TikTok
A TikTok subtitle generator that keeps up with you.
Auto subtitles with word-by-word karaoke highlights and viral caption styles — no app install, no video upload.
A TikTok caption generator transcribes a video’s speech and renders timed subtitles onto it before you post. LumaCaption times every word from the audio, burns the captions into the picture in any of 242 styles, and never uploads your video file — so the captions are visible on frame one whether or not the viewer has sound on.
TikTok is the fastest-scrolling feed there is. Viewers give you a second or two, often with sound off, and move on. Creators who caption everything aren’t doing it for accessibility alone — on-screen words are the strongest hook you can add without reshooting a single frame.
LumaCaption generates TikTok-style captions automatically: your speech becomes bold, word-timed text with one keyword per line popping in colour — the look you know from the biggest talking-head accounts. It works on your phone or your laptop, there’s nothing to install, and your video file never leaves your device.
Karaoke-style word pops
Words light up as you say them — the high-retention style TikTok made famous, without manual keyframing.
The keyword does the work
LumaCaption picks the most important word of each line and makes it pop. Disagree? Tap any word to star it instead.
Fast enough to post today
Captions start appearing while transcription is still running. A one-minute clip is styled and ready in a couple of minutes.
Works on your phone
The whole editor works on a phone. Caption a TikTok on the same device you shot it on.
TikTok’s built-in captions vs burned-in captions
TikTok generates captions in the app, and for accessibility they work. What they do not do is look like anything: the style is TikTok’s, the position is TikTok’s, and a viewer can turn them off. They also do not travel — repost the clip to Reels or Shorts and the caption track does not come with it.
Burning captions in before upload inverts all of that. The text is part of the picture, so it appears on the first frame, cannot be switched off, matches your channel, and survives every repost and download. The cost is that it is permanent, which is why it is worth checking the position and the spelling before you export rather than after.
Where TikTok’s UI covers your captions
TikTok stacks the username, the caption text and the sound title along the bottom-left of the frame, and runs the profile, like, comment, share and spinning-record controls up the right-hand edge. Anything placed at the traditional subtitle position — bottom centre, full width — sits under that furniture, and it is invisible in every desktop editor.
Keep captions inside the middle band of the frame and clear of the right-hand column. On a 1080×1920 clip, roughly 20%–65% of the height is reliably clear. LumaCaption previews at the real 9:16 ratio and lets you drag the caption block, so you can place it against where the UI actually lands.
The things that actually cost you retention
Captions help retention because most of the feed is watched muted, but badly built captions cost more than none. Three specific failures do most of the damage.
- Captions that lag the voice
- Line-level timing split evenly across words drifts the moment you pause. Word-level timestamps from the audio are what keep the text on the beat.
- Too many words on screen
- A full sentence invites the viewer to read it, judge it and swipe. Short chunks keep the caption unfinished, which is what keeps them there.
- Type that is too small
- What reads comfortably on the laptop you edited on is often too small at arm’s length on a phone. Check muted, on a phone, before exporting.
Burned-in vs TikTok’s own captions
| Burned in before upload | TikTok auto-captions | |
|---|---|---|
| Visible on frame one | Yes | Not always |
| Viewer can switch off | No | Yes |
| Styling | 242 styles, word-level timing | TikTok default |
| Survives repost to Reels or Shorts | Yes | No |
| You control position | Yes | Limited |
How it works
Upload your clip
Straight from your camera roll or desktop. Vertical, square or landscape — everything works.
Choose your energy
Bold Hormozi-style pops, glowing gradients, clean minimal lines — 240+ styles, all unlocked from the first video.
Export and upload to TikTok
Burned-in captions travel with the video, so they look identical when you cross-post to Reels and Shorts.
Common questions
How is this different from TikTok’s built-in captions?
TikTok’s auto-captions are functional but generic — limited styling, no word-level emphasis, and they don’t follow the video when you repost it elsewhere. LumaCaption burns styled, word-timed captions into the video itself, so one export works everywhere.
Do I need to download an app?
No. LumaCaption works right on the web — phone or laptop. Sign in with Google and you’re captioning.
How long can my TikTok be?
Up to 2 minutes per video on the free plan, 30 minutes on Creator and 90 minutes on Pro — longer than anything TikTok will let you upload.
Does my video get uploaded to your servers?
No. Your video file stays on your device from start to export. Only the extracted audio is sent, so we can work out the words; everything else our servers see is your account and billing details.
