2026 comparison

The Captions Alternative That Never Uploads Your Video

Written by Chloé, Senior Video Editor · Updated 2026-08-06

Captions is the most complete AI short-form app in the category. Subtitles, eye-contact correction, avatars, all in one place, all on its servers and behind a subscription. Montaj is a Captions alternative with a smaller surface and a different bargain: transcription, word-by-word subtitles, silence removal and audio cleanup run on your device, so your video never leaves your device. Free, no watermark.

Download Montaj free

Choose Captions if…

You want the widest AI feature set in one app , eye-contact correction, avatars, the full end-to-end pipeline , and a subscription is an acceptable cost.

Choose Montaj if…

You want the core chores handled automatically without your footage being uploaded, and without paying for it.

Montaj vs Captions at a glance

Feature	Montaj	Captions
Where your video goes	Nowhere. It stays on your device	Uploaded to Captions, where its AI runs
Eye-contact correction	Not offered	A signature feature
AI avatars	Not offered	Built into the editor
Word-by-word subtitles	On-device transcription, editable inline with word-level timing	Animated captions across the clip
Removing dead air	One tap across the clip, reversible and non-destructive	Part of the AI editing pipeline
Works offline	Fully offline after the one-time model download	Cloud AI, it needs a connection
Cost of entry	Free today, no watermark, no export limit	Free trial, then a subscription for the full AI
Platforms	Mobile and desktop (more platforms on the way)	iOS, web and Android

The honest summary: Captions wins on completeness: it does more, and it does some things Montaj has no equivalent for. Montaj wins on the terms of the deal. The work happens on your device, offline, free and with no watermark.

Privacy

The Captions alternative that keeps your footage on your device

Captions is a cloud app, and that is not a design flaw. Eye-contact correction and avatar generation are not things a phone does casually. But it means every clip you touch reaches its servers before you see the result, including the ones you filmed with someone who did not sign anything.

Montaj takes the narrower path deliberately. WhisperKit transcribes on your device, the karaoke subtitles are built there, the silence detection runs there and the neural denoiser runs there. Your video never leaves your device. After the one-time model download, nothing about the app needs a connection.

Winner: Montaj, nothing is uploaded

Overlap

Captions vs Montaj on the work you actually repeat

Strip out the headline features and the daily overlap is large. Both caption. Both tighten. Both clean the voice. That is the honest reading, and it is why this page is about terms rather than capability:

Word-by-word karaoke subtitles with word-level timing, editable inline when a name is misheard.
One tap removes every silence, reversibly, with 100-step undo behind it.
An on-device neural denoiser tuned for voice, with no processing queue.
A real timeline for trims, reordering, B-roll layers with split-screen and animated text.

Winner: Even on the core chores; Montaj on where and what they cost

Honest limits

Where Captions wins

Eye-contact correction genuinely works and Montaj has nothing like it. Neither does it have avatars, and it is not going to grow them by accident. Captions has also been at this longer, on more platforms, with a pipeline that goes from raw clip to finished post without you thinking about it.

Montaj is vertical 9:16 only, exports at 1080x1920, is single-user, and does not yet save projects, closing one loses it.

Winner: Captions, reach and maturity

The verdict

Of everything in this directory, Captions is the app whose feature list most resembles what I am trying to build, and it is further along. Eye-contact correction and in-editor avatars are not things I can wave away. The question is what you are willing to hand over for them: a subscription, and every clip going to a server. If neither bothers you, Captions is the more complete product today and I would not pretend otherwise.

— Chloé, Senior Video Editor

Frequently asked questions

What is the best Captions alternative?

If the thing you want changed is the upload and the subscription, Montaj is the strongest Captions alternative: on-device transcription, word-by-word subtitles, one-tap silence removal and audio cleanup, free and with no watermark. If you want eye-contact correction or avatars, Captions has no substitute here.

Does Captions upload my videos?

Yes. It is a cloud app, so your footage is processed on its servers. Montaj runs its AI on your device, so nothing is uploaded.

Is there a free app that captions video automatically?

Montaj is free today with no watermark and no export limit, and it transcribes and captions on your device.

Can Montaj fix eye contact or generate an avatar?

No. Montaj edits footage you filmed; it has no eye-contact correction and no avatars. Those are reasons to choose Captions.

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Get the same chores done without the upload

Try Montaj free. A Captions alternative that runs on your device