Is Captions worth it in 2026?
The entry paid plan is now $24.99 a month, every printed paid tier works out to about 5 cents per AI credit, and the company behind the app has been called Mirage since 2025.
The quick answer
Captions is worth paying for if you generate AI video every month. Max costs $24.99 a month for 500 credits as of October 2026. The $9.99 Pro tier was still printed in an archived pricing page from June 2026 and was gone by August 2026. Skip Captions if captions and basic editing are all you need, because the free plan has no AI usage credits.
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Captions dropped its $9.99 Pro tier between June and August 2026. Max stayed at $24.99 a month. The $9.99 Pro tier was printed on the June 7, 2026 archive of the pricing page and is missing from the August 2, 2026 archive. The company behind the app has been called Mirage since September 2025.
Captions sells monthly AI credits in tiers. Max is $24.99 a month for 500 credits. Frontier costs $69.99 a month for 1,400 credits, Frontier 2x $139.99 for 2,800 and Frontier 4x $279.99 for 5,600. Each printed tier works out to about $0.05 a credit, so moving up buys volume at the same price per credit, not a discount.
Captions plans as printed on the pricing page, October 2026
USD per month as printed on captions.ai/pricing. The footnote says prices reflect iOS plans only.
| Plan | Price | AI credits a month | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | None | Basic tools, per the vendor FAQ |
| Max | $24.99/mo | 500 | Printed as the most popular plan |
| Frontier | $69.99/mo | 1,400 | Named Scale in the August 2, 2026 archive |
| Frontier 2x | $139.99/mo | 2,800 | 2x usage |
| Frontier 4x | $279.99/mo | 5,600 | 4x usage |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | Contact sales | Bulk credit discounts and custom seats |
What you get
- ✓Credits roll over. Unused credits carry to the next month, and the balance can hold up to 3× the monthly allowance, per the vendor’s FAQ.
- ✓Max covers more than captions. The Max card lists custom B-roll, music, sound effects and images among what it generates.
- ✓The price per credit holds. Each printed tier works out to about $0.05 a credit, so a bigger plan does not carry a surcharge per credit.
The trade-offs
- ✕The $9.99 Pro tier is gone. It was dropped between June and August 2026, and Max stayed at $24.99 a month.
- ✕The free plan has no AI credits. The plan table lists AI usage credits as None for Free.
- ✕Export and cancellation complaints. One-star reviews describe paying to export and trouble cancelling, quoted above.
- ✕Individual arbitration for personal use. The terms require individual arbitration for personal-use accounts.
Worth it if…
- →Creators who make AI clips every month and can keep spending near $25 a month on Max.
- →Heavy users who outgrow 500 credits and will pay $69.99 a month for 1,400.
- →Anyone who wants AI features on a predictable monthly price and will track credit use from the first month.
Skip it if…
- →You want captions, trimming and templates without AI credits. The free plan has none.
- →You need to export without a paywall or cancel without friction. The one-star reviews describe both problems.
- →You want a cheaper monthly plan with AI credits. CapCut’s Pro is $19.99 a month on its pricing page, $5 less than Max.
How has Captions’ price changed?
The change shows in three dated captures of the pricing page: June 7, August 2 and October 16, 2026.
June 7, 2026: The archived pricing page prints Pro at $9.99 a month, marked with an asterisk that points to the page footnote saying prices and features reflect iOS plans only. The Pro card is headed “Access basic editing features” and its comparison row lists Low AI usage credits. The same capture prints Max at $24.99 a month with 500 credits, and Scale at $69.99, Scale 2x at $139.99 and Scale 4x at $279.99 a month, with 1,400, 2,800 and 5,600 credits.
August 2, 2026: The archived pricing page no longer prints Pro. Max stays at $24.99 a month, and the Scale tiers keep their prices and credit counts.
October 16, 2026: The archived pricing page prints the Scale tiers as Frontier, Frontier 2x and Frontier 4x at the same prices. The live pricing page shows the same figures as of October 25, 2026.
Across those snapshots the lowest printed paid price moved from $9.99 (Pro, basic editing) to $24.99 (Max, AI credits) because Pro was removed. Max itself stayed at $24.99. The pricing page footnote reads: “All prices displayed in USD. Features and prices reflect iOS plans only.”
What do the credits cost?
Max is $24.99 a month for 500 credits, about $0.05 a credit. Frontier is $69.99 for 1,400 credits, Frontier 2x is $139.99 for 2,800 and Frontier 4x is $279.99 for 5,600. Each one works out to the same rate, so the bigger plans are volume purchases, not discounts.
The vendor’s FAQ says: “Unused credits roll over to the next month.” It adds that a balance can hold up to 3× the monthly allowance, because you can save up to two extra months of unused credits. The same FAQ says: “A yearly plan bills for 12 months upfront, at a discounted rate.” The prices printed on the page are per month.
What do users say about Captions?
The 50 most recent reviews in Apple’s US customer-review feed for the app, dated September 15 to October 23, 2026, include 28 one-star and 12 five-star reviews. The App Store listing shows a 4.7 average from 38,771 ratings, as of October 2026.
Cancellation and billing come up repeatedly. On October 10, 2026, one reviewer wrote: “I canceled my subscription and they still charged me $29 for the months afterwards !” On October 15, 2026, another wrote: “You can’t cancel subscription through the App Store”
Some one-star reviews say the paywall comes early. On October 8, 2026, a one-star reviewer wrote: “You have to pay to export the video”. On October 11, 2026, another wrote: “The app does not even give you a chance to try it before it forces you to pay.”
Price draws complaints even from fans. A five-star review dated October 19, 2026 says: “It’s just the PRICE for individuals is TOO HIGH ON THE MONTHLY PLAN.” The same reviewer praises the auto trim, auto captions and templates.
The free tier is thin. On October 11, 2026, a one-star reviewer said free use needs an upgrade: “without having to upgrade to at least the basic plan as a free user.”
Those patterns (the early paywall, cancellation and charges, and paying to export) come from user reports, not from the vendor.
What does CapCut charge for a similar job?
CapCut’s pricing page prints Pro at USD 19.99 a month and Ultra at USD 79 a month. Its Yearly view prints Pro at USD 179.99 a year. Pro includes 1200 monthly AI credits and Ultra includes 8645.
Max costs $5 a month more than CapCut Pro and gives 500 credits to CapCut’s 1200. Frontier, at $69.99, sits below CapCut Ultra at USD 79, with 1,400 credits to Ultra’s 8645. The credit units differ between the two products, so these are price comparisons, not like-for-like credit counts.
Who is behind Captions now?
On September 4, 2025 the company announced it was changing its name from Captions to Mirage. The announcement says: “We’re changing our company’s name from Captions to Mirage.” The app and its pricing page keep the Captions name.
The terms hosted at mirage.app list “reselling or making any commercial use of the Services including the Mirage Content except as authorized hereunder” among prohibited activities. They also say you own your Input and Output, subject to Mirage’s rights in any Mirage Content the Output contains. Anyone using clips in client work should read both clauses first.
The same document carries a notice that personal-use users are bound by a “MANDATORY INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION” clause, which sends disputes to individual arbitration rather than jury trials or class actions.
Where Captions sits in our prompt library
Academy data: of the 1,777 prompt packs in our library as of October 25, 2026, 7 have “video” in their slug (a plain substring match on the slug key), and none names the Captions app. The one captions pack, Claude prompts for social captions, covers writing post captions, not video editing.
For AI video work, the closest packs are AI video prompts and Higgsfield video prompts.
The verdict
Pay for Max if you already generate AI clips every month. At $24.99 a month for 500 credits, it is the entry paid tier, and the price per credit does not fall as you climb to Frontier.
Skip Captions if captions and trimming are all you need. The free plan has no AI credits, and CapCut’s Pro plan is $5 less a month on its own pricing page, with 1200 AI credits in a different credit system.
What would change the answer: a return of a $9.99 tier, a printed yearly price that lowers the monthly cost, or App Store complaints about cancelling and exporting that stop appearing in Apple’s feed.
Better alternatives?
If it is not the right fit, these are worth a look.
CapCut Pro
USD 19.99 a month on its pricing page, with 1200 monthly AI credits. The credit unit differs from Captions.
Opus Clip
Built around turning long videos into short clips, with its own plan ladder.
Descript
A transcript-based editor for recordings and talking-head video.
Frequently asked questions
Is Captions worth it in 2026?▾
For creators who generate AI video every month, yes, at $24.99 a month for Max. For captions and basic editing alone, skip it, because the free plan has no AI usage credits.
How much does Captions cost per month?▾
As of October 2026 the pricing page prints Max at $24.99 a month for 500 credits, and Frontier at $69.99, $139.99 or $279.99 a month for 1,400, 2,800 or 5,600 credits. The footnote says those prices reflect iOS plans only.
Does Captions have a free plan?▾
The vendor’s pricing-page FAQ (captions.ai/pricing, October 2026) says: “Yes, there is a free version of Captions.” Its plan table lists AI usage credits as None for the free plan.
Did Captions drop its $9.99 plan?▾
The June 7, 2026 archive of the pricing page prints Pro at $9.99 a month. The August 2, 2026 archive does not print it, and Max at $24.99 is the lowest paid plan in both later archives and on the live page.
Is Captions the same company as Mirage?▾
Yes. Captions said on September 4, 2025 that it was changing its company name to Mirage. The app and its pricing page keep the Captions name.