TranscriptYTThe cheapest way to turn YouTube into text.
Transcripts, subtitles, and translations from any public video.
Free tool
Paste a link, get the text. No signup.
GET /v1/transcript?url=youtu.be/…
200 OK · application/json
{
"language": "en",
"segments": [{ "start": 0.24,
"text": "Welcome back…" }, …]
API
One endpoint, 150+ languages.
MCP server
For Claude, Codex, and Cursor.
- Free tool, no account needed
- 100 API transcripts free
- 199 ms median for cached videos
- 99.7% success rate this week
Works with
- Claude
- Codex
- Cursor
- VS Code
- GitHub Copilot
- Python
- Node.js
- n8n
- LangChain
Everything the API does.
Full reference →GET /v1/transcript
Get a transcript
Any public video as JSON, text, SRT, VTT, CSV, or Markdown, in its own language or translated.
POST /v1/transcripts
Many videos at once
Up to 50 URLs, or a whole playlist or channel, in one call.
GET /v1/search
Search YouTube
Find videos across YouTube, or inside one channel, with views, duration, and upload date.
GET /v1/playlist
List a playlist or channel
Every video in a playlist, or a channel's uploads newest first, with titles and durations.
GET /v1/languages
List caption languages
The caption tracks a video has, plus every language it can be translated into.
GET /v1/summary
Summarize a video
Summary, key points, and timestamped study notes generated from the transcript.
GET /v1/usage
Check usage
Plan, credits used, and credits left for the key.
Up to 3x cheaper.
Entry plan against entry plan, pack against pack. And at volume we go down to $1.58 per 1,000. Failed requests are free.
See all plansPrice per 1,000 transcripts, entry tier
- TranscriptAPI.com$5.00
- Apify transcript actor$10.00
Cheapest way in, from each provider's pricing page, October 2026.
Your AI agent can read YouTube now.
Share a YouTube link in chat. Your agent reads the transcript.
Give me the key takeaways from this talk
How to Pitch Your Startup in 10 Slides
youtube.com/watch?v=…
Key takeaways:
- 1Open with the problem, not the product
- 2Show traction early: one chart, one number
- 3Keep the deck to 10 slides
- 4End with a specific ask
Pricing
1 credit per transcript. Failed requests are free.
100 free transcripts, no card
One time. Every language and format.
Every plan: JSON, text, SRT, VTT, CSV, Markdown.
Micro
$3.00 per 1,000 transcripts
- 1,000 credits / month
- Top-ups $3.00 / 1,000
- 1 API key
- 200 requests / minute
- Email support
Starter
$2.25 per 1,000 transcripts
- 4,000 credits / month
- Top-ups $2.50 / 1,000
- 3 API keys
- 200 requests / minute
- Email support
Growth
$1.93 per 1,000 transcripts
- 15,000 credits / month
- Top-ups $2.00 / 1,000
- 10 API keys
- 200 requests / minute
- Priority email support
Scale
Best value$1.58 per 1,000 transcripts
- 50,000 credits / month
- Top-ups $1.75 / 1,000
- 25 API keys
- 200 requests / minute
- Priority support
Need more in a busy month? Top up on any plan. No subscription? Credit packs from $45 for 25,000, valid 12 months. Language lists are free; search and playlist listings are free on paid plans and packs (Free plan: 10 a day, then 1 credit).
Enterprise
Over 50,000 transcripts a month, or need more than 200 requests a minute? Get volume pricing and custom rate limits.
4,000
Cheapest option
$9/month
Starter · $2.25 per 1,000
Free YouTube tools.
All free tools →- YouTube Transcript GeneratorThe full transcript of any video, with timestamps, in 150+ languages.
- YouTube Video SummarizerA short AI summary, key points, and timestamped notes.
- YouTube Chapter GeneratorTimestamps and chapter titles ready to paste into your description.
- YouTube to Blog PostTurn a video into a structured, SEO-ready article.
- YouTube to TextPlain text of what's said in a video, ready to copy.
- YouTube SRT DownloaderDownload a video's captions as an .srt file.
- Chat with YouTube VideoAsk questions and get answers with timestamps.
- YouTube Tag ExtractorSee the tags and hashtags any video uses.
- YouTube Transcript SearchFind every moment a word or phrase is said in a video.
- YouTube Thumbnail DownloaderDownload a video's thumbnail in HD and every other size.
- YouTube Subtitle DownloaderCaptions as SRT, VTT, TXT, CSV, or JSON.
- YouTube Description GeneratorTitles, a description, hashtags, and tags written from your video.
- YouTube Quiz GeneratorMultiple-choice questions and flashcards from any lesson.
- YouTube Playlist TranscriptBrowse a playlist and open any video's transcript.
- YouTube Channel ID FinderThe UC… channel ID, uploads playlist, and RSS feed for any channel.
- YouTube Word CounterWord count, speaking speed, and reading time of a video.
- YouTube Transcript TranslatorTranslate a transcript into 150+ languages, side by side.
- YouTube Quote FinderThe most quotable lines, word for word, with timestamps.
- YouTube Video StatsViews, publish date, category, captions, and description of any video.
- YouTube Channel TranscriptsEvery upload on a channel, with its transcript a click away.
- YouTube Keyword Density CheckerThe words and phrases a video repeats most.
- YouTube to Twitter ThreadAn X thread from any video: a hook and one idea per post.
- YouTube to LinkedIn PostA LinkedIn post with a hook, takeaways, and hashtags.
- YouTube Video to NotesOrganized notes with headings, bullets, and timestamps.
- YouTube Transcript to PDFSave any transcript as a clean, printable PDF.
- YouTube Shorts TranscriptThe text of any Short, with timestamps.
Common questions
Is there a free plan?
Yes. Every account gets 100 free credits, no card needed. The free transcript tool on the site needs no account at all.
What counts as a credit?
One successful transcript is one credit. A summary is 2 for most videos (the transcript plus the summary); summaries of videos longer than about 25 minutes cost about 1 more per further 45 minutes. Language lists and usage checks are free. Search and playlist listings are free on paid plans and credit packs; the Free plan gets 10 a day, then 1 credit each. Failed requests are never charged.
What if a video has no captions?
The API transcribes the audio with AI automatically, at 1 credit per started minute of audio. You can turn this off with mode=captions.
Which languages are supported?
Any caption track YouTube has, and translation into 150+ languages with translate_to.
What is the cheapest YouTube transcript API?
TranscriptYT costs $1.58 per 1,000 transcripts on the Scale plan and $3 a month for 1,000 on Micro, with 100 free to start. Subscribers can top up on any plan. Without a subscription, a $45 pack buys 25,000 ($1.80 per 1,000, under ScrapeCreators' $1.88). Entry plans elsewhere cost $5 per 1,000 (TranscriptAPI.com, Supadata), $9.99 (youtube-transcript.io), and about $10 (a popular Apify actor), as listed in October 2026. ScrapeCreators' largest packs go lower at very high volume.
Is there a YouTube transcript API that handles proxies?
Yes. TranscriptYT routes every request through rotating residential proxies and retries blocked fetches on a fresh IP, from $1.58 per 1,000 transcripts. You don't buy or manage proxies, and it works from AWS, GCP, Vercel, and other cloud hosts that YouTube usually blocks.
Is there a YouTube transcript MCP server?
Yes. TranscriptYT's hosted YouTube transcript MCP server at https://transcript-yt.com/mcp gives Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, and any MCP client 6 tools: transcripts, summaries, search, playlists, languages, and usage. It uses the same API key: 100 transcripts free, then from $1.58 per 1,000.
Can I get a whole playlist or channel?
Yes. List it with /v1/playlist (free on paid plans), or fetch up to 50 transcripts in one call with /v1/transcripts.
What happens if I run out of credits?
Requests return an error instead of charging you. Upgrade, top up on any paid plan, or buy a credit pack from $45 (no subscription needed).