Amara
Amara is a Boston-based nonprofit cloud platform offering DIY video subtitling tools, AI and human captioning services in 50+ languages, and enterprise API plans for education, media, cultural, and nonprofit customers globally.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2006
- HeadquartersBoston, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Amara does
Amara is a cloud-based video accessibility and localization platform operated by the Participatory Culture Foundation (PCF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit established in 2006 in Boston, MA. The platform combines a DIY subtitle editor (Amara Editor) with a managed professional services arm (Amara On Demand) that draws on a network of 2,500+ linguists across 50+ languages, and offers enterprise plans (Amara Enterprise, Amara Integrated) with API access, role-based team management, customizable workflows, and Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) for AI-generated captions. The underlying technology is a multi-tenant cloud subtitle editor with audio waveform visualization, multi-format import/export (SRT, DFXP, VTT, SBV, SSA), a public REST API documented at apidocs.amara.org, and native publishing integrations with YouTube and Vimeo.
The company generates revenue through three streams: freemium platform access for individuals and teams, usage-based professional services priced per minute of video or per word of text (AI captions from $0.35/min, professional human captions from $2/min, translated subtitles from $9/min, text translations from $0.24/word), and subscription-based platform tiers (Amara Plus, Amara Enterprise, Amara Integrated) billed monthly or annually. Go-to-market combines product-led growth via the free editor, enterprise field sales for large organizations, and a community-led volunteer program (Amplifying Voices, 5,867+ members) that captions social-impact content. Primary customer segments include education (Emerson College, Algonquin College), museums and cultural institutions (California Academy of Sciences, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity), media and arts (Nowness, Net in Nederland, Artistics), and consumer brands (Swarovski).
The organization has operated without disclosed external venture funding beyond a 2012 round of $1,000,000 from Knight Enterprise Fund and Mozilla. It has received recognition through TheTech Awards, the FCC Chairman's Awards for Advancement in Accessibility, and the UNAOC Intercultural Innovation Award. The company maintains 51–100 employees and serves a global customer base with no disclosed geographic restrictions.
Amara firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Amara
- Legal name
- Participatory Culture Foundation
- Website
- https://amara.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2006
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Amara is a Boston-based nonprofit cloud platform offering DIY video subtitling tools, AI and human captioning services in 50+ languages, and enterprise API plans for education, media, cultural, and nonprofit customers globally.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Amara industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Video Accessibility & Subtitling Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (513210)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Developer Tooling & SDK Platforms (BPAMAOAD)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- iPaaS & Workflow Automation (BPAMAOAB)
Keywords
Where Amara is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Boston
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Amara business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Professional Subtitling Services (Amara On Demand): Human-created professional captions, subtitles, and translations delivered by a network of 2,500+ passionate, professional linguists. Services include translated subtitles, professional captions, AI captions, video transcriptions, and text translations. Revenue is usage-based based on video runtime or word count.
- Subscription Plans (Amara Plus, Amara Enterprise): Platform subscription tiers offering different feature sets. Amara Plus includes AI captions and team features. Amara Enterprise includes advanced features like automated speech recognition, robust API, full privacy controls, customized workflows, and enterprise training and support. Billed monthly or annually.
- Freemium Editor Access: Free access to the Amara subtitle editor for individuals and teams to create and manage subtitles. Generates revenue through upsells to professional services and paid platform tiers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | AI Captions - Instant AI-generated captions for quick turnaround |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | AI Captions + Human Review - AI with text accuracy verification |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Professional Captions - 100% human-created captions |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Translated Subtitles - Human translation into 50+ languages |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Video Transcriptions - Text version of video or audio |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Text Translations - Professional 100% human translation |
| Subscription | Monthly | Amara Plus - Team platform with AI captions |
| Subscription | Annual | Amara Enterprise - Full-featured enterprise platform |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels7 records
Amara product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Amara operates a cloud-based video accessibility and localization platform that combines a do-it-yourself subtitle editor with professional captioning, subtitling, transcription, and translation services delivered by a 2,500+ linguist network across 50+ languages. Customers can self-serve via the Amara Editor, order managed services through Amara On Demand, or license enterprise capabilities (ASR, API, custom workflows, privacy controls) for organizational use.
Product overview
Amara is a subtitling and video accessibility platform operated by the Participatory Culture Foundation (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit). The platform offers a portfolio of products including the multi-award winning Amara Editor (cloud-based DIY subtitling tool), Amara On Demand (professional human and AI-powered captioning/subtitling services), and Amara Enterprise/Integrated plans for organizations. The portfolio spans self-service tools (Editor, AI Captions), professional managed services (On Demand with 2,500+ linguists), team collaboration (Teamspaces), and volunteer community programs. Services cover captioning, subtitling in 50+ languages, transcription, and text translation, with integrations for YouTube and Vimeo.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Amara Editor: Multi-award winning cloud-based DIY subtitle editor for creating and editing subtitles individually or as a team
- Amara On Demand
- Amara Enterprise
- Amara Plus
- Amplifying Voices
- Amara Teamspaces
Products and services
- Amara Editor A multi-award winning cloud-based do-it-yourself subtitle editor enabling individuals and teams to create, edit, caption, subtitle, translate, and review video content, featuring audio waveforms, adjustable playback speed, keyboard shortcuts, team management, and customizable workflows.
- Amara On Demand Professional subtitle, captioning, transcription, and translation services delivered by a network of 2,500+ native-speaking professional linguists, available in 50+ languages with both human-only and AI-assisted options.
- Amara Enterprise Enterprise plan providing Automated Speech Recognition, robust API access, full privacy controls, customized workflows, and enterprise training and support for large organizations.
- Amara Integrated Enterprise plan designed for organizations wanting to add subtitle creation and editing into established workflows, offering API integration and team management capabilities.
- Amara Teamspaces Team collaboration workspace enabling users to create private teams, manage members with role-based permissions, and coordinate subtitle projects across contributors.
- AI Captions AI-generated captions service providing instantaneous initial caption versions using Automated Speech Recognition, offered on a pay-per-use basis starting at $0.35/minute with human-review options.
- Professional Captions 100% human-created captions delivered in 50+ languages by professional linguists, starting at $2.00/minute.
- Translated Subtitles Human-translated subtitles in 50+ languages, starting at $9.00/minute, delivered by native-speaker professional translators focused on capturing tone and meaning.
- Video Transcriptions Human-powered text transcriptions of video or audio content, starting at $2.00/minute, used for SEO, education, and viewer engagement.
- Text Translations Professional human translation services for standalone text content, starting at $0.24/word, available in 50+ languages.
Companies that use Amara
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Amara technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
AI capability3 records
Feature7 records
Amara partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Participatory Culture Foundation (PCF)coreAmara is a project of the Participatory Culture Foundation (PCF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. PCF is the parent entity that oversees Amara's mission to build a more inclusive media ecosystem. Founded in 2006, PCF drives Amara's development and community initiatives including the Amplifying Voices volunteer program.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Amara competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- 3Play Media: 3Play Media specializes in video captioning, transcription, translation, and audio description for enterprise, education, and media customers — a near-identical offering to Amara's professional and enterprise plans.
- Rev: Rev is a direct competitor offering AI and human transcription, captions, and subtitles with usage-based pricing and a self-serve platform — directly overlapping with Amara's Amara On Demand and AI Captions services.
- Caption Access: Caption Access provides closed captioning, subtitling, and transcription services to broadcast, corporate, and education clients — a direct competitor in the professional captioning segment.
- Otter.ai: Otter.ai provides AI-powered meeting transcription and live captioning with enterprise plans — competing with Amara's ASR-led AI Captions product and increasingly overlapping on enterprise meeting and video use cases.
- Gengo: Gengo is a crowdsourced translation platform offering human translation across many languages — overlapping with Amara's translated subtitle and text translation services.
- Sonix: Sonix offers automated transcription, translation, and subtitling with a self-serve web editor — directly comparable to Amara's cloud-based Editor and AI-driven workflows.
- TranscribeMe: TranscribeMe provides AI and human-powered transcription and translation services with enterprise delivery — overlapping with Amara On Demand's paid service offerings.
- Verbit: Verbit combines proprietary AI with human reviewers to deliver captioning and transcription at scale for enterprise, legal, and education — directly competing with Amara's hybrid AI + human review model.
Broad incumbents
- Translated.net: Translated.com is a large, established translation services provider with AI + human offerings across 200+ languages — competing with Amara's text and subtitle translation at the upper end of the market.
- LanguageLine Solutions: LanguageLine Solutions is a large incumbent offering interpretation and translation services globally — a broader-language-services competitor overlapping with Amara's translation work for enterprise and government customers.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks1 record
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Amara social profiles
Digital presenceAmara financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Amara leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Amara funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors2 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Amara M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Amara
What does Amara do?
Amara operates a cloud-based video accessibility and localization platform that combines a do-it-yourself subtitle editor with professional captioning, subtitling, transcription, and translation services delivered by a 2,500+ linguist network across 50+ languages. Customers can self-serve via the Amara Editor, order managed services through Amara On Demand, or license enterprise capabilities (ASR, API, custom workflows, privacy controls) for organizational use.
Is Amara a public or private company?
Amara is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Amara founded?
Amara was founded in 2006. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Amara based?
Amara is headquartered in Boston, United States, in the North America region.
How does Amara make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Professional Subtitling Services (Amara On Demand) is the primary driver. The others are subscription Plans (Amara Plus, Amara Enterprise) and freemium Editor Access.
Who are Amara's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are 3Play Media, Rev, Caption Access, Otter.ai, Gengo, Sonix, TranscribeMe and Verbit. Broad incumbents are Translated.net and LanguageLine Solutions.
Does Amara have an API?
Yes. Amara provides a REST API for interacting with its subtitling platform. The API supports video management (add, list, view, delete), subtitle language operations, subtitle CRUD, user management, team management, projects, applications, notifications (HTTP callbacks/webhooks), and activity tracking. Authentication uses X-API-KEY header. Supports JSON (recommended), XML, and YAML input/output formats. Enterprise customers can register HTTP callback URLs for real-time notifications on team activity. Contact [email protected] for commercial API usage. Developer documentation is at apidocs.amara.org.
What industry is Amara in?
Amara's product category is Video Accessibility & Subtitling Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAOAD, Developer Tooling & SDK Platforms, with a secondary code of BPAMAOAB, iPaaS & Workflow Automation. Its NAICS code is 513210 and its SIC code is 7372.