How to Get Automatic Subtitles on the Free Version of DaVinci Resolve
By Antonio Pennino · Updated July 2026 · 6 min read
Short answer: The free version of DaVinci Resolve has no built-in automatic subtitle tool. The Create Subtitles from Audio feature arrived in version 18.5 and is exclusive to the paid Studio edition. That does not leave you stuck, though. You have three realistic routes: transcribe somewhere else and import an SRT, use a free plugin, or use a paid plugin if you want animated word-by-word captions. Here is how each one works, and what each actually costs you.
Why the free version has no auto subtitles
Blackmagic keeps most of its machine learning features, the ones it markets as the Neural Engine, inside DaVinci Resolve Studio. Speech to text is one of them. The free version still gives you a subtitle track and the full Fusion page, so you can display and animate text however you like. What you do not get for free is the transcription step, turning spoken audio into timed text. Every method below is really just a different way of solving that one missing step.
Option 1, transcribe elsewhere and import an SRT (free)
Importing subtitle files works fine on the free version, so you can do the transcription outside Resolve and bring the result back in:
- Export your audio from Resolve, or use the video file directly.
- Transcribe it with a free tool. Whisper, OpenAI's open-source speech recognition model, is the usual choice, and apps like Subtitle Edit can run it with a normal interface.
- Export the result as an .srt file.
- In Resolve, import the SRT into the Media Pool, then drag it onto a subtitle track.
Cost: nothing but your time. Downside: you are jumping between applications, and you end up with plain static subtitles, one line at a time, with limited styling.
Option 2, use a free plugin
Some community tools bring transcription directly into Resolve. AutoSubs is free and open source, generates subtitles straight onto your timeline, supports many languages, and can even tell speakers apart. If what you need is a solid subtitle track without leaving the app, start here before spending anything.
Cost: free. Downside: these tools are focused on producing subtitles, not on driving your own animated Fusion templates word by word.
Option 3, animated word-by-word captions with a paid plugin
If you are chasing the caption style you see on Reels and TikTok, where each word pops onto the screen as it is spoken, the native subtitle track cannot do it at all. It shows one static line at a time. Those captions are made of Fusion Text+ nodes, and Text+ is available in the free version, so the ingredient you need is already there. The work is placing one node per word on exactly the right frame.
SmartSubs Pro automates that specific job. It transcribes locally with Whisper, then takes a Text+ template you designed and drops every word onto the timeline in your font and your animation. It runs on Studio (any version) and on free Resolve up to version 19.0, and it can also translate the captions into 90+ languages, and use Gemini to emphasize the words you actually stressed when speaking.
Cost: $39.99 once. Downside: it is only worth it if you specifically want animated, styled captions. For plain subtitles, options 1 and 2 are enough.
Which option fits you?
| What you need | External SRT | Free plugin | SmartSubs Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Works on free Resolve | ✓ | ✓ | Up to 19.0 |
| Price | Free | Free | $39.99 once |
| Stay inside Resolve | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Word-by-word on your own Text+ template | ✗ | Not the focus | ✓ |
| Emphasis from your actual voice | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
Be honest with yourself about which row actually matters to you. If it is only the first two, you should not be paying anything.
Want the animated version?
SmartSubs Pro brings AI transcription, translation and word-by-word animated captions to DaVinci Resolve. One-time payment, no subscription.
Get SmartSubs Pro for $39.9930-day money-back guarantee · Windows & macOS