TranscriptYTHow to summarize a YouTube video
- 1
Copy the video link
From the YouTube app or browser: Share → Copy link. Shorts and youtu.be links work too.
- 2
Paste it above
Hit Get transcript. The full transcript loads first, usually in a few seconds.
- 3
Open Summary or Notes
Summary gives you a short overview and the key points. Notes breaks the video into sections with timestamps you can jump back to.
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
Is this YouTube summarizer free?
Yes. You can summarize a few videos a day with no account, and signing in raises the limit. The summary is written by AI from the video's own transcript.
How do I summarize a YouTube video?
Paste the video's link into the box above, click Get transcript, then switch to the Summary tab. You get a short summary and the key points, and the Notes tab adds a timestamped outline.
What's the difference between Summary and Notes?
Summary is a few sentences plus a list of key points. Notes splits the video into sections, each with a heading, bullet points, and the timestamp where that section starts.
Does it work for long videos and podcasts?
Yes. Lectures, interviews, and podcasts work as long as the video has captions, which most do because YouTube auto-generates them.
Does it work in other languages?
Yes. The summary is written in the language of the transcript. Translate the transcript first if you want the summary in another language.
Can I copy or download the summary?
Yes. Copy puts the summary or notes on your clipboard as Markdown, ready to paste into Notion, Obsidian, Google Docs, or a chat.
Can I summarize YouTube videos with ChatGPT or Claude instead?
Yes. Connect the TranscriptYT MCP server to Claude, Codex, or Cursor and paste a YouTube link in chat. The assistant reads the transcript and can summarize it, answer questions about it, or compare videos.
Can I summarize many videos automatically?
Use the API: fetch transcripts for a playlist or channel in one request, then send them to the language model of your choice. Our guide on summarizing YouTube videos with AI shows the code.