Free YouTube tool

YouTube Sermon Transcript

Paste the link to a sermon or service on YouTube to get the full message as text, with timestamps. Read it again, quote it, or share it with your group. Free, no sign-up.

How to get a sermon transcript

  1. 1

    Copy the sermon link

    From your church's YouTube channel or livestream. Finished livestreams work the same as uploaded videos.

  2. 2

    Paste it above

    The whole message loads as text with timestamps. Click a line to jump to that point in the video.

  3. 3

    Save or share it

    Download it as PDF to print, as TXT for your notes, or copy a passage for your small group.

Revisit the message

Read the sermon again during the week, highlight what stood out, and look up the passages it covered. The text is easier to study than rewatching a recording.

For small groups and church staff

Leaders use sermon transcripts to write discussion questions, staff use them for blog posts, newsletters, and social media, and members who missed Sunday can read the message in a few minutes.

Need more?

Need transcripts at scale? Use the API

The same transcripts are available through the YouTube Transcript API: timestamped JSON, text, SRT, VTT, CSV, or Markdown, 150+ languages, and AI transcription for videos without captions. Or connect the YouTube MCP server to Claude, Cursor, or Codex and just paste links in chat.

curl "https://transcript-yt.com/v1/transcript?url=5f3Pn-N6yLc&format=text" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ts_live_..."

Common questions

Can I get a transcript of a church livestream?

Yes, once the livestream has ended and YouTube has processed its captions, usually within a few hours.

Can I find where the sermon starts in a full service?

Yes. Skim the transcript or search for a phrase from the sermon, then click that line to jump the video to it.

Are scripture references correct?

Auto-captions usually get book names and verse numbers right, but can mishear them. Check references against your Bible before you publish a quote.

Can I summarize a sermon?

Yes. The Summary and Notes tabs give the main points and an outline with timestamps, useful for small group guides.

What if the video has no captions?

The free tool reads the captions YouTube already has, creator-uploaded or auto-generated, and most videos with speech have them. For a video with no captions at all, click Transcribe the audio with AI: it's on paid plans and credit packs, at 1 credit per minute.