SRT vs VTT: what's the difference?

SRT at a glance

SRT (SubRip Text) is the older and simpler format. Each cue has a sequence number, a timing line and one or more lines of text, followed by a blank line:

A cue looks like this: the number 1 on its own line, then 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,200, then the text Welcome back to the show.

Timestamps always include hours and use a comma before the milliseconds. There is no header and no official styling beyond basic tags like <i> that many players honor.

WebVTT at a glance

WebVTT (Web Video Text Tracks) is the format used by the HTML5 <track> element in browsers. A file must begin with a WEBVTT header line, and timestamps use a dot before the milliseconds:

The same caption in WebVTT: the file opens with WEBVTT and a blank line, then the cue is 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:04.200 followed by Welcome back to the show.

Cue numbers are optional (any identifier is allowed), and hours can be omitted for short videos. WebVTT also supports cue settings for position and alignment, CSS styling, voice tags for speakers, and NOTE comments.

Which one to use

Both formats are plain UTF-8 text, so you can open and fix them in any text editor. That also makes them easy to generate from a transcript: each caption is just a short run of words plus the time the first word starts and the last word ends. Keeping captions to about two lines and a few seconds each makes them easier to read in either format.

• Web players and HTML5 video: WebVTT, since browsers expect it.
• Video editors, desktop players and most upload forms: SRT is the safest choice and is very widely accepted. Many platforms take either.
• Styled or positioned captions: WebVTT, since SRT has no standard for placement.
• Maximum compatibility: SRT. When in doubt, keep an SRT and generate the VTT from it.

Common pitfalls when converting

• Forgetting the WEBVTT header, which makes browsers ignore the file.
• Changing only some commas to dots, or changing commas in the caption text by accident.
• Saving in a non-UTF-8 encoding, which garbles accented characters.
• Dropping the blank line between cues, which merges captions.
• Leaving VTT styling or positioning in a file renamed to .srt, where it shows up as literal text.

In MediaFind

MediaFind can save any transcript as SRT or VTT, as well as Word, PDF or plain text, generated on your computer with nothing uploaded. Captions are timed from the transcript, so they line up with the audio. If you already have a subtitle file and just need to switch formats, the free subtitle converter does it in your browser. For a full walkthrough, see how to make SRT subtitles locally.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just rename an .srt file to .vtt?

Not quite. You also need to add a WEBVTT header line at the top and change the comma before the milliseconds to a dot in every timestamp.

Which subtitle format does YouTube accept?

YouTube accepts both SRT and WebVTT, along with several other caption formats.

Do SRT files support speaker names or colors?

There is no standard for it. Speaker names are usually typed into the caption text, and color tags work only in some players. WebVTT has voice tags and styling built in.