YouTube Transcript Extractor — API for Captions & Subtitles Without API Key

YouTube Transcript Extractor is an Apify Actor that extracts full transcripts, subtitles, and captions from any YouTube video in seconds. No YouTube Data API key required. No quota limits. No OAuth setup. Just a URL in, clean JSON transcript out.

Extract transcripts from any YouTube video — regular videos, Shorts, Premieres, live VODs, and embeds. Supports 100+ languages with automatic caption detection. Try it now on Apify Store →

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Table of Contents

• What Is YouTube Transcript Extractor?
• Why Use This Tool?
• Key Features
• Use Cases
• Input Parameters
• Output Schema
• Pricing
• API Integration
• Integrations
• Limitations
• FAQ
• Support

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What Is YouTube Transcript Extractor?

A cloud API that converts YouTube video captions — manual or auto-generated — into structured plain-text JSON. It accepts every YouTube URL format, requires zero authentication with Google, and has no daily quota restrictions.

Unlike the official YouTube Data API v3:

• No API key — skip Google Cloud setup and OAuth flows
• No quota limits — extract unlimited transcripts per day
• Auto-generated captions — extracts what the official API cannot
• Pay per successful extraction — only pay when transcripts are delivered

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Why Use YouTube Transcript Extractor?

Capability	YouTube Transcript Extractor	YouTube Data API v3
API Key Required	No	Yes
Daily Quota	Unlimited	10,000 units/day
Auto-Generated Captions	Yes	No
Manual Captions	Yes	Yes (limited)
Setup Complexity	URL in, JSON out	OAuth + project setup
Batch Processing	Unlimited	Quota-limited
Cost Model	Pay per transcript	Free quota + paid overflow

Best for: AI/ML training data pipelines, RAG ingestion, content repurposing, SEO research, accessibility compliance, and competitive analysis.

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Key Features

Feature	Description
Full Transcript Extraction	Complete captions for any video with subtitles enabled
All Video Types	Regular videos, YouTube Shorts, Premieres, live VODs, embed URLs
Universal URL Parsing	Accepts youtube.com/watch, youtu.be/, shorts/, live/, embed/, and bare video IDs
100+ Language Support	Auto-detects or lets you specify a BCP-47 language code
No API Key Needed	Bypasses YouTube Data API v3 quota restrictions entirely
Structured JSON Output	Pipeline-ready data for databases, vector stores, and AI models
Proxy Rotation	Built-in Apify residential proxies to avoid IP blocking
Batch Processing	Scale to thousands of videos via API

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Use Cases

AI, ML & NLP

• LLM Training Data — build high-quality text corpora from YouTube content at scale
• RAG Pipeline Ingestion — chunk and embed transcripts into Pinecone, Weaviate, or Chroma for semantic search
• Sentiment & Topic Analysis — process large transcript volumes for NLP research
• AI Content Generation — feed transcripts to LLMs for summarization, Q&A, and content repurposing

Content & Marketing

• Content Repurposing — convert YouTube videos into blog posts, newsletters, and social captions
• SEO Keyword Research — extract transcript text to discover keywords competitors rank for in video search
• Video Summarization — auto-generate video summaries and descriptions using LLMs

Business & Accessibility

• Accessibility Compliance — generate ADA and WCAG 2.1 compliant transcripts
• Internal Knowledge Base — convert training videos and webinars into searchable documentation
• Market Research — analyze industry YouTube channels at scale

Developers

• REST API Integration — simple POST returns JSON; no SDK required
• Automation Workflows — connect with n8n, Make, Zapier, or Activepieces
• Scheduled Monitoring — track new videos from specific channels automatically

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Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
videoUrl	string	Yes	https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ	YouTube URL or 11-character video ID
language	string	No	en	BCP-47 language code (e.g., en, es, hi, zh-Hans). Auto-detects if omitted
proxySettings	object	No	RESIDENTIAL, US	Apify proxy configuration

Supported URL Formats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID
https://youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID
https://youtube.com/live/VIDEO_ID
https://youtube.com/embed/VIDEO_ID
VIDEO_ID (bare ID)

Example Input

{
  "videoUrl": "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "language": "en"
}

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Output Schema

{
  "success": true,
  "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "video_url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "video_title": "Example Video Title",
  "transcript": "Full transcript text extracted from the video...",
  "published_at": "Jan 15, 2026",
  "thumbnail_max_hd_url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/maxresdefault.jpg",
  "language": "en",
  "extraction_time": 3.45,
  "timestamp": "2026-04-26T12:00:00.000000+00:00"
}

Field	Type	Description
success	boolean	true if transcript was extracted successfully
video_id	string	Parsed YouTube video ID
video_url	string	Canonical YouTube URL (youtube.com/watch format)
video_title	string	Title of the YouTube video
transcript	string	Full plain-text transcript
published_at	string	Human-readable publish date (only present when available)
thumbnail_max_hd_url	string	HD thumbnail URL (only present when available)
language	string	BCP-47 language code (only present when detected)
extraction_time	number	Extraction duration in seconds (only present when > 0)
timestamp	string	ISO 8601 UTC timestamp
error	string	Error message (only present when success is false)

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Pricing

Pay-per-event pricing. You only pay for successful transcript extractions.

Event	Price
transcript-extracted	$0.012 per video

Cost examples:

• 10 transcripts → $0.12
• 100 transcripts → $1.20
• 1,000 transcripts → $12.00

New Apify accounts receive free credits to test before purchasing.

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API Integration

cURL

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/akash9078/youtube-transcript-extractor/runs" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"videoUrl": "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ", "language": "en"}'

Python

import requests

response = requests.post(
    'https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/akash9078/youtube-transcript-extractor/runs',
    headers={'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN'},
    json={'videoUrl': 'https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ'}
)
print(response.json())

Node.js

const { ApifyClient } = require('apify-client');

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_API_TOKEN' });
const run = await client.actor('akash9078/youtube-transcript-extractor').call({
    videoUrl: 'https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ'
});
console.log(run.defaultDatasetId);

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Integrations

AI/ML Platforms: OpenAI, Anthropic, LangChain, LlamaIndex, Pinecone, Chroma, Weaviate

Automation Tools: n8n, Make (Integromat), Zapier, Activepieces

Data Platforms: Google Sheets, Airtable, Notion, BigQuery

Apify Ecosystem: Chain with other Actors for full YouTube channel scraping pipelines

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Limitations

• Videos must have captions enabled (manual or auto-generated)
• Currently live streams are not supported; completed VODs work correctly
• Private and age-restricted videos are not currently supported
• Unlisted videos are accessible if you have the direct URL

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FAQ

Does it support auto-generated captions?

Yes. Both manual (human-written) and YouTube's auto-generated captions are supported and extracted.

Which languages are supported?

All languages available in a video's caption tracks. Specify a BCP-47 code (e.g., hi for Hindi, es for Spanish, ja for Japanese) or omit language to auto-detect.

Can I extract transcripts in bulk?

Yes. Use the Apify API or SDK to submit multiple video URLs and process them in parallel. No daily quota limits.

How fast is extraction?

3–5 seconds per video on average, depending on transcript length and server load.

Does it work with YouTube Shorts?

Yes. All standard Shorts URLs (youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID) are fully supported.

Is this an alternative to the YouTube Data API?

Yes. This tool extracts transcript data that the official API cannot access — specifically auto-generated captions — without quota restrictions or OAuth complexity.

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Support

• Issues: Apify Store Page
• Community: Apify Discord
• Documentation: See the input schema tab on the Actor page

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Built and maintained by akash9078 on the Apify platform.

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