Convert MP3 to SRT subtitles

Upload an MP3, or paste a link to the audio, and download its speech as an SRT subtitle file: every caption timed to the audio, speaker names in or out, each caption as long as you set it. The same transcript downloads as VTT, TXT or Word too.

Make an SRT file

Free: 30 min a month, no card. Your file stays in this browser until you sign up. Compare plans

  • About an hour of audio in about two minutes
  • SRT and VTT on every plan, Free included

See a real SRT file

A video editor at his desk works through a recording on two monitors, ready to turn its speech into a subtitle file.

A real SRT file, cut from real audio

NASA's Apollo 11 landing as PrismaScribe transcribed it, exported the way the download writes it: numbered captions, start and end times to the millisecond, each speaker's name on their first caption. The VTT and the Word document come from the same transcript.

Apollo 11 landing.srt

  1. 100:00:00,500 to 00:00:05,980Neil Armstrong: Houston, uh, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.
  2. 200:00:06,640 to 00:00:08,478CAPCOM, Charlie Duke: Roger, Twang...
  3. 300:00:08,478 to 00:00:12,494Tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue.
  4. 400:00:12,494 to 00:00:14,720We're breathing again. Thanks a lot. [beeping]

Apollo 11 landing.vtt

WEBVTT

  1. 100:00:00.500 to 00:00:05.980Neil Armstrong: Houston, uh, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.
  2. 200:00:06.640 to 00:00:11.301CAPCOM, Charlie Duke: Roger, Twang... Tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys
  3. 300:00:11.301 to 00:00:14.720CAPCOM, Charlie Duke: about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot. [beeping]

Apollo 11 landing

Neil Armstrong

[0:00] Houston, uh, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.

CAPCOM, Charlie Duke

[0:06] Roger, Twang... Tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot. [beeping]

Real output · Apollo 11, NASA public-domain audio, 15 seconds. Speakers renamed from Speaker 1 and Speaker 2. Subtitles at the default 84 characters and 7 seconds per caption.

Set how long each caption is

Before you download, choose how many characters a caption holds, how long it may last and whether speaker names show. Here is the same Apollo transcript, exported twice.

  • One line per caption. Characters per caption goes from 40 to 200, 84 unless you change it.
  • Seconds start a cut; they don't cap it. Seconds per caption goes from 3 to 15, 7 by default. A paragraph longer than that is cut by its characters, while a short one that runs long stays one caption.
  • Names in an SRT come in square brackets, [Neil Armstrong], on the first caption of each speaker's paragraph. In a VTT every caption carries a voice tag, <v Neil Armstrong>.
  • On the web. The settings are in the web app's export window. The iPhone app writes subtitles at 84 characters and 7 seconds.

The default

Characters per caption
84
Seconds per caption
7
Speaker names
On

Apollo 11 landing.srt

  1. 100:00:00,500 to 00:00:05,980Neil Armstrong: Houston, uh, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.
  2. 200:00:06,640 to 00:00:08,478CAPCOM, Charlie Duke: Roger, Twang...
  3. 300:00:08,478 to 00:00:12,494Tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue.
  4. 400:00:12,494 to 00:00:14,720We're breathing again. Thanks a lot. [beeping]

Shorter, without names

Characters per caption
42
Seconds per caption
7
Speaker names
Off

Apollo 11 landing.srt

  1. 100:00:00,500 to 00:00:03,925Houston, uh, Tranquility Base here.
  2. 200:00:03,925 to 00:00:05,980The Eagle has landed.
  3. 300:00:06,640 to 00:00:08,916Roger, Twang... Tranquility. We copy you
  4. 400:00:08,916 to 00:00:11,078on the ground. You got a bunch of guys
  5. 500:00:11,078 to 00:00:12,159about to turn blue.
  6. 600:00:12,159 to 00:00:13,411We're breathing again.
  7. 700:00:13,411 to 00:00:14,720Thanks a lot. [beeping]
Real output: the Apollo 11 transcript above as SRT, at the settings over each file.

Where the SRT goes next

PrismaScribe makes the file. You add it where the video plays.

  • YouTube and Vimeo. Upload the SRT or VTT as the video's subtitle or caption file. Both sites take both formats.
  • Video editors. Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve and Final Cut Pro import an SRT as a caption track you can restyle there.
  • Players. VLC and many desktop players show an SRT saved next to the video under the same name.
  • Web pages and courses. VTT is the web's own subtitle format, for a video on your site or a course platform that takes caption files.
  • Start the audio and the video together. Caption times count from the start of the MP3. If the video starts earlier or later, trim one to match.
  • Text as well as captions. The same transcript downloads as TXT, Word, PDF or Markdown for show notes, articles and quotes.

How to convert MP3 to SRT

Three steps once you're signed in.

  1. 1 Upload the MP3

    Drop in the MP3, several at once if you like, or paste a link to the audio. Pick its language or leave it on detect, and say how many people speak if you know.

  2. 2 Check the transcript

    Click any word to hear it and fix what needs fixing. Rename Speaker 1 and Speaker 2 once and every caption follows.

  3. 3 Download the SRT

    Choose SRT or VTT, set the characters and seconds per caption and whether names show, and download. Your edits are in the file.

Make your SRT free

30 min of free transcription a month, no card.

Subtitles in another language

Translate

Translate the transcript into any of 99+ languages, then download the translation as SRT or VTT, one caption per line, each line timed as in the original.

  • Download the translation as TXT, SRT or VTT.
  • No speaker names or caption settings in a translated file: each line keeps its own start and end.

Translate audio 

In a sunny Madrid flat with the balcony door open, two friends on a sofa watch a recorded talk on a laptop, each able to follow it in their own language.
Example

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Export

  • TXT
  • SRT, selected
  • VTT

Apollo 11 landing_es.srt

  1. 100:00:00,500 to 00:00:05,980Houston, eh, aquí Base Tranquilidad. El Águila ha aterrizado.
  2. 200:00:06,640 to 00:00:14,720Recibido, Tranq... Tranquilidad. Los copiamos en tierra. Tenían a un montón de tipos a punto de ponerse azules. Volvemos a respirar. Muchas gracias. [pitidos]

MP3 in, SRT out

What the two files are, and what that means for your limits.

MP3, the file you upload

MP3 is compressed audio, the most common format for podcast episodes and downloaded recordings. It's small for its length, so on PrismaScribe an MP3 reaches a plan's length limit long before its size limit.

Size a minute
About 1 MB at 128 kbps, 2.4 MB at 320 kbps
A 15 min MP3
At most about 36 MB, well under Free's 500 MB
Longest file
15 min on Free, 5 hr on Starter and Premium, 8 hr 20 min on Pro
Other audio
M4A, WAV, AAC, FLAC, OGG, OPUS and WMA become subtitles the same way

Size is bitrate times length: 128,000 bits a second is 960,000 bytes a minute.

SRT, the file you download

SRT (SubRip) is plain text: each caption is a number, a start and an end time, and its line, then a blank line. VTT (WebVTT) is the web's version, with a WEBVTT line first, dots in the times and voice tags for names.

Times
To the millisecond, 00:00:06,640 in SRT
Captions
One line each, 40 to 200 characters
Languages
Any of 99+, each in its own script
Opens in
YouTube, Vimeo, video editors and players

YouTube's and Vimeo's help pages list SRT and WebVTT among the caption files they accept.

What it doesn't do

So you know before you start.

  • No captions burned into the video. PrismaScribe makes the subtitle file. YouTube, your editor or your player shows it on the picture.
  • No subtitle files in. It doesn't open an SRT or VTT you already have, or turn one into text. It writes a new file from the audio.
  • No caption styling. Fonts, colours and positions are set where the video plays.
  • SRT and VTT only. No SBV, SCC, TTML or ASS files.
  • No two-line captions. Each caption is one line of up to 200 characters.
  • PDF in Latin, Greek and Cyrillic letters only. For other scripts, download TXT, Word, SRT or VTT.

Good to know

Compare plans

  • Custom vocabulary and background noise removal need a paid plan. Custom vocabulary counts as 1.25× the minutes and noise removal as 2×.
  • Free has 30 min a month, up to 15 min a day, one file at a time.
  • On Free, a web upload longer than 15 min is transcribed up to its first 15 min, and a link has to be trimmed to 15 min with its start and end times.
  • Top-up hours lift Free's daily and per-file time limits. The 500 MB file size stays.

Plans

Monthly and yearly prices for every plan. The full comparison is on the pricing page.

  • Free on the pricing page

    30 min a month, files up to 15 min

    Monthly
    $0
    Yearly
    $0

  • Starter on the pricing page

    5 hr a month, files up to 5 hr

    Monthly
    $7 a month
    Yearly
    $52 a year, Save 38%$4.33 a month, billed once a year

  • Premium on the pricing page

    20 hr a month, files up to 5 hr

    Monthly
    $20 a month
    Yearly
    $150 a year, Save 38%$12.50 a month, billed once a year

  • Pro on the pricing page

    40 hr a month, files up to 8 hr 20 min

    Monthly
    $40 a month
    Yearly
    $300 a year, Save 38%$25 a month, billed once a year

Compare every plan 

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  • Never used to train AI models.
  • Kept until you delete them.

MP3 to SRT FAQ

More questions? Write to hello@prismascribe.ai.

How do I convert an MP3 to SRT?

Sign up free and upload the MP3, or paste a link to the audio. Pick the language or leave it on detect, and start. When the transcript is ready, check it, choose SRT in the export window, set the characters and seconds per caption, and download. You can close the tab while it works; the transcript waits in your dashboard and an email tells you it's done.

Is the MP3 to SRT converter free?

Yes, on the Free plan, with no card: 30 min of transcription a month, up to 15 min a day, for files up to 15 min and 500 MB, one at a time. SRT, VTT and every other download come with Free, caption settings included, and nothing is held back until you pay. For longer files, compare the plans or buy top-up hours that never expire.

How long can the MP3 be?

Up to 15 min and 500 MB on Free, 5 hr and 2 GB on Starter and Premium, and 8 hr 20 min and 5 GB on Pro. An MP3 is small for its length, so the length limit is the one you'll meet. On Free, a longer web upload is transcribed up to its first 15 min.

Can I choose how long each caption is?

Yes, on the web. In the export window, set the characters per caption, 40 to 200 (84 by default), and the seconds per caption, 3 to 15 (7 by default). Each caption is one line. A paragraph that lasts longer than the seconds is cut into shorter captions by its characters; a short paragraph that runs long stays one caption. The iPhone app uses the defaults.

Can I get speaker names in the subtitles?

Yes. Up to 32 speakers are told apart, on every plan. With speaker names on, an SRT puts the name in square brackets on the first caption of each speaker's paragraph, and a VTT marks every caption with a voice tag. Rename Speaker 1 and Speaker 2 once and the file uses the names, or switch names off for plain captions. How speaker identification works.

SRT or VTT: which should I download?

SRT for most uses: YouTube, Vimeo, video editors and players all take it. VTT for a video on a web page, where it's the browser's own subtitle format, or when you want a name on every caption. Both come from the same transcript, so you can download each.

Will the SRT work on YouTube or in my video editor?

Yes. YouTube and Vimeo take SRT and VTT as subtitle files, and Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve and Final Cut Pro import an SRT as captions. The times count from the start of the MP3, so the captions line up when the video starts where the audio does.

Can I edit the subtitles before I download them?

Yes. Edit the transcript: click a word to hear it, fix it, and rename the speakers. The SRT you download has your edits in it. PrismaScribe doesn't open an SRT made elsewhere; it writes a new one from the audio.

Can I get subtitles in another language?

Yes. Translate the transcript into any of 99+ languages, then download the translation as SRT, VTT or TXT. A translated file has one caption per line with that line's own times, without speaker names or caption settings. Free includes 20,000 characters of translation a month. Translate audio.

Does it put the subtitles on my video?

No. PrismaScribe makes the SRT or VTT file; it doesn't burn captions into a video or style them. Add the file to the video on YouTube or Vimeo, in your editor, or next to it in your player.

Other files, other formats

The same MP3 as another file, and every format PrismaScribe takes.

Other files from an MP3

SRT from other files

Every format

Turn your next MP3 into subtitles.

Make your SRT free

30 min of free transcription a month, no card.

One recording in.
Everything you need out.