Is yellow better than white?

It holds up better against pale and washed out scenes, and it is slightly slower to read on dark ones. If most of your footage is bright, yellow is a reasonable default.

Can I use my brand colour on every word?

You can, and on paid plans a saved style will keep it consistent across a run. Whether you should depends on how far that colour sits from your footage.

What about a colour that changes as words land?

Highlighting the active word is different from colouring the whole line, and it helps rather than hurts, because the colour is marking position rather than replacing white.

Do dark colours ever work?

Rarely, because most video has dark areas somewhere and dark text vanishes into them. If you want dark text you need a solid pale shape behind it, which changes the look entirely.

How many colours is too many?

Two. One for the line and one for emphasis. A third gives the eye a decision to make in a clip that lasts thirty seconds.

Does colour affect how quickly people read?

Anything with less separation from the picture takes longer to resolve. On a clip lasting seconds, that time comes out of comprehension rather than out of nothing.

What if my footage changes brightness constantly?

Then no colour is reliable on its own, and a shape behind the line is the option that does not depend on what the picture is doing.

The Best Subtitle Colour for Readability

Which colour reads fastest on a phone?

Plain white, by a wide margin, because it holds the largest separation from the widest range of backgrounds. Yellow comes second and survives bright scenes better. Every other colour trades reading speed for personality, which is a fair trade only when one or two words carry it.

How each colour behaves against real footage

The test is separation from what sits behind the words, judged on the hardest frame in the clip rather than the first one.

Colour	Where it holds up	Where it fails
White	Almost everything, including skin tones and mid scenes	Snow, sky, whiteboards, stage lighting
Yellow	Bright and washed out scenes	Pale sand, bright sunlight on wood
Brand colour	Footage you control and light consistently	Anything unpredictable, and most outdoor recording
Dark text	A clip that is pale from beginning to end	Any scene with shadow in it, which is most
Two colours	One line plain, one word emphasised	Whole lines in colour, which slow every word
Any colour at all	Scenes whose brightness holds still	Footage that moves between shade and sun, where only a fixed shape survives

Why outlines and bands matter more than colour

The colour of the letters is only half the contrast. A thin dark outline around white text, or a soft band behind the line, gives the words their own background wherever they land. With either in place, the choice of colour becomes much less risky, because the text is never judged against a bright sky or a white shirt alone.

A band is the safest option for footage whose brightness changes constantly, like outdoor walks, gaming or concerts. An outline keeps more of the picture visible and suits studio footage with predictable lighting. Both are more important decisions than the colour itself, and worth making first.

Colour for viewers who see it differently

A noticeable share of viewers, especially men, have some form of colour vision deficiency. The most common type makes red and green hard to tell apart, so a style that marks key words in red against green foliage, or green against a red background, can lose the emphasis entirely for those viewers.

Emphasis that relies on more than colour survives for everyone. A key word that is also bolder, larger or briefly animated still stands out when its colour does not. Check your style in a greyscale preview: if the important word still looks important, the design works regardless of colour vision.

Testing on the footage you actually post

Pick the three hardest frames from your typical footage: the brightest, the darkest and the busiest. Put your chosen colour over each and see whether the words stay effortless to read at phone size. A colour that passes all three will work across nearly everything you post.

Repeat the test when your recording setup changes. A new backdrop, a different lighting arrangement or a move from indoor to outdoor filming can turn a reliable colour into a weak one without anyone noticing until viewers start commenting that they cannot read the words.

Pick the colour after you see it moving

Start from white and earn any change. Begin with the thing that works everywhere, then justify each departure from it.
Colour one word, not the line. A single highlighted word draws the eye. A coloured paragraph slows every word in it.
Judge it at arm's length. Hold the phone where a viewer would hold it. Colour that looks bold up close often disappears at real distance.

Try one clip and look at the words while the picture changes behind them.

Questions people ask

Is yellow better than white?: It holds up better against pale and washed out scenes, and it is slightly slower to read on dark ones. If most of your footage is bright, yellow is a reasonable default.
Can I use my brand colour on every word?: You can, and on paid plans a saved style will keep it consistent across a run. Whether you should depends on how far that colour sits from your footage.
What about a colour that changes as words land?: Highlighting the active word is different from colouring the whole line, and it helps rather than hurts, because the colour is marking position rather than replacing white.
Do dark colours ever work?: Rarely, because most video has dark areas somewhere and dark text vanishes into them. If you want dark text you need a solid pale shape behind it, which changes the look entirely.
How many colours is too many?: Two. One for the line and one for emphasis. A third gives the eye a decision to make in a clip that lasts thirty seconds.
Does colour affect how quickly people read?: Anything with less separation from the picture takes longer to resolve. On a clip lasting seconds, that time comes out of comprehension rather than out of nothing.
What if my footage changes brightness constantly?: Then no colour is reliable on its own, and a shape behind the line is the option that does not depend on what the picture is doing.