LyriSync vs Subtitle Edit for timing song lyrics
Subtitle Edit is a free, open source subtitle editor that can also transcribe audio. LyriSync starts from the other end: you already have the lyrics and it times those exact words to the song. The choice mostly depends on whether you have a lyric sheet.
The short answer
Use Subtitle Edit when you have no lyrics, are fixing or converting a subtitle file, or want a free desktop tool. Use LyriSync when you have the approved lyrics and want them timed word by word to the finished song, then exported for video, karaoke, a player or After Effects.
Transcribing a song vs timing its lyrics
Subtitle Edit's audio to text feature uses speech recognition (Whisper or Vosk) to write out what it hears, with timings. On speech that is often all you need. Sung vocals are harder: held notes, backing vocals and the mix all get in the way, so you usually end up correcting the words as well as the timing, and checking that the spelling and line breaks match the official lyrics.
LyriSync never guesses the words. You paste the lyrics, exactly as they should appear, and it matches those words to the vocal in the finished mix. No acapella is needed. What you check afterwards is only the timing, and you can nudge any line or word against the waveform before you export.
Side by side
| What | Subtitle Edit | LyriSync |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | Audio to transcribe, or an existing subtitle file | The finished song plus your own lyrics |
| Timing | From speech recognition, or by hand on a waveform or spectrogram | Automatic for every word, then reviewed and nudged |
| Cost | Free and open source | Every song aligned and checked in the editor, then 1 song credit to export each |
| Runs on | Desktop app | In the browser |
| Formats | Reads and writes a very long list of subtitle formats | SRT, WebVTT, LRC and enhanced LRC, ASS karaoke, TTML, JSON, CSV |
| After Effects | Not a target | Free panel sends lyrics in as editable text layers |
Where Subtitle Edit is the better choice
- You do not have the lyrics and need a first draft of them.
- You are converting a subtitle file between formats, or fixing an existing one.
- The job is a talking video, a podcast or an interview rather than a song.
Where LyriSync is the better choice
- The words must match the official lyrics exactly, spelling and line breaks included.
- You need word-level timing for karaoke, kinetic type or a lyric video.
- You are building the video in After Effects and want editable text layers.
Using them together
The two hand off cleanly through SRT. Time the song in LyriSync, export SRT, and open it in Subtitle Edit if you need to convert it to a format LyriSync does not export, or to translate the lines while keeping the timing.
For captions in an editor, see adding timed lyrics in Premiere Pro, Resolve and YouTube. For the file itself, the SRT lyrics generator times your own lyrics to your song.
Align any whole song up to 10 minutes and open it in the editor: play it, check every word and fix timings. The private preview is available for 5 days. You pay per song, when you export.
Next guide: How to make a lyric video in After Effects