Works with any windowed game
Any game in windowed or borderless mode. Capture uses Windows Graphics Capture, so only the game window is read, never your other apps.
Free and open source · Windows 10 & 11
Play any game in your language.
Subline reads a game's subtitles off the screen and shows them translated, right where the originals were, about half a second after each line appears. No mods, no game files, no account.
Original
With Subline · Turkish
- Free, for goodMIT licence. No trial, no premium tier.
- Nothing to sign up forNo account, no ads, no tracking.
- Your screen stays yoursText is read on your PC. Images never leave it.
- Leaves nothing behindOne click removes every file and key it made.
How it works
Three steps, then just play.
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1
Pick a language and your game
Open Subline, choose the language you want and the game window. Paste a free DeepL key once, or use the offline translator with no key at all.
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2
Mark where the subtitles are
Press Ctrl+Shift+A in the game and drag a box over the subtitles. Subline remembers it for that game, even when you change resolution.
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3
Play
Each new line is read, translated and drawn over the original in about half a second. Lines the game repeats appear instantly.
Features
Built to feel like the game shipped in your language.
Subtitles that look right
One steady size and colour, learned from the game's own text. A dark pill, a soft shadow or bare outlined text, in any font on your PC.
Understands the scene
Translators see the recent lines, so names, pronouns and tone stay consistent. Speaker names like “Casey:” stay as the game printed them.
Never translates a line twice
A per-game cache answers repeated lines instantly, without spending your DeepL characters or Claude tokens.
Light on your PC
Text is read only when something in the subtitle area changes, so a still scene costs nothing. A subtitle strip takes about 50 ms on the CPU.
Stays out of your way
Tray icon, global hotkeys and per-game profiles that load on their own. The overlay hides when the game isn't in front.
Translators
Pick the translator that suits you.
Switch at any time. Your keys are stored in Windows Credential Manager, never in a file.
DeepL
Default~0.2 s per line
Fast and natural, especially for European languages and Turkish.
Free API plan: 500,000 characters a month
Claude
Anthropic~0.9 s per line
Follows your glossary and tone notes, keeps characters consistent, and can translate a game's whole script up front.
Pay per use with your own API key
Offline
No network~0.02 s per line
Runs entirely on your PC. Strong on short lines, weaker on long ones. A one-time download per language pair.
Free, and nothing leaves your PC
Draft mode: show a fast offline or DeepL translation at once, then swap in the better one when it arrives. Speeds measured English to Turkish on a desktop PC.
The app
Simple on the surface. Adjustable underneath.
Pick a language and a game, press Start. Everything a player needs is on one page.
Languages
Translates into 31 languages.
Subline reads subtitles in English and most other Latin-script languages, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian and other Cyrillic-script languages, and Arabic. It translates them into:
- Arabic
- Bulgarian
- Chinese
- Czech
- Danish
- Dutch
- English
- Estonian
- Finnish
- French
- German
- Greek
- Hungarian
- Indonesian
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Latvian
- Lithuanian
- Norwegian
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Romanian
- Russian
- Slovak
- Slovenian
- Spanish
- Swedish
- Turkish
- Ukrainian
- Vietnamese
The offline translator covers the language pairs that have an offline model.
Hotkeys
Never leave the game.
| CtrlShiftA | Select the subtitle area |
| CtrlShiftT | Start or stop translating |
| CtrlShiftP | Pause and hide translations |
| CtrlShiftR | Read the screen afresh |
| CtrlShiftS | Open settings |
Change any of them on the Hotkeys page.
Privacy
Private by design. Gone when you want it gone.
What leaves your PC
- Only subtitle text, and only to the translator you chose (DeepL or Anthropic), with your own key.
- Never images of your screen. Text recognition runs on your PC.
- With the offline translator, nothing at all.
- No analytics, no telemetry, no account.
Subline downloads its text-recognition models on first run (about 20 MB), and the offline model if you choose it.
What stays, and how to remove it
- Settings, profiles and translation caches live in one folder:
%APPDATA%\gametl. - API keys live in Windows Credential Manager, protected by your Windows account.
- Advanced › Remove all data and quit deletes the folder and the keys.
- Then uninstall from Settings › Apps, or delete the portable folder. That's everything Subline keeps.
Download
Get Subline. It's free.
The latest release, built from the public source by GitHub Actions.
Installer
RecommendedInstalls for your user only, with no administrator prompt. Adds a Start menu entry and an uninstaller.
Download installerWindows installer (.exe)
Portable
.zipThe same app without an installer. Unzip the folder anywhere and run gametl.exe.
Portable folder (.zip)
Requirements
- Windows 10 (version 1903 or later) or Windows 11, 64-bit.
- The game in windowed or borderless-window mode.
- For DeepL or Claude, an internet connection and an API key. The offline translator needs neither.
“Windows protected your PC”?
Subline isn't code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen may warn about an unknown publisher. Choose More info, then Run anyway. The full source is on GitHub, and every release is built from it.
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Is Subline really free?
Yes. Subline is free and open source under the MIT licence: no trial, no premium version, no ads. The only possible cost is the translation service you pick. DeepL's free plan covers 500,000 characters a month, Anthropic bills Claude per use, and the offline translator is free.
Which games does it work with?
Any game that shows its subtitles as text on screen and runs in windowed or borderless-window mode. Exclusive fullscreen can't be captured or drawn over, but most games offer a borderless option in their display settings.
Does it modify or inject into the game?
No. Subline reads the game window the way a screen recorder does and draws its translation in a separate, click-through window on top. It doesn't touch game files or memory. Online games set their own rules about overlays, so check them if in doubt.
Will the translation show up in my recordings or streams?
A display capture (such as OBS Display Capture) includes it, so viewers see the translation too. A game or window capture records the game alone. To keep the overlay out of every capture, turn on Keep the overlay out of recordings on the Game page.
Will it slow my game down?
Hardly. Subline reads the screen only when something in the subtitle area changes, so a still scene costs nothing, and reading a subtitle strip takes about 50 ms on a desktop CPU. Translation happens on a separate thread and never holds anything up.
Is my API key safe?
Keys are stored in Windows Credential Manager, protected by your Windows account, and sent only to DeepL or Anthropic. They are never written into a settings file.
How do I remove everything?
On the Advanced page, choose Remove all data and quit. That deletes Subline's folder and its saved keys. Then uninstall it from Settings › Apps › Subline, or delete the portable folder. That's everything Subline keeps.
Where do I report a problem or suggest something?
Open an issue on GitHub. A note of the game, the languages and the translator helps.