What does "burned-in subtitles" mean?
Burned-in subtitles are text that has been baked directly into the video frames during editing. They're part of the image itself, not a separate caption track. You can see them, but you can't select, copy, or translate them through normal browser tools. SubClipper reads the pixels on screen using OCR (optical character recognition) to extract that text.
How is this different from YouTube's auto-captions?
YouTube's caption track requires the uploader to have provided captions, or for auto-captions to be enabled and accurate. Most foreign-language content, user-uploaded clips, and videos with burned-in subtitles don't have a working caption track. SubClipper bypasses this entirely by reading what's actually on screen, regardless of what captions the platform provides.
Does it work on Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max?
No. Major streaming services use DRM (digital rights management) that prevents any browser extension from reading video content. SubClipper works on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, which don't apply DRM to their public content.
Which languages does it support?
It reads Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, Korean, English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Turkish, Russian, and Ukrainian. It translates into English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi, Vietnamese, and Thai.
Is my video data sent anywhere?
Cropped subtitle frames (the small region of pixels containing the subtitle) are sent to our OCR backend for text recognition. Frames are processed in memory and discarded, never stored. Translation happens entirely in your browser, so the text being translated never leaves your device. See our
Privacy Policy for full details.
Do I need to download anything?
Yes. The translation model (~350 MB) downloads automatically on first use of the translation feature and is cached in your browser. Subsequent translations are instant. The download only happens once per browser.
How do hour packs work?
Packs are one-time purchases made inside the extension through Stripe, so there's no subscription to cancel. Your hours never expire and are only used once your free monthly time runs out. Hours are saved to your browser; if you reinstall or switch computers, email
chris@daemonsolutions.tech with your receipt and the support ID shown in the extension, and we'll move them over.
Does SubClipper work on Firefox / Edge / Safari?
Currently Chrome only. A Firefox version is on the roadmap depending on demand.