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How to Add Subtitles to Kajabi Course Videos (Step-by-Step Guide)

If you're building an online course on Kajabi, adding subtitles to your videos isn't optional — it's a competitive advantage. Students who watch with captions retain more, complete courses at higher rates, and leave better reviews.

This guide walks you through exactly how to add subtitles to your Kajabi videos, including the fastest method for creators who have more than a few videos to caption.

Why Kajabi Course Creators Need Subtitles

Before we get into the how, let's talk about the why — because if you've been skipping subtitles, you're leaving real outcomes on the table.

1. Students watch on mute Research consistently shows that 40-80% of social video is watched without sound. Online courses aren't social media, but the muted-viewing habit follows students to your course platform.

2. Accessibility compliance The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and similar legislation in the UK, EU, and Australia increasingly apply to digital education. If your course serves corporate clients, government agencies, or anyone who could face regulatory scrutiny, closed captions aren't optional.

3. Completion rates Studies from Pearson and 3Play Media found that students who use captions complete courses at significantly higher rates. The reason is intuitive: when a student misses a phrase, they stop and rewind. With captions, they keep going.

4. Non-native English speakers If any of your students speak English as a second language — or if you teach a language other than English — captions are often the difference between comprehension and dropout.

Does Kajabi Support Subtitles?

Yes. Kajabi supports SRT (SubRip Text) subtitle files, which you can upload to any video in your course content library.

SRT files are plain text files that contain:

  • The subtitle text
  • Start and end timestamps for each line
  • Sequential numbering

Here's what a few lines of an SRT file look like:

1
00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,500
Welcome to this module on pricing strategy.

2
00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:09,200
Today we're going to cover three core concepts.

Once uploaded, students can toggle captions on or off in the Kajabi video player.

Method 1: AI Transcription (Fastest, Most Scalable)

If you have more than a handful of videos, manual captioning is not a realistic option. A 45-minute course module would take 3-4 hours to caption by hand.

AI transcription tools generate SRT files automatically, typically in 3-10 minutes per video.

Using Tapescribe:

  1. Go to tapescribe.com and create a free account (first 5 videos are free)
  2. Upload your course video MP4 directly (or paste a URL if it's hosted on YouTube/Vimeo)
  3. Wait 3-5 minutes for processing
  4. Download the SRT file from your dashboard
  5. Upload the SRT to Kajabi (instructions below)

Tapescribe works well for course content because:

  • It handles technical vocabulary better than generic transcription tools
  • The timestamps are accurate enough for most course material
  • You get the full transcript as well (useful for show notes, PDFs, or making content searchable)
  • At $1/video, captioning a 20-module course costs $20 total

Method 2: YouTube Auto-Captions + Export

If your source videos are already on YouTube:

  1. Upload your video to YouTube (can be unlisted)
  2. Wait for auto-captions to generate (usually 1-24 hours)
  3. Go to YouTube Studio → Subtitles → your video
  4. Click the three dots next to the caption track → Download → .srt

The problem with this method: YouTube auto-captions have lower accuracy than purpose-built AI tools, especially for:

  • Technical terminology
  • Proper nouns and brand names
  • Heavy accents
  • Fast speech

If you care about caption quality, use a dedicated transcription tool and only fall back to YouTube for casual content.

Method 3: Outsource to a Human Captioning Service

Services like Rev.com, Scribie, and 3Play Media offer human-reviewed captioning. Accuracy is typically 99%+.

The downside: Cost. Rev charges $1.50/minute, which means a 45-minute module = $67.50. A 10-module course = $675.

For high-stakes content (legal, medical, corporate compliance training), this may be worth it. For most creators, AI transcription with a quick proofread is more practical.

How to Upload Subtitles to Kajabi

Once you have your SRT file, here's how to attach it to a Kajabi video:

Step 1: Log into your Kajabi dashboard and navigate to your Product.

Step 2: Open the Course Post that contains the video you want to caption.

Step 3: Click on the video within the post editor.

Step 4: In the video settings panel, look for the "Subtitles" or "Captions" option. (This appears when you hover over the video or click the video element.)

Step 5: Click "Upload SRT" and select your subtitle file.

Step 6: Save and preview your post. The video player should now show a "CC" button for students to toggle captions.

Pro tip: Name your SRT files clearly before uploading (e.g., module-3-lesson-2-subtitles.srt) so you don't mix up files when captioning multiple videos.

Tips for Better Caption Quality

Even with good AI transcription, a few minutes of review can make a big difference:

1. Review proper nouns AI tools sometimes struggle with brand names, people's names, and industry-specific terms. Do a quick Find & Replace for any that come up repeatedly in your content.

2. Check technical vocabulary If you teach accounting, engineering, medicine, or any specialized field, review those terms specifically. AI accuracy drops for low-frequency vocabulary.

3. Split long lines Subtitles are easiest to read when each caption chunk is 1-2 short sentences. If your SRT has very long lines, break them up.

4. Verify the timing Occasionally, AI transcription drifts out of sync if there's music, intro sequences, or long pauses. Preview the video with captions at a few points to check sync.

What About Multilingual Captions?

If you're targeting an international audience, you can upload multiple SRT files in different languages. Kajabi supports multiple caption tracks — students can select their preferred language from the video player.

To create translated captions:

  1. Get your English SRT file
  2. Use a translation tool (DeepL or a professional translator) to create the translated version
  3. Keep the same timestamps, only change the text
  4. Upload both files to Kajabi with appropriate language labels

This opens your course to non-English speaking markets without re-recording your content.

Kajabi Subtitle FAQ

Q: Does Kajabi auto-generate captions? A: As of 2026, Kajabi does not have built-in auto-captioning. You need to upload an SRT file manually.

Q: What subtitle format does Kajabi accept? A: Kajabi supports SRT files. VTT format may also work — check Kajabi's current documentation for the latest supported formats.

Q: Can students download the transcript? A: Not directly from Kajabi's video player. If you want students to have a text transcript, upload it as a PDF resource within the course post.

Q: Do Kajabi captions help with SEO? A: Kajabi course content is typically behind a paywall, so captions don't directly help with Google search rankings. However, if any of your content is publicly visible (e.g., a free preview), proper captions improve discoverability.

Q: How many languages can I add? A: Kajabi supports multiple caption tracks per video. There's no stated hard limit, but practically speaking, 2-5 languages is most common.

The Business Case for Captioning Your Course

Let's be concrete about ROI:

  • A 10-module course with 30-minute average session length = 5 hours of content
  • Using Tapescribe at $1/video = $10 total to caption your entire course
  • Even a 5% improvement in completion rate translates to more testimonials, more referrals, and lower refund rates

For most course creators, the ROI on captions is one of the easiest calculations in the business.

Summary

To add subtitles to your Kajabi course videos:

  1. Generate an SRT file using AI transcription (Tapescribe, $1/video) or YouTube auto-captions
  2. Review and correct the transcript if needed (proper nouns, technical terms)
  3. Upload the SRT in Kajabi's video post editor under the Subtitles option
  4. Preview to confirm captions appear correctly in the Kajabi player

Your students — especially those watching on mobile or in sound-sensitive environments — will notice the difference immediately.

Ready to caption your first video? Try Tapescribe free — first 5 videos included →