Punjabi Subtitle Generator
Punjabi speech in, Punglish or Gurmukhi captions out.
Most subtitle tools either skip Punjabi or hand back captions in Hindi spellings that no Punjabi speaker would type. But look at how Punjabi is written on YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp, from Ludhiana to Brampton: "ki haal aa", "vadiya", "assi kal milange". That is Punglish, and for short-form video it is what your viewers read fastest.
DesiCaptions transcribes Punjabi speech and writes it the way people type it, with the spoken forms kept as spoken, English words kept in English and Punjabi words in plain Roman letters. Prefer Gurmukhi? Switch the language to Punjabi (Gurmukhi) and the same video comes out in proper Gurmukhi letters, still in the words you said, with English sentences translated and the everyday loanwords Punjabi creators actually use kept the way they write them.
Either way every word carries its own timestamp, so word-by-word and karaoke caption styles land on the beat, and the Gurmukhi mode ships with fonts that actually contain the glyphs, so you never get empty boxes, a stray addak or a tippi that lands on the wrong letter.
Why creators use it
Punglish the way it is typed
Captions come out as "tusi", "sanu" and "kiddan", with the doubled consonant after an addak ("pakka", "ajj"), the spelling your audience already uses in comments. No diacritics, no Hindi spellings.
Spoken Punjabi, not textbook Punjabi
The captions keep "karde aa" and "haige" the way you said them, in your own dialect, Majhi, Malwai, Doabi or Puadhi. Your viewers notice when a caption sounds like a newsreader.
Gurmukhi when you want it
Pick the Punjabi (Gurmukhi) mode for a Punjabi-first audience, devotional or formal content. Bundled Gurmukhi fonts keep every addak, tippi, bindi and subjoined letter intact in the burned video.
Word-level timing
Every word carries its own timestamp, so word-by-word and karaoke caption styles land on the beat instead of drifting.
How it works
Upload your Punjabi video or audio
MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, MP3, M4A, or WAV, up to 4 GB. The free plan includes 1 free minute.
Pick Punglish or Punjabi (Gurmukhi)
About a minute later for a Reel, or 2 to 3 minutes for a 5-minute video, you have a full transcript with word-level timestamps, in the script you chose.
Style and export
Choose a caption template, fix any names in the editor, then export a burned-in video or an SRT, VTT, or ASS file.
One sentence, every mode
The same spoken line as DesiCaptions writes it in each mode you can pick for this language:
Ajj main tuhanu tuhadi life vich hun tak kade na vekhi hoyi ik kamaal di cheez dikhaun laga haan
ਅੱਜ ਮੈਂ ਤੁਹਾਨੂੰ ਤੁਹਾਡੀ ਲਾਈਫ਼ ਵਿੱਚ ਹੁਣ ਤੱਕ ਕਦੇ ਨਾ ਵੇਖੀ ਹੋਈ ਇੱਕ ਕਮਾਲ ਦੀ ਚੀਜ਼ ਦਿਖਾਉਣ ਲੱਗਾ ਹਾਂ
Today I am going to show you something absolutely amazing that you have never ever seen before in your entire life
What is different about captioning Punjabi
Punjabi has its own spellings in Roman letters: "tusi" and "sanu" rather than the Hindi "aap" and "hamein", "kiddan", "vadiya", and a doubled consonant wherever Gurmukhi writes an addak ("pakka", "ajj", "gall"). Punglish captions use those, keep the spoken form in both modes, and keep one spelling through the whole video.
Gurmukhi has a headline like Devanagari but marks doubled consonants with the addak (ੱ) and nasals with the tippi (ੰ) and bindi (ਂ), and writes ਰ ਹ ਵ under the letter before them (ਪ੍ਰ, ਪੜ੍ਹ). A Hindi font has none of these, which is why Gurmukhi captions are set in Gurmukhi fonts (Noto Sans Gurmukhi, Baloo Paaji 2). Gurmukhi letters are about as wide as Devanagari, so an automatic caption holds about 36 characters against 42 in Punglish.
Caption your next video in minutes
Free plan, no credit card. Upload a Reel and see your captions in about a minute.
Start for freeFrequently asked questions
What is Punglish?
Punjabi written in Roman letters, the way people type it on phones: "ki haal aa", "main theek haan". It is not a translation, only the alphabet changes, and the words, tone and slang stay exactly as spoken.
Will Gurmukhi captions render correctly in every caption style?
Yes. Gurmukhi captions are set in Noto Sans Gurmukhi, or Baloo Paaji 2 for the comic templates, in both the editor preview and the exported video, so what you see is what burns.
Does it handle Punjabi mixed with English and Hindi?
Yes. Code-mixed speech is the normal case. In Punglish mode English words stay English and Punjabi words are romanised; in Gurmukhi mode English sentences are translated and Hindi speech is rendered in Punjabi, never in Devanagari.
Can I caption Pakistani Punjabi in Shahmukhi?
Shahmukhi uses the Urdu alphabet, so choose Urdu (Urdu script) for right-to-left captions in that script, or Punglish for Roman letters. The Gurmukhi mode writes Gurmukhi only.
Can I get English captions for a Punjabi video instead?
Yes. Choose English (Translate) and the Punjabi speech is translated into natural English captions.
What does it cost?
There is a free plan with 1 free minute and no credit card required. Each video uses exactly its own length from your balance. Paid minute packs start at 12 USD or 799 INR and never expire.