FAQ
Questions,
answered.
Everything people ask about OpaCaptions: the app, privacy, pricing, technical details and launch. Can't find yours? Ask us.
The app
What is OpaCaptions?
OpaCaptions is a Windows app that adds animated, word-by-word captions to videos and podcasts. It transcribes speech with OpenAI's Whisper AI and burns styled captions into an MP4, plus SRT, VTT and TXT files, entirely on your own PC. Nothing is uploaded, and it's a one-time purchase, not a subscription.
How do I add captions to a video without uploading it?
Use a captioning app that runs on your own computer. With OpaCaptions you drop in your video, pick a caption style and language, and export. Speech recognition and rendering both happen locally, so your footage never leaves your PC.
Which caption styles are there?
Bold Pop and Neon highlight each word as it's spoken; Classic, Minimal and Cinema show a line at a time, and more styles are on the way. Free includes Bold Pop, Classic and Minimal; Pro unlocks every style and lets you customise fonts, colours, size and position. See them on real footage on the styles page (opacaptions.com/styles.html).
What can I export?
An MP4 with the captions burned in, SRT and VTT subtitle files for YouTube, Premiere, CapCut and other editors, and a TXT transcript.
Which files can I use?
Video or audio up to 2 GB: MP4, MOV, MKV, WEBM, MP3, WAV and M4A. Audio files get a clean background video so you can post them too.
Does it work with vertical videos?
Yes. Phone-shaped videos get bigger captions placed above the like, comment and share buttons, so nothing important is covered.
Can I edit the transcript?
Not inside the app yet: editable transcripts are on our roadmap. Today you can read and search the transcript beside the video, and SRT or VTT files can be tweaked in any subtitle editor.
Privacy
Is it really 100% private?
Yes. Speech recognition (OpenAI's open-source Whisper model) and video rendering run on your own computer, so your videos, audio and transcripts are never uploaded to us or to any AI service. The internet is only used to download the speech model once and to activate your licence.
Do you use my videos to train AI?
No, and we couldn't if we wanted to. Your videos never reach us. The AI model runs on your PC and doesn't send anything back.
What data do you collect?
Your email address, your licence key and an anonymous device ID for each PC you activate. Nothing about your videos, transcripts or file names is ever collected.
Does it work offline?
Yes. After the one-time model download and licence activation, captioning needs no internet. Switch on airplane mode and caption a video to see for yourself.
Does it help with GDPR, HIPAA or India's DPDP Act?
Because your footage is processed only on your own computer, no third party (including us) handles it. That removes a data processor from the picture and makes compliance simpler. Compliance depends on your whole workflow, though, so please confirm with your own legal or compliance team.
Pricing and licences
How much does OpaCaptions cost?
There's a free version with three caption styles (including Bold Pop), Fast accuracy, videos up to 3 minutes and a small watermark. Pro is a one-time $49 ($29 early-bird) for one PC, and Studio is a one-time $99 for teams, on up to five PCs.
Is it a subscription?
No. You pay once and keep the app forever. Updates for the first year are included; after that you can renew updates for $19 a year if you want new versions.
How many PCs can I use it on?
Pro activates on one PC and Studio on five. You can move a licence to a new PC whenever you like by deactivating the old one in your account or in the app.
Is there a refund?
Yes. Every purchase comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee. Email support@opacaptions.com and we'll refund you in full.
Do non-profits get it free?
Yes. Registered non-profits get a free licence once we've verified them. See how to apply on our contact page.
Technical
Do I need a powerful computer?
No. It runs on an ordinary Windows 10 or 11 laptop with 8 GB of RAM, no graphics card required. We built and tested it on an 8th-gen Intel Core i5 laptop. Faster PCs simply finish sooner.
Which languages are supported?
17: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Turkish and Polish, plus auto-detect. You can also translate any of them into English captions.
How accurate are the captions?
On clear speech it gets almost every word right. Use Balanced or Best for accents, background noise or technical vocabulary, and review the transcript before you publish.
Is there a Mac version?
Windows comes first. A Mac version is on the roadmap: sign up and tell us you're on Mac.
Account and launch
When does it launch?
We're in early access now. Create a free account to get the download link the day we launch and keep the early-bird price.
Do I need an account?
An account is where your download, licence keys and devices live. It holds only your email, licences and devices, never your videos.
How do I sign in?
Enter your email and we'll send a one-time sign-in link. You can also set a password in your account settings if you prefer.
Why "OpaCaptions"?
Opa! is the Greek cry of joy, and it's exactly how captioning should feel: drop in your video, pick a style, and watch every word come alive.