Happy Scribe vs Sonix for Arabic subtitles

Disclosure: this article is published by the Arabic Subtitles team, which makes the third option described below. It is based on each company’s own documentation, checked on 16 October 2026, not on independent hands-on testing of Happy Scribe or Sonix.

At a glance

Arabic support: what each company documents

Happy Scribe’s languages page lists Arabic with 16 variants for AI transcription, AI subtitles and its human services. It does not name the variants or describe how dialects are handled. Sonix’s languages page describes Modern Standard Arabic and regional dialect audio delivered in right-to-left script.

Neither page is evidence of how well a particular dialect, speaker or recording will come out. A language appearing in a list says the option exists, not that the draft will keep the speaker’s Egyptian or Gulf wording rather than smoothing it into formal Arabic.

Right-to-left text in the exported file

Sonix is unusually direct about this. Its help article on right-to-left text says the platform does not support right-to-left text direction, that alignment in exported SRT and VTT files may default to left-to-right, and that numbers or English words inside Arabic lines can display wrongly. It says the transcript generally looks right inside Sonix, suggests fixing alignment in a subtitle editor, and notes that most subtitling tools share the problem. Its languages page, by contrast, says right-to-left scripts are supported; read both before you rely on either.

We found no Happy Scribe documentation about right-to-left alignment in exported files. That is not evidence of a problem or of its absence. Whichever tool you use, open the exported file in the player or editor where it will be shown, and check lines that start with a number or a dash, end in punctuation, or mix Arabic with Latin text.

Shaping subtitles and burning them in

Both editors let you shape cues before export. Happy Scribe’s subtitle tutorial covers the number of lines, characters per second, characters per line, subtitle duration and the gap between subtitles. Sonix’s subtitle guide uses a Split transcript step with presets such as standard, single line and by sentence, plus settings for lines, characters per line, reading speed and maximum duration.

Both can also produce a video with the captions burned in, which suits social clips but is harder to correct later: a spelling fix means rendering the video again. Keep the subtitle file as your editable master either way.

What a month costs at your volume

The plans are built differently, so the cheaper option depends on how many minutes you subtitle. At monthly-billed list prices, before tax, for one user (Happy Scribe plans, Sonix plans):

• 2 hours a month: Happy Scribe Basic covers it at US$17. Sonix costs US$20 pay as you go, or US$25 on Core.
• 10 hours a month: Happy Scribe Pro covers exactly 600 minutes at US$29. Sonix Advanced covers it at US$50; Core plus five extra hours would be US$75.
• 15 hours a month: Happy Scribe Pro plus 300 extra minutes is US$89. Sonix Advanced still covers it at US$50.

Both companies offer annual billing that lowers the monthly price and grants the year’s allowance up front; check the current terms before you commit. Happy Scribe’s Pro plan includes three seats, while extra Sonix seats add cost but no hours, which matters for a team.

A third option: Arabic Subtitles

If what you need is an editable Arabic subtitle file rather than a full transcription workspace, Arabic Subtitles takes a narrower approach. It extracts the audio in your browser and uploads only that; the video stays on your device. You correct the words, split or merge cues and check the timing, then download SRT, WebVTT or TTML. Each Arabic line in SRT and WebVTT is wrapped in right-to-left marks, and TTML declares right-to-left direction, which helps lines that open with a number or a dash. How a particular player renders them still varies, so check the destination.

It is prepaid rather than a subscription: a US$5 refill adds 600 minutes, each file is rounded up to whole minutes, and unused minutes expire one year after your last use. It does not burn captions into video, has no team seats, and keeps a finished project online for seven days, so download your file. See the pricing page for a worked example.

How to choose

Use the same short, representative Arabic recording in each tool you are considering. Check names, numbers and negatives against the audio, open the exported file where it will be published, and time how long corrections take. Then choose on the output you need:

• Happy Scribe if you want a per-minute allowance, several seats on one plan, or professional formats such as STL or FCPXML on Pro.
• Sonix if you subtitle many hours a month and are prepared to check right-to-left alignment after export.
• Arabic Subtitles if you want a reviewed Arabic SRT, WebVTT or TTML file without a monthly plan, and you finish the video in your own editor.

None of these removes the need for an Arabic-speaking reviewer before you publish.