Watching a movie, TV show or a video without understanding the dialogue can be frustrating.
Fortunately, there are plenty of subtitle download sites and tools that help you get the captions you need.
In this guide, you'll discover the best websites to download subtitles for films and TV series, plus tools to extract subtitles from videos (like YouTube) and even automatically generate your own.
When you want a one-stop shop for subtitles, the following sites are your best bet. These overall subtitle websites offer huge libraries that cover both movies and TV shows in many languages, with active user communities ensuring quality.
OpenSubtitles (opensubtitles.org) is one of the largest subtitle databases in the world. You can find subtitles in over 40 languages here, for everything from the latest Hollywood blockbusters to obscure foreign films.
The site has an active community of users who upload and rate subtitles, so you can often choose from multiple versions and see feedback on quality. Searching is easy, and you’ll usually find what you need by movie/series name or even IMDB ID. The interface is a bit old-school, but it's functional. Basic use is free; registering an account unlocks extra features like requests and an ad-free experience.
Podnapisi (podnapisi.net) is a long-running subtitle site particularly popular in Europe. It provides subtitles in various languages and has a neat system of user ratings and statistics for each subtitle file.
This means you can see details like how many lines a subtitle file has, and user feedback, which helps in choosing a good one. Podnapisi’s search is versatile – you can filter by movie/year, language, episode, etc., which makes finding the exact subtitle very efficient. The site’s interface is modern and ad-free, giving you a clean experience. It supports both movies and TV series (and even some anime). No registration is needed for downloading.
If you're primarily looking for movie subtitles (be it Hollywood films, classics, or international cinema), the sites below specialize in movie caption files.
YIFY Subtitles (yifysubtitles.live) is a popular destination for movie subtitles, especially if you download YIFY/YTS releases. YIFY is a group known for high-quality movie rips, and this site provides subtitles timed to those releases in multiple languages.
The interface is attractive and very easy to navigate – you can search by movie name and get a list of available subtitles for different languages. Each movie page usually shows a synopsis and other details along with the subtitle download options. If you have a YIFY version of a movie, using a YIFY subtitle file virtually guarantees perfect sync. Even if you don't, these subs might still work or can be adjusted. All subtitles are free to download without registration.
SubDL (subdl.com) is a newer subtitle site that has quickly gained a following among movie enthusiasts. It boasts support for 60+ languages and has a modern, gorgeous interface that's a pleasure to use. On SubDL, you can search for a movie and then filter subtitles by language and even by release format (e.g., BluRay, WEB-DL, etc.). This is handy if you're trying to find a subtitle that syncs with a specific version of a film.
All subtitles are neatly listed with details like the uploader and file format. The site focuses solely on movie subtitles, which means it might not have TV episodes. However, for films, especially popular and recent ones, SubDL often has many options available.
Binge-watching a series but missing subtitles for some episodes? The sites below specialize in TV show subtitles, offering episodes organized by season, and often have a community of fans dedicated to timely updates.
Addic7ed (addic7ed.com) is a hugely popular community-driven site for TV subtitles. If you're into TV series (including anime and some web series), Addic7ed likely has what you need. Subtitles are organized by show and season, making it easy to find the exact episode.
The community aspect is strong: volunteers race to post subtitles for new episodes, and there's a forum for collaboration. Uniquely, Addic7ed also aggregates some subtitles from OpenSubtitles and Subscene to provide files in 18 different languages for many shows. This means you might find not just English, but Spanish, French, Italian, etc., subtitles for popular series.
The website design is plain and a bit dated (mostly text links), but it's functional and ad-free. You can download .srt files directly without needing to unzip, which is convenient. Registration is optional unless you want to participate in forums or edit subtitles.
Animetosho is one of the most complete database of anime subtitles. h
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Subs4Free (subs4free.info) is a site dedicated to English and Greek subtitles, and it has a section for TV series as well as movies. It's particularly beloved by those looking for Greek subtitles or English subtitles for less mainstream content. The site is organized into Movies and Series, and for each title it often lists multiple subtitle files contributed by different users, along with details like upload time and ratings.
One cool feature: for many shows or films, Subs4Free displays a brief intro/summary, genre, cast, and release date, giving context to the content. If you're specifically after TV series subtitles, Subs4Free’s sister site Subs4Series.com focuses on series only, though the main Subs4Free site also links to series. The interface is a bit text-heavy but straightforward. No login is required for downloads.
Many of the overall sites already support dozens of languages, but the ones below are especially useful for multilingual needs.
SRTFiles.com is a valuable platform for multi-language subtitle hunters. This site claims to have millions of movie and TV subtitles and lets you search and filter by a wide range of languages – literally from Akan to Zulu alphabetically. The interface allows you to select your preferred language and see all subtitles available in that language. One standout feature of SRTFiles is that if a subtitle you need isn’t available, you can request it on the site.
This community-driven approach means rare subtitles might get added if enough people ask. The homepage even highlights top subtitles and allows filtering by year, which can help if you’re looking for the most popular subs of a given time. SRTFiles supports multiple formats (often you can choose between SRT or others when downloading). It’s free to use and doesn’t require an account.
We mentioned Podnapisi earlier in the overall section, but it's worth reiterating for foreign subtitles. Podnapisi offers an extensive selection of subtitles in languages like Slovenian, Serbian, Croatian, Spanish, Arabic, etc., not just English. It’s particularly strong for European languages and has a reputation for quality control via user ratings. If you’re looking for a subtitle in a less commonly found language, Podnapisi is a must-try (for example, subtitles for an American movie in Icelandic, or an Asian movie in Romanian).
The advanced search by language on Podnapisi makes it easy to zero in on foreign-language subs. Since it has no ads and a clean interface, it’s friendly for international users as well. The only downside is some very obscure languages might not have as much available, but the selection is still one of the broadest.
Sometimes the subtitles you need aren’t on a download site but embedded in a video online (like a YouTube clip, a Netflix show, etc.). In such cases, subtitle extraction tools come to the rescue. These tools help you download subtitles from streaming platforms or video files. Below are some of the best options, including both web-based tools and software.
Checksub downloader offers a free online subtitle downloader that is especially handy for YouTube videos. With Checksub’s tool, you can paste a YouTube video link and download the subtitles in SRT or TXT format for free. This is great if a YouTube video has auto-generated captions or the creator added subtitles, and you want a copy for offline use or editing.
What sets Checksub apart is that it not only downloads the subs, but also allows you to edit them online immediately after downloading. For example, you could correct mistakes or timing, then export the cleaned subtitle file. The interface is straightforward: enter URL, select language (if multiple available), and download. Checksub supports multiple languages on YouTube (whatever captions exist on the video). It’s a web tool, so no installation needed.
Aside from YouTube, Checksub’s platform can handle other video sources too, but YouTube is the primary focus of the free downloader tool.
DownSub (downsub.com) is a highly recommended web application for downloading subtitles from a variety of streaming sites. It supports YouTube, of course, but also works with Vimeo, Viki, VIU, Facebook, Dailymotion, Disney+ and many more sources.
It's simple: you go to downsub.com, paste the video URL, and it will fetch available subtitles. If a video has subtitles in multiple languages, DownSub will list them and you can choose which to download. It often offers the subtitle in SRT or VTT format. The service is free and no sign-up is required. Because it’s browser-based, it works on any device (PC, phone, etc.).
Users like DownSub for its speed and broad compatibility. One thing to keep in mind is that DownSub’s site is supported by ads, so you'll see some on the page, but it's a small inconvenience for the functionality.
SaveSubs (savesubs.com) is another online subtitle downloader similar to DownSub. It supports a number of sites and lets you save subtitles in different formats, notably SRT or TXT. The process is the same: provide a video URL and SaveSubs will extract available subtitles.
One advantage of SaveSubs is its clean interface and the ability to select your preferred language from a list if the video has multiple caption tracks. It’s especially known as a YouTube subtitle extractor but also works with sites like Dailymotion, Kocowa, Facebook and a handful of others.
Some users use both DownSub and SaveSubs as backups for each other – if one doesn’t retrieve what you need, the other might. Based on one comparison, DownSub supports more sites (30+ sites) whereas SaveSubs works with around 10+ major sites. So SaveSubs covers the big ones, but fewer niche platforms than DownSub.
Checksub is an AI-powered platform designed to take the heavy lifting out of creating subtitles.
With Checksub, you simply upload your video and let the AI transcribe and time-code the subtitles for you. It supports over 200 languages for transcription and even translation, which is one of the broadest language supports in the industry.
In other words, you could auto-generate captions in the video's original language and then translate them to dozens of other languages all within Checksub :
Want to speed up your subtitle workflow with an AI subtitle generator & editor ? Try Checksub for free here.
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