SRT and VTT both store text with start and end times. They are sidecar subtitle files: you supply the file alongside a video or audio recording. Neither format changes the pixels in your video. Choose the format accepted by the player, editor or publishing platform you plan to use.
The practical differences
| Detail | SRT | VTT |
|---|---|---|
| File extension | .srt | .vtt |
| Header | No WEBVTT header | Starts with WEBVTT |
| Milliseconds | Comma: 00:00:01,500 | Period: 00:00:01.500 |
| Cue labels | Usually numbered | Optional identifiers |
| Useful starting point | An editor or platform that asks for SRT | HTML video text tracks and players that ask for WebVTT |
WebVTT supports cue settings and other information beyond basic text and timing. See MDN’s WebVTT reference for how web text tracks work. Support for styling and positioning varies between players; check the destination rather than assuming every feature will survive.
The same subtitle in both formats
These are illustrative examples, not a transcription result. Both cues display the same words from 1.5 to 4 seconds.
SRT example
1
00:00:01,500 --> 00:00:04,000
Welcome to the recording.
WebVTT example
WEBVTT
00:00:01.500 --> 00:00:04.000
Welcome to the recording.
How to convert an existing subtitle file
- Open the subtitle converter and upload an SRT or VTT file, or paste its text.
- Choose the destination in Output format. For pasted text, choose Convert to parse the cues.
- Check the detected format, warnings and cue timings, then choose the download button for the selected format.
- Open the exported file with the actual video in your destination player and check the beginning, middle and end.
Simply renaming .srt to .vtt does not convert the file. The header and timestamp syntax still need to be correct. Keep your source file: this converter rebuilds subtitles from cue text and timing, so rich styling, positioning or format-specific metadata may be lost.
What conversion cannot fix
Changing the format does not correct misheard words, translate a language or synchronize captions against a different edit of the video. If every line is late, inspect the timing against the intended recording. If only later lines drift, check whether the media was trimmed or changed.
TXT and Word are useful reading formats but do not provide a timed subtitle track. Plain untimed text cannot become accurately timed SRT or VTT without timing information. If you only have a recording, start with the AI subtitle generator, then review the generated cues before exporting.