Closed Caption Creator vs. EZTitles
The EZTitles alternative that doesn’t charge extra for closed captions
EZTitles editions differ by which file formats you are allowed to open. Closed captions start at the Standard edition. Closed Caption Creator runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux, and every plan exports captions.
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What is the best alternative to EZTitles?
Closed Caption Creator is the closest alternative to EZTitles for teams that need macOS or Linux support. EZTitles runs on Windows only, requires a USB dongle for lifetime licences, and unlocks closed captions from the Standard edition upward (€90 per month or €1,940 lifetime). Closed Caption Creator starts at $25 per month with caption export on every plan.
What do the EZTitles editions actually change?
EZTitles states plainly that its four editions “differ only by the file formats you can use.” The editing tools are the same in each — what you pay for is permission to open and deliver certain formats.
Source: EZTitles, Prices and License Editions (verified August 2026)
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One — €30/week
The Single Project Wizard. Time-boxed access with the full format range, aimed at one-off jobs rather than ongoing work.
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Essentials — €80/mo
Basic Open Subtitles only. No closed captions, no timed text, no authoring formats. Lifetime licence €1,720.
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Standard — €90/mo
Adds Advanced Open Subtitles, Closed Captions and Timed Text formats. This is the first edition that can deliver captions. Lifetime licence €1,940.
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Ultimate — €100/mo
Adds authoring systems and Blu-ray, QuickTime .mov with alpha, and DVB subtitle export. Lifetime licence €2,380.
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Support, year two onward
Lifetime editions include updates and support for 12 months. After that, annual support is €160, €180 or €200 per licence depending on edition.
Where does EZTitles fit, and where does it not?
EZTitles is a serious tool with genuine depth in areas Closed Caption Creator does not cover. It is also built around assumptions — Windows, dongles, per-workstation licences — that suit some teams and rule out others.
Cinema and disc formats
EZTitles exports Digital Cinema Package subtitles, Blu-ray and DVD authoring assets, DVB subtitles, and QuickTime .mov with a transparent alpha channel. It also covers teletext, which still matters across European broadcast.
If you deliver DCPs, this is the better tool.
Closed Caption Creator exports image-based subtitles but does not produce Digital Cinema Packages or Blu-ray authoring assets. That gap is real and worth weighing.
Editions and dongles
Closed captions require the Standard edition or higher. Lifetime licences ship with a USB hardware key, and EZTitles notes that only lifetime editions may be used on more than a single workstation.
The catch: format access is the paywall.
A freelancer on Essentials who picks up a captioning job has to upgrade an edition, not just enable a feature. Subscription seats are also tied to one workstation.
Closed Caption Creator
Native builds for macOS, Windows, and Linux, plus a browser version, on one subscription. Caption and subtitle export is included on every plan, with SCC, MCC, and STL on Pro alongside 608/708 embedding.
Published pricing: $25–$60 per month.
No dongle, no per-workstation licence, and 24/7 email and live chat support included at every tier.
Can I keep my QC rules and style guides?
Yes. Closed Caption Creator ships a Style Guide Manager that holds named rule sets and validates a project against them — the same job EZTitles’ QC engine does, available on every plan rather than as an edition tier.
Rules cover characters per line, minimum and maximum event duration, reading rate, line counts, overlap detection, illegal character sets for 608 and for Netflix, and missing speaker assignment. Profiles ship for Netflix, Disney, DCP 30, DCP 42, Broadcast US, and YouTube, and you can build your own.
Named style guides with per-profile QC rules, validated across the whole project.
| Capability | In Closed Caption Creator | In EZTitles |
|---|---|---|
| Open subtitles (SRT, WebVTT) | All plans | Essentials and above |
| Closed captions (SCC, MCC) | Pro plan | Standard edition and above |
| Timed text (TTML, DFXP, IMSC) | All plans | Standard edition and above |
| EBU-STL | Pro plan | Standard edition and above |
| Blu-ray and DVD authoring | Not supported | Ultimate edition |
| DVB subtitle export | Not supported | Ultimate edition |
| Digital Cinema Package | Not supported | Ultimate edition |
| QuickTime .mov with alpha | Burnt-in video export | Ultimate edition |
| 608/708 embedding into video | Pro plan | Not listed |
| Audio description and text-to-speech | Optional add-on | Not supported |
| Team projects and shared review | Pro plan, 1–25 users | Network licences, quote-based |
The pattern is different rather than simply better. EZTitles gates by format tier and reaches further into cinema and disc delivery; Closed Caption Creator gates by plan and reaches further into audio description, collaboration, and broadcast embedding. See the full format list.
Saved delivery presets, applied across a batch rather than re-configured per file.
Batch delivery without an edition upgrade
Export presets store the format, profile, and naming rules for a client, then run across a whole batch of files.
EZTitles keeps its batch QC and conversion behind edition tiers and separate products such as EZConvert. Here it is part of the same application on every paid plan.
One honest limitation
EZTitles offers network floating licences with a central licence server, which is genuinely useful for large studios rotating staff across workstations. Closed Caption Creator uses per-user seats on the Pro plan and unlimited users on Enterprise, which is a different model — simpler for most teams, less flexible for a large shared-workstation floor.
Closed Caption Creator vs. EZTitles at a glance
EZTitles prices are list, excluding VAT, taken from the EZTitles pricing page in August 2026. Closed Caption Creator prices are in US dollars.
| Closed Caption Creator | EZTitles | |
|---|---|---|
| Operating systems | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows only |
| Browser version | Yes, via Google Chrome | No — desktop only by design |
| Hardware dongle | Not required | USB key supplied with lifetime editions |
| Multiple workstations | Sign in on any machine | Lifetime editions only |
| Entry price | $25/month billed annually ($300/year) | €80/month, or €1,720 lifetime |
| Cheapest plan that exports closed captions | $25/month ($300/year) | €90/month, or €1,940 lifetime |
| Support after year one | Included at every tier | €160–€200 per licence per year |
| Automatic captioning | 300–600 minutes/month included | Included, billed through the AI service |
| Machine translation | 500,000 characters/month on Pro | Included, billed through DeepL or Google |
| Audio description | Optional add-on, includes text-to-speech | Not supported |
| 608/708 broadcast embedding | Included on Pro; $2.00/file + $0.40/GB | Not listed |
| Digital cinema and Blu-ray | Not supported | Ultimate edition |
| Teletext and DVB | Not supported | Ultimate edition |
| Free trial | 7 days | Yes |
Sourced from the EZTitles pricing page and product FAQ, verified August 2026. Digital cinema, Blu-ray, DVB and teletext delivery are areas where EZTitles does things Closed Caption Creator does not — if those are core to your work, it is the better fit.
Translation without a per-character bill to a third party
EZTitles routes translation through DeepL or Google and passes the billing through to you, noting that the two services count formatting tags differently and so bill differently for the same file.
Closed Caption Creator includes 500,000 characters per month of machine translation on the Pro plan, with a dedicated review interface for editing translations side by side against the source.
Machine translation into 70+ languages, included on the Pro plan.
Why EZTitles users choose Closed Caption Creator
The editing workspace: video preview, event list with reading-rate metrics, positioning grid, and waveform timeline.
Your OS, your choice
Native desktop builds for macOS, Windows, and Linux from one subscription, plus a browser version. No dongle to lose and no per-workstation licence to move.
Captions on every plan
Caption and subtitle export is a plan feature rather than an edition unlock. Support, updates, and 24/7 live chat are included rather than billed annually.
Built for teams
Shared team projects for 1–25 users on Pro, with QC and review tools, tagging, and a Key Names and Phrases manager keeping terminology consistent across a series.
EZTitles comparison questions
Common questions from teams weighing EZTitles against Closed Caption Creator.
No. EZTitles is a Windows desktop application. Its documentation refers throughout to Windows fonts, Windows video decoders, and Microsoft Office proofing tools for spell check. Mac users need a virtual machine or a second computer. Closed Caption Creator ships native builds for macOS, Windows, and Linux.
Standard or Ultimate. The Essentials edition supports Basic Open Subtitles only. Standard is the first edition that includes Closed Captions and Timed Text formats, at €90 per month or €1,940 for a lifetime licence.
Lifetime editions ship with a USB hardware key, which EZTitles describes as the mechanism for moving a licence between workstations. Subscription editions are not dongle-bound but are limited to a single workstation. Closed Caption Creator uses an account sign-in with no hardware.
An EZTitles Standard lifetime licence is €1,940 plus €180 per year of support from year two, so roughly €2,300 over three years for one workstation. Closed Caption Creator Pro at $50 per month billed annually is $1,800 over three years, including support, updates, automatic captioning, and machine translation.
Yes. Both tools work in standard interchange formats. Closed Caption Creator imports SRT, WebVTT, EBU-STL, PAC, Cheetah CAP, Cavena 890, TTML, SCC, and MCC among more than 30 formats, including the EZ Title text export.
No. DCP subtitle export, Blu-ray and DVD authoring assets, and DVB subtitles are areas where EZTitles Ultimate does things Closed Caption Creator does not. If cinema or disc delivery is central to your work, EZTitles is the better fit.
Yes, on every plan. The Style Guide Manager holds named rule sets covering characters per line, reading rate, event duration, line counts, overlap, and illegal character sets for 608 and Netflix. Profiles ship for Netflix, Disney, DCP 30, DCP 42, Broadcast US, and YouTube.
Closed Caption Creator does not produce teletext. It targets EIA-608 and EIA-708 for North American broadcast, plus streaming profiles such as IMSC and the Netflix timed-text variants. EZTitles has deeper coverage of European teletext workflows.
Closed Caption Creator does, through an optional Audio Description plugin that includes text-to-speech and Extended Audio Description export. EZTitles does not list audio description among its capabilities.
On the Pro plan, yes — shared team projects for 1 to 25 users with review, tagging, and approval tools. EZTitles offers network floating licences for large teams, which control who can run the software rather than letting several people into the same project at once.
Most subtitlers are productive within a day. The editing model is familiar — timeline, waveform, event list, shortcut-driven timing, and foot pedal support. Free video courses and a full user guide are included with every plan.
How Closed Caption Creator compares to other captioning tools
Try it on the formats you actually deliver
Import an existing EBU-STL, PAC, or SRT file and check the timing, positioning, and QC results against your own style guide. The trial includes the video courses and full documentation.