SRT vs VTT: Which Subtitle Format Should You Use for Web Video?

Introduction

If you've ever worked with web video, you've likely encountered two acronyms: SRT and VTT.

While they look similar, they serve different purposes. Choosing the wrong one can lead to broken captions on your website. Let's compare SRT vs VTT to help you decide which format you need.

SRT (SubRip Subtitle)

SRT is the "classic" subtitle format. It's incredibly simple, consisting only of a sequence number, timecode, and text.

TEXTCopy
1
00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,000
Hello, world!

Best for:

• Offline video players (VLC, MPC-HC).
• YouTube uploads (YouTube converts it internally).
• Facebook/Twitter video uploads.
• Video editing software exchange.

VTT (WebVTT - Web Video Text Tracks)

VTT is the modern standard for HTML5 web video. It is more powerful than SRT.

TEXTCopy
1WEBVTT
2
300:00:01.000 --> 00:00:04.000 align:start position:0%
4Hello, <c.blue>world</c>!

Key Differences:

• Header: VTT requires a WEBVTT header line.
• Timecode separator: VTT uses dots (.) for milliseconds, SRT uses commas (,).
• Styling: VTT supports CSS styling, positioning, and alignment tags.
• Metadata: VTT can support comments and metadata regions.

Best for:

• HTML5 Video players (<track> element).
• Custom web video players (Video.js, Plyr).
• Accessibility on the web.

Which One Do I Need?

• Building a website? Use VTT. It's the native format for browsers.
• Uploading to YouTube? Use SRT (or VTT, both work).
• Sending to an editor? Use SRT.

Need to convert? If you have an SRT file but need VTT for your website, you don't need to rewrite it manually.

Use our Free SRT to VTT Converter to switch formats instantly. It handles the syntax differences (commas vs dots, headers) automatically.