Image and video decision
Sublo
A competent developer can implement a usable dual-subtitles Chrome extension (core workflow) using available open-source projects, but reproducing the full polished, cross-service, maintenance-heavy product Sublo provides (wide compatibility, priority translation, ongoing service maintenance) is harder to match without ongoing effort.
Visit website↗$2.89/mo
$35/yr
Read off the official pricing page.
$100one-off60 h to build
$20/mo4 h/mo upkeep
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 10 seats.
No open-source build does this yet
Nothing published replaces this one, so a replacement starts from an empty file. Here is what it would have to cover.
What a replacement has to do
- Extract original subtitle track from streaming page, translate lines in real time, render two synchronized subtitle tracks over video, let user pick languages and appearance, enforce Pro license/unlimited minutes.
What it still won’t have
- Extensive cross-service compatibility testing and maintenance (many streaming players and site changes)
- Priority translation engine and early access language rollouts
- User analytics, reviews distribution, and product polish across many edge cases
- Legal/brand risk analysis and ongoing takedown/resilience work for various streaming vendors
What remains hard
- Product polish and ongoing maintenance
First-year cost
Keep paying
Paying is—cheaper in year one.
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 10 seats.
Money you would actually spend
Time you would spend
—
What you would spend
What we assumed
The verdict above measures whether you could build it. This one is only about money.
Runnable build prompt
Build a Chrome extension (TypeScript, React for popup UI, Manifest V3) that: 1) detects and reads the active subtitle track(s) on popular streaming pages; 2) sends each subtitle line to a configurable translation API and caches results locally; 3) renders two synchronized subtitle tracks as an overlay that works in fullscreen and is fully styleable per-track; 4) enforces a 20-minute-per-day free limiter and accepts a Pro license key to unlock unlimited minutes; 5) includes settings persistence, error handling, unit tests for parsing/translation/cache logic, and end-to-end tests for overlay sync on at least one streaming site. Out of scope: paid analytics backend, multi-browser packaging beyond Chrome, training translation models.
How we checked
How the score was reached
- Partly verdict base52
- 2 cited sources+1
- Price verified on pricing page+3
- 3/3 assessment runs agreed+4
- Evidence score60
The base comes from the verdict. Everything under it is a check that either happened or did not, and each one is a fact frozen in this record rather than a judgement made at render time - so the same evidence always produces the same number.
How scoring works →Cited sources · 2
Every page the run actually retrieved.
- official pricingSublo homepage — pricing and product
- official productSublo homepage — features
Integrity checks
What held up, and what did not.
