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Kami Subs
Pricing
- Model
- Free
Summary
Chrome's built-in captions are English-only, Whisper desktop apps need a file, and every 'translate any video' tool that actually works wants your audio in its cloud — Kami Subs exists because none of those options covered live video in a language you don't speak, running on your own machine.
The pipeline is fixed and local: the browser extension captures tab audio, faster-whisper transcribes it, a translation layer converts it, and the result overlays directly on the video — no API keys, no per-minute billing, no audio leaving the device. It works on YouTube, Twitch, Vimeo, podcasts, and lecture streams, with one hard constraint: DRM-protected content is off-limits. The self-hosted backend means setup requires a working Python environment and a GPU capable of running faster-whisper at acceptable latency — that's a real installation step, not a one-click install. Community activity on the repository is minimal at the time of listing, so expect to self-diagnose when something breaks.
Bottom line: Pick this when you need live translated subtitles on a private lecture or foreign-language stream without any audio touching a third-party server — avoid it when your team needs a maintained, production-hardened solution, because the sparse issue tracker and single-digit star count signal you'll be on your own when the transcription pipeline stalls.
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Pros
Sign in to edit- Audio processed entirely on-device via faster-whisper, so sensitive lecture recordings, private interviews, or regulated-environment streams are transcribed without any data leaving the machine.
- Works on any non-DRM browser tab — YouTube, Twitch, Vimeo, podcast embeds, news streams — so you're not limited to platforms with native caption support.
- No API keys and no usage-based billing, which means transcription costs don't scale with hours watched and there's no account to manage or key to rotate.
- Translation is included in the local pipeline, so you get subtitles in your target language without routing audio through a separate paid translation API.
- MIT-licensed source code is available for inspection and modification, so teams with specific compliance requirements can audit the full pipeline before deploying.
Cons
Sign in to edit- DRM-protected content — including most streaming service libraries — is a hard block; there is no workaround, and teams who need subtitles on Netflix or Disney+ content must use a platform-native accessibility feature or a separate tool entirely.
- Faster-whisper at live-stream latency requires a capable local GPU; on CPU-only machines or underpowered hardware, transcription lag accumulates until the subtitle overlay falls meaningfully behind the audio, at which point the tool is not usable for real-time following.
- The repository shows minimal maintenance signals — three commits, zero community issues — so when the extension breaks against a browser update or faster-whisper releases a breaking API change, there is no maintainer response timeline to rely on; teams with a production dependency on live captioning switch to a maintained SaaS option at that point.
- Setup requires manual Python environment configuration and backend startup; there is no packaged installer, so non-technical users in accessibility-focused deployments face a setup barrier that defeats the use case before it begins.
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About
- Platforms
- Windows 10/11 with Chrome or Edge (Chromium ≥ 116)
- API Available
- No
- Self-Hosted
- Yes
- Last Updated
- 2026-06-01T02:53:19.504Z
Best For
Who it's for
- Users prioritizing privacy who want transcription without cloud uploads
- Multilingual households needing real-time translation of diverse video content
- Researchers and students transcribing lectures or interviews
- Content creators generating subtitles for video projects
- Privacy-conscious environments where data cannot leave the local machine
What it does well
- Watch foreign-language videos with real-time subtitles in your preferred language
- Generate captions for live streams, lectures, or podcasts without uploading to cloud services
- Accessibility: Enable subtitles for deaf or hard-of-hearing viewers on any web video
- Language learning by watching content with simultaneous transcription and translation
- Research and analysis of video content with searchable, locally-stored transcripts
Integrations
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Kami Subs free?
- Yes — Kami Subs is fully free to use. There is no paid tier.
- Is Kami Subs open source?
- Yes. Kami Subs is open source — the source repository is at https://github.com/MohammdKopa/kami-subs.
- Can I self-host Kami Subs?
- Yes. Kami Subs supports self-hosting on your own infrastructure.
- What platforms does Kami Subs support?
- Kami Subs is available on: Windows 10/11 with Chrome or Edge (Chromium ≥ 116).
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Curated lists that include this category
Kami Subs is a browser extension paired with a local Python backend that overlays real-time AI-generated subtitles on any non-DRM browser video. The workflow runs entirely on the local machine: the extension captures the audio from the active browser tab, forwards it to the backend running faster-whisper for transcription, translates the output, and renders the subtitle overlay directly on the video element. No cloud account, no API key, and no per-minute cost is involved.
The differentiating constraint is deliberate: audio never leaves the machine. This is not a privacy policy promise — it is an architectural reality enforced by the local-only pipeline. For environments where data regulations, institutional policy, or personal preference prohibit cloud audio processing, this is the specific gap Kami Subs addresses. The vendor’s own framing names the problem clearly: Chrome’s Live Caption is English-only, Whisper desktop tools require a file rather than a live stream, and paid SaaS options don’t work on private or unlisted content.
The tool fits tightly defined scenarios — a researcher transcribing a foreign-language interview stream, a student captioning a live lecture, a multilingual household watching content in a language one member doesn’t speak. It breaks at the edges of that scenario: DRM blocks it entirely, GPU availability determines whether latency is acceptable, and the extension is scoped to browser tabs only. Teams who need captions on desktop video players, hardware-accelerated streams, or DRM-gated content will need a different architecture.
Setup requires running the backend locally, which means Python environment management and a compatible GPU. The repository is MIT-licensed with source available on GitHub. At the time of listing, the project has minimal community contribution — three commits, zero open issues — which reflects early-stage maturity rather than stability. Operators should expect to engage directly with the source code when edge cases appear.