YouTube Live Captions Tool
Choose where captions appear: native YouTube CC for a viewer-controlled track in one chosen language, or a browser-source overlay for subtitles visible in the video. Compare the outputs →
Add live caption overlays in 65 languages to your OBS-produced YouTube Live broadcast. Accuracy and timing depend on your audio, languages, vocabulary, speaking pace, and connection. Test a representative recording before broadcasting.
YouTube's built-in captions are good but slow
YouTube has automatic captions for live streams via Google's speech-to-text. They're mostly accurate but slow — viewers report 5-15 second latency. For real-time interaction (chat, gameplay reactions), that's too slow.
Caption timing varies with audio quality, spoken language, translation language, and connection conditions. Test a short recording before broadcasting. Check that viewers can connect the caption with the corresponding speech or action on screen.
How to add captions to YouTube Live
- Sign up at /control
- Pick same-language captions (English → English) or translated
- Copy the browser source URL
- In OBS: Browser Source → paste URL → set 1920x1080
- Choose and check the audio input in Control, start the caption session intentionally, and test the overlay. Keep Control open for browser microphone capture; start the video broadcast separately
This adds captions OVER YouTube's built-in captions. YouTube viewers will see both unless you disable YouTube's auto-captions in YouTube Studio.
YouTube Live caption customization
- Font size 20-80px — large enough for TVs and tablets
- Color and outline — readable on any background
- Position — anywhere on the OBS canvas
- Multilingual support — caption in viewers' language for international YouTube audiences
- Persistent in clips and VODs — captions are part of the video, baked into recordings
Why use this over YouTube's auto-captions
- Caption timing: depends on audio, languages, and connection; measure it on your own broadcast
- Accuracy: test your audio, accents, vocabulary, and speaking pace
- Customization: font, position, color, outline — YouTube's are fixed
- Translation: we support 65 languages; YouTube's translation is per-viewer toggle
- Cross-platform: captions work on YouTube Live, AND simultaneously on Twitch, Kick, Facebook
Frequently asked
Possibly — viewers might see both. Disable YouTube's auto-captions in YouTube Studio (Live → Stream → Captions) to use only ours.
No — they're rendered onto the video stream itself. They appear as part of the video, visible to all viewers without enabling caption tracks.
YouTube Premiere uses pre-recorded video, so live captions don't apply. For Premiere, use YouTube's auto-captions on the source video.
Yes. Captions are part of the video, so they appear on every YouTube viewer device — desktop, mobile, smart TV, embed.
We support 65 source and target languages. Your YouTube channel language is independent — captions can be in any supported language.