension for non-native speakers and can boost discoverability on social platforms with auto-captioning disabled. Some tools provide animated or customizable subtitles to enhance video presentation further.

What’s the difference between transcription tools and video editing tools?

Transcription tools primarily focus on converting audio into text and may provide subtitle files like SRT or TXT. Video editing tools, on the other hand, often allow you to directly embed subtitles into videos, along with features like trimming, adding effects, or enhancing video quality.