# TikTok Transcript Scraper (`axlymxp/tiktok-transcript-scraper`) Actor

Get TikTok video transcripts without login. Paste video links and get timestamped text from TikTok's own captions, or Whisper AI speech-to-text when a video has none, with plays, likes, author and music. Videos without speech are not charged.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/axlymxp/tiktok-transcript-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [axly](https://apify.com/axlymxp) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, AI, Videos
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## TikTok Transcript Scraper

Get the words spoken in TikTok videos as text. Paste video links and get a **timestamped transcript for each video**, plus
plays, likes, shares, author, caption and music. The actor uses **TikTok's own caption track** when a video has one, and
transcribes the audio with **Whisper AI** when it doesn't, so videos without captions still get a transcript. No login,
no cookies, no API keys.

**Who it is for**

- **Marketers and agencies**: study what top creators actually say, and the hooks that open their best videos.
- **Brand and social-listening teams**: find product mentions in the spoken content, not only in captions.
- **AI and RAG pipelines**: feed TikTok speech into LLMs, summarizers and search indexes as clean text.
- **Researchers**: build spoken-content datasets from public videos.
- **Creators**: repurpose your own videos into posts, scripts and subtitles.

### What you get

| Field | Example | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `url`, `videoId` | `https://www.tiktok.com/@renreports/video/7307726351291960622` | |
| `authorUsername`, `authorNickname`, `authorVerified` | `renreports` | |
| `createdAt` | `2023-12-01T20:30:54Z` | UTC |
| `playCount`, `likeCount`, `commentCount`, `shareCount`, `collectCount` | `66900`, `2703`, `54`, `228`, `2927` | |
| `durationSeconds` | `139` | |
| `transcript` | `[{"start": 0.08, "end": 1.28, "text": "I work in influencer marketing"}, …]` | timed segments, or one string (see **Transcript format**) |
| `transcriptSource` | `tiktok_captions` or `ai_whisper` | where the text came from |
| `hook` | `I work in influencer marketing and I look at media kids all day long.` | the opening line (segments starting in the first 3 seconds) |
| `language`, `isAutoGenerated`, `isTranslated` | `en`, `true`, `false` | `isTranslated` is true when the caption track is TikTok's translation |
| `availableCaptionLanguages` | `["en", "es"]` | TikTok caption tracks on the video |
| `wordCount`, `hasSpeech`, `audioSeconds` | | |
| `description`, `hashtags`, `musicTitle`, `musicAuthor`, `isOriginalSound` | | the post text and sound |
| `locationCreated`, `isAd`, `coverUrl` | | |
| `error`, `errorReason` | `no_speech` | set when a video could not be transcribed |

Videos without speech (music-only dances, silent clips), removed or private videos and photo slideshows are listed with an
`error` code so you can see what happened to every input, and you are not charged for them.

### How to use it

1. Paste **TikTok videos**: full links (`tiktok.com/@user/video/…`), short links (`vm.tiktok.com/…`, `tiktok.com/t/…`),
   mobile links or bare video IDs.
2. Pick the **Transcript source**:
   - `auto` (default): TikTok's caption track when there is one, Whisper AI otherwise.
   - `captions`: TikTok's captions only, never AI. Videos without captions come back as `no_captions` rows.
   - `ai`: always transcribe the audio with Whisper, for example to translate everything to English.
3. Run, then export the dataset as JSON, CSV or Excel, or use the API.

#### Input options

| Option | Default | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `videoUrls` | – | TikTok video links or IDs |
| `transcriptSource` | `auto` | `auto`, `captions` or `ai` |
| `languages` | `["en"]` | preferred caption languages, in order (for TikTok's caption tracks) |
| `fallbackToAnyLanguage` | `true` | use the video's original-language captions when none match |
| `translateToEnglish` | `false` | English output for non-English speech in AI transcripts |
| `outputFormat` | `segments` | `segments`, `text` or `both` |
| `maxVideos` | 100 | cap for the run |
| `maxAudioMinutes` | 20 | longer videos without captions are skipped (`error: too_long`) instead of AI-transcribed |
| `proxyConfiguration` | none | not needed; the actor switches to Apify proxies on its own when TikTok refuses an IP |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.tiktok.com/@renreports/video/7307726351291960622",
    "https://m.tiktok.com/v/7488736374602927402.html",
    "7477698081920748830"
  ],
  "transcriptSource": "auto",
  "outputFormat": "both"
}
```

#### Example output

```json
{
  "videoId": "7307726351291960622",
  "url": "https://www.tiktok.com/@renreports/video/7307726351291960622",
  "authorUsername": "renreports",
  "createdAt": "2023-12-01T20:30:54Z",
  "playCount": 66900,
  "likeCount": 2703,
  "durationSeconds": 139,
  "transcriptSource": "tiktok_captions",
  "language": "en",
  "isAutoGenerated": true,
  "hook": "I work in influencer marketing and I look at media kids all day long.",
  "transcript": [
    {"start": 0.08, "end": 1.28, "text": "I work in influencer marketing"},
    {"start": 1.28, "end": 3.36, "text": "and I look at media kids all day long."},
    {"start": 3.36, "end": 5.08, "text": "And here is one mistake that I see"}
  ],
  "wordCount": 512,
  "error": null
}
```

### Scheduling and integrations

Run it from a schedule, Make, Zapier or the API whenever you collect new TikTok links, and send the dataset to Google
Sheets, Slack or a webhook. A run interrupted mid-way resumes where it stopped when started again with the same input,
without duplicate rows.

### Use with AI assistants (MCP)

Apify's MCP server exposes this actor as a tool, so Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other MCP clients can call it directly:
*"Get the transcripts of these 20 TikToks and list the products mentioned"*. Use `outputFormat: "text"` for compact input.

### FAQ

**Do I need a TikTok account or cookies?** No. Only public videos are read, logged out.

**Where do the transcripts come from?** Many TikTok videos carry an auto-generated caption track; the actor returns it as
is (`transcriptSource: tiktok_captions`). For videos without one, the actor runs OpenAI's Whisper (base model) on the
audio (`ai_whisper`). Clear speech transcribes well; music, slang or crosstalk lower accuracy, and sung lyrics are
transcribed like speech.

**Which languages?** TikTok caption tracks exist in many languages and you choose the preferred order. Whisper detects
\~100 spoken languages and can translate them to English.

**Why does a video say `no_speech`?** Dance clips with only music, silent videos and ASMR without talking have nothing to
transcribe. These rows are free.

**Can it list all videos of a creator or a hashtag?** Not yet: paste video links (or export them from a TikTok profile or
search scraper) and this actor transcribes them.

**Is this legal?** The actor reads publicly available videos without logging in. You are responsible for how you use the
data, in particular personal data under GDPR/CCPA and TikTok's terms.

**Something failed?** Rows carry an `error` code and reason. If you see many `blocked` rows, re-run later or set a
residential `proxyConfiguration`, and open an issue on the actor page.

# Actor input Schema

## `videoUrls` (type: `array`):

Video URLs (`tiktok.com/@user/video/…`), short links (`vm.tiktok.com/…`, `tiktok.com/t/…`), mobile links or bare numeric video IDs.

## `transcriptSource` (type: `string`):

`auto` uses TikTok's own caption track when the video has one and falls back to AI speech-to-text (Whisper) otherwise. `captions` never runs AI (videos without captions come back as free `no_captions` rows). `ai` always transcribes the audio, e.g. for translation.

## `languages` (type: `array`):

2-letter codes in order of preference (`en`, `es`, `pt`, …) for picking among TikTok's caption tracks. AI transcription always auto-detects the spoken language.

## `fallbackToAnyLanguage` (type: `boolean`):

When no caption track matches your languages, use the video's original-language track instead of AI.

## `translateToEnglish` (type: `boolean`):

For AI transcripts: output English text for non-English speech (Whisper translate). Use with source `ai` to translate every video.

## `outputFormat` (type: `string`):

`segments`: `transcript` is an array of `{start, end, text}` (seconds). `text`: one joined string. `both`: segments in `transcript`, the string in `transcriptText`.

## `maxVideos` (type: `integer`):

Upper bound for one run. You pay only for videos that return a transcript.

## `maxAudioMinutes` (type: `integer`):

Longer videos without captions are listed free with `error: too_long` instead of being AI-transcribed.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Not needed: the actor connects directly and falls back to Apify proxies on its own. Set your own proxy only if you see `blocked` rows.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.tiktok.com/@renreports/video/7307726351291960622",
    "https://www.tiktok.com/@kzfadez/video/7477698081920748830"
  ],
  "transcriptSource": "auto",
  "languages": [
    "en"
  ],
  "fallbackToAnyLanguage": true,
  "translateToEnglish": false,
  "outputFormat": "segments",
  "maxVideos": 100,
  "maxAudioMinutes": 20,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "videoUrls": [
        "https://www.tiktok.com/@renreports/video/7307726351291960622",
        "https://www.tiktok.com/@kzfadez/video/7477698081920748830"
    ],
    "languages": [
        "en"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": false
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("axlymxp/tiktok-transcript-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "videoUrls": [
        "https://www.tiktok.com/@renreports/video/7307726351291960622",
        "https://www.tiktok.com/@kzfadez/video/7477698081920748830",
    ],
    "languages": ["en"],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("axlymxp/tiktok-transcript-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.tiktok.com/@renreports/video/7307726351291960622",
    "https://www.tiktok.com/@kzfadez/video/7477698081920748830"
  ],
  "languages": [
    "en"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}' |
apify call axlymxp/tiktok-transcript-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,axlymxp/tiktok-transcript-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/f4xWt34wfHgWwMC18/builds/kGEwGEn7vZ8Fx6YKj/openapi.json