Updated: August 2, 2026
Three differences decide this, and they are all practical.
1. What you upload. AEJuice extracts the audio and sends only that - an hour-long interview is a few MB of MP3, and the 4K source it came from never leaves your machine. Submagic needs the video file itself, capped at 3,000 MB and 2 to 30 minutes depending on plan.
2. How much control you get. AEJuice exposes word-by-word or smart-split grouping, one or two lines, caption position, capitalization, emoji frequency and skin tone, repeated-word handling, filler and pause removal, audio events, profanity masking in the text plus beep or mute on the audio itself, Meta and YouTube ad safe modes, a custom flagged-word list, brand spelling and a typo check. Submagic is built to be quick, not granular.
3. Price. AEJuice is free for 10 minutes a month, then from $9, or one-time credits with no subscription at all. Submagic is subscription-only at $19, $39 or $69 a month.
Beyond that: AEJuice captions inside After Effects and Premiere Pro as native text layers and supports 145 languages to Submagic’s 123. Submagic picks and places b-roll, music, sound effects and auto-zoom for you in one web editor, adds AI avatars and direct publishing, and needs no Adobe software. AEJuice has b-roll, music and sound effects as separate tools rather than automatic, and cuts long videos into shorts in the browser version at aijuice.com. There is also a browser version of AEJuice at aijuice.com.
Feature comparison
| AEJuice Auto Captions | Submagic | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs in | After Effects, Premiere Pro (browser version at aijuice.com) | Web browser |
| Output | Editable native text layers | Rendered video file |
| Edit text, timing and style | Yes, in your timeline | Yes, in their web editor |
| Re-edit later | In your project, with your usual tools | In their web project, then export again |
| Captions in the exported file | Live text layers until you render | Burned into the video |
| What gets uploaded | Extracted audio only (a few MB) | The whole video file |
| Upload file size limit | None (audio is a few MB) | 3,000 MB per video |
| Video length limit | None | 2 / 5 / 30 min per upload by plan |
| Videos per month | Unlimited (minutes metered) | 15 / 40 / 100 by plan |
| Languages | 145 (140 as spoken source) | 123 |
| Translation | Yes, 145 target languages | Yes |
| Automatic language detection | Yes | Yes |
| Per-speaker caption colors | Yes, auto speaker detection with a color each | Not stated |
| Dual-language subtitles | Yes | Not stated |
| Filler / pause / repeat removal | Yes | Silence removal via AI Auto Edit |
| Profanity masking (text) | Full or partial | Not stated |
| Profanity handling (audio) | Beep or mute | Not stated |
| Ad-platform safe modes | Meta and YouTube | Not stated |
| Custom flagged words | Yes | Not stated |
| Brand spelling / replacements | Yes | Not stated |
| Typo check | Yes | Not stated |
| Line layout | 1 or 2 lines | Not stated |
| Grouping | Word by word or smart split | Not stated |
| Highlight words | Yes | Yes |
| Emoji (with skin tone) | Yes | Yes |
| Edit video by transcript | Yes, Text Based Editing | Yes, in their editor |
| SRT export | Yes | Yes |
| Title / description generation | Yes | Yes |
| Chapters generation | Yes | Not stated |
| Live style preview | Yes | Yes (in editor) |
| Auto b-roll | Yes, separate B-Rolls tool | Yes, built into the editor |
| Sound effects | Yes, separate SFX libraries | Yes, auto-added in the editor |
| Music | Yes, separate music library | Yes, auto-added in the editor |
| Auto-zoom | In development, will be a separate tool | Yes |
| Long video to shorts | Yes, in the browser version at aijuice.com | Yes (Magic Clips) |
| AI avatars | No | Yes |
| Direct social publishing | No | Yes |
| API | No | Yes (Business plan) |
| Export resolution | Whatever your comp renders | 1080p / 2K / 4K by plan |
| Free usage | 10 minutes every month, renews | Free tools only, plans required for full use |
| Price | From $9 per month, or one-time credits with no subscription | $19 / $39 / $69 per month |
| Works without a subscription | Yes, buy credits once | No |
“Not stated” means we could not confirm it on Submagic’s public pages as of August 2, 2026 - not that it is missing. If we have something wrong, reply and we will correct it.
Where the captions end up
Both tools let you edit captions at any time. Submagic keeps your project in their web app: correct words, drag captions to retime them, change font, size, color and animation, reopen it whenever you want. AEJuice puts captions on your timeline as native text layers you edit in After Effects or Premiere.
The output differs. Submagic exports an MP4 with the captions burned in; changing them later means editing in their app and exporting again. AEJuice leaves live text layers in your project, so you keyframe them, apply effects and render them with the rest of the edit.
You upload audio, not video
AEJuice extracts the audio and sends only that. An hour-long interview is a few megabytes of MP3 - the 4K source file it came from might be 40 GB and never moves off your machine.
With any web tool, the video itself has to go up. On a normal connection that is the slowest step in the whole job, and for NDA or client footage it may not be allowed at all.
Where Submagic is genuinely better
- Everything in one pass. Auto-zoom, AI b-roll, sound effects, background music, Magic Clips, AI avatars and publishing straight to TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, all chosen and placed for you in a single editor. AEJuice covers most of that ground - b-roll, sound effects, music, and long-video-to-shorts in the browser version at aijuice.com - but as separate tools you run yourself. Auto-zoom is in development. We do not do AI avatars or publishing at all.
- Speed to a finished vertical clip. For “one podcast episode into twelve TikToks”, a purpose-built web pipeline beats a plugin workflow. Their b-roll, music and auto-zoom all live in the same editor as the captions, where ours are separate tools you run in sequence.
- Nothing to install. If you want captions with zero setup and no Adobe apps, Submagic is the simpler path. Our browser version at aijuice.com covers that case too, but Submagic’s social tooling around it is deeper.
Where AEJuice is genuinely better
- Native text layers. Captions land in your project as text layers, so they keyframe, take effects, and render with the rest of the edit.
- Audio-only upload. Covered above - a few MB instead of the whole file.
- No per-video or per-length caps. Submagic’s length limits are hard caps per upload, not a meter you can spend flexibly - their help centre states “the limit is 2 minutes per video per upload and export” on Starter, 5 minutes on Professional, 30 minutes on Business, with a 3,000 MB file size cap. A 45-minute interview does not fit any Submagic plan without cutting it into pieces first. We meter transcription minutes, not videos, and never cap clip length or file size.
- More languages. 145 supported, 140 usable as the spoken source, all 145 available as translation targets, plus automatic detection.
- Compliance and moderation controls. Profanity masking in the text (full or partial), plus muting or beeping the audio itself. Meta Ads and YouTube Ads safe modes for advertiser-restricted words, and your own custom flagged-word list.
- Transcript cleanup while captioning. Remove filler words, pauses and repeated words - while preserving emphatic repetition, so “no, no, no” survives. Custom find-and-replace, brand spelling terms so a product name is never misspelled, and a typo check pass.
- Caption formatting. Word-by-word or smart-split grouping, one or two lines, position, capitalization, highlight words, emoji frequency and skin tone, and audio events like [laughter].
- Dual-language subtitles. Two languages on screen at once.
- Chapters, title and description generated from the transcript, ready for YouTube.
Pricing
Submagic, monthly: Starter $19, Pro $39, Business + API $69. Yearly works out at $12, $23 and $41 a month. Magic Clips add-on is $19 a month. API credits run 500-10,000 minutes at $0.10-$0.15 per minute. Every plan is a subscription.
AEJuice gives you 10 minutes of AI transcription free every month, and the allowance resets each month. You need a free account, and no card. Ten minutes is enough for a few short videos a month, or to caption a real project end to end before deciding whether to pay - not a time-limited trial that expires after a week.
Beyond that, plans start at $9 a month. You can also skip the subscription entirely and buy credits once - bought credits do not vanish at the end of the month the way a plan’s allowance does, so occasional work does not mean paying every month for minutes you never use.
The two models are not directly comparable. Submagic sells a monthly quota of videos, capped by count and length. We sell transcription minutes, usable across unlimited videos and clients, with no subscription required.
Which should you use
Use Submagic if you do not use Adobe apps, your videos are short-form social, you want b-roll, music and auto-zoom handled for you, or you publish straight to platforms.
Use AEJuice if you already work in After Effects or Premiere, you want captions as editable layers inside a bigger edit, your videos run long, your footage is too large or too confidential to upload, you need advertiser-safe wording and profanity control, or you caption occasionally enough that a monthly subscription makes no sense.
If you just want to try it: the free 10 minutes a month needs an account and nothing else.
Both are used together: Submagic for quick social cuts, AEJuice for work that stays in the timeline.
Try it free
Auto Captions runs inside After Effects and Premiere Pro, on your own timeline. You get 10 minutes of transcription free every month - an allowance that renews, not a trial that expires. Account needed, no card.
- Auto Captions: Auto Captions - AEJuice
- The plugin is free to install: https://aejuice.com/free-plugins/?utm_source=forum&utm_medium=comparison&utm_campaign=vs-submagic
Caption one real project on the free minutes before deciding anything.
Corrections welcome. If you work at Submagic and something above is out of date, reply and we will fix it.