Any Video → Transcript (AI)

Any Video to Transcript turns TikTok, Instagram Reels, Facebook, X/Twitter, Vimeo, YouTube, podcast episodes and almost any video or audio URL into a full text transcript. Paste links from different sites into one run, click Start, and download the transcripts as JSON, CSV or Excel — or call it from the Apify API. No API key needed.

Most short-form videos have no captions at all. This Actor uses the platform's captions when they exist (fast, cheap) and transcribes the audio with Whisper large-v3-turbo AI when they don't. Every result passes a quality gate: empty, truncated or garbage transcripts are reported as failures and never charged.

What can this video to text converter do?

• 🌐 One Actor, many platforms — mix TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube, Vimeo and 1,000+ other sites (via yt-dlp) in a single list
• 🤖 Speech-to-text built in — Whisper large-v3-turbo, no OpenAI or Groq key required
• ⚡ Captions first — when a platform already has captions, you get them at the lower caption price
• 🌍 Any language — 90+ spoken languages, auto-detected, or set a language hint
• 🎬 SRT / VTT subtitle files — optional, free, with timestamps
• ✅ Pay only for good results — failures are logged with a reason (run log + RUN_REPORT) and not charged
• ⚙️ Apify platform features — API, scheduling, webhooks, integrations (Make, Zapier, n8n, Google Sheets), MCP for AI agents

Supported sources

Platform	Captions	AI transcription
TikTok	✅ TikTok's own auto-captions when present	✅
Instagram (public Reels and video posts)	–	✅ no login needed for public posts
Facebook (videos, Reels, Watch)	sometimes	✅
X / Twitter	–	✅
YouTube (video / channel / playlist)	✅ manual + auto	best effort — YouTube often blocks cloud audio downloads
Vimeo (public videos)	✅ when present	✅ (not for DRM-protected videos)
Podcasts — Apple Podcasts episode pages and direct MP3 / M4A links	–	✅
Dailymotion, Twitch clips, Reddit videos, Bilibili… (1,000+ sites via yt-dlp)	when present	✅

Private, login-only, deleted or music-only videos can't be transcribed; they are reported as failures and not charged.

How to convert a video to text

1. Click Try for free and open the Input tab.
2. Paste one or more video URLs into Video URLs (one per line, any mix of platforms).
3. Optional: set Spoken language (e.g. en, es, zh), pick Subtitle files for SRT/VTT, and set Max minutes per video to cap cost.
4. Click Start.
5. Open the Output tab and export the dataset (JSON, CSV, Excel, HTML) or fetch it through the API.

How much does video transcription cost?

Pay per event — you pay only for successful results, platform usage is included.

Event	Price	When
Caption transcript	$0.005 per video	The platform already has captions
AI transcript	$0.03 per video + $0.01 per started audio minute	No captions, AI transcription succeeded
Bring your own Groq key	$0.01 per AI video, no per-minute fee	You paste your own free key from console.groq.com
Actor start	$0.00005	Tiny platform start fee

Examples: a 30-second Instagram Reel = $0.03 + $0.01 = $0.04. A 10-minute YouTube video with captions = $0.005. A 10-minute Vimeo video without captions = $0.03 + 10 × $0.01 = $0.13, or $0.01 with your own Groq key. Set Max minutes per video (default 60, up to 600) to skip AI on long videos. Long recordings are split into parts automatically and returned as one transcript. Failed or rejected results cost nothing.

Input

Field	Description
videoUrls	One or more video URLs (YouTube channels/playlists are expanded up to maxItems)
aiTranscription	Use AI when no captions (default on)
languageHint	Spoken language code (e.g. en, zh, ja) — improves accuracy on short clips
maxMinutes	Skip AI for videos longer than this
groqApiKey	Optional: your own key (cheaper)
subtitleFormats	Optional: also return srt / vtt subtitle files with timestamps (free)
preferredLanguages	Caption track priority

Example input:

{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.tiktok.com/@tiktok/video/7106594312292453675",
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aircAruvnKk"
  ],
  "aiTranscription": true,
  "subtitleFormats": ["srt"]
}

Output example

{
  "platform": "tiktok",
  "id": "7106594312292453675",
  "url": "https://www.tiktok.com/@tiktok/video/7106594312292453675",
  "title": "how many frogs did you find?",
  "author": "tiktok",
  "duration": 24,
  "language": "auto",
  "source": "ai:groq-whisper-turbo",
  "charCount": 312,
  "aiMinutes": 1,
  "transcript": "..."
}

source tells you where the text came from: caption:manual, caption:auto, caption:tiktok-asr or ai:groq-whisper-turbo.

Subtitle files (SRT / VTT) — free add-on

Pick Subtitle files = srt and/or vtt and each result also carries ready-to-use subtitles:

{
  "segments": [{"start": 0.12, "end": 2.0, "text": "Hi everyone, welcome back"}],
  "srt": "1\n00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,000\nHi everyone, welcome back\n\n",
  "vtt": "WEBVTT\n\n00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:02.000\nHi everyone, welcome back\n\n"
}

Timestamps come from the platform caption file (YouTube, Vimeo and other sites with caption tracks) or from the AI transcription itself, so almost every result can have subtitles. If a source gives no timing information, the transcript is still delivered and a subtitleNote explains why. Leave the field empty and the output stays plain.

Use cases

• Content research & competitor analysis across TikTok, Reels, X and YouTube in one dataset
• AI pipelines — feed RAG, summarization and LLM agents with clean text from any video
• Repurposing — turn videos into blog posts, newsletters, show notes or quotes
• Subtitling, translation, accessibility — SRT/VTT with timestamps
• Social listening — turn viral videos into searchable text

Related transcript Actors

All four share the same quality gate (no charge for junk) and a similar JSON output — pick the one built for your source:

Actor	Best for
Any Video to Transcript (AI) (this one)	Mixed lists: Instagram, X/Twitter, Vimeo, Dailymotion, Reddit, Bilibili and 1,000+ sites
TikTok Transcript Scraper	TikTok-only lists — captions at $0.002 instead of $0.005
Facebook Video Transcript	Facebook videos, Reels, Watch, fb.watch
YouTube Transcript Scraper · Chinese-first	YouTube videos, channels, playlists — captions in any language, Traditional/Simplified Chinese first

FAQ

Do I need an API key or an account on the video platform?

No. Speech-to-text is built in and public videos work without login. A Groq key is optional and only makes the AI path cheaper.

Does it work with Instagram Reels?

Yes, for public Reels and public video posts — no login or cookies needed. Private accounts and login-only posts can't be transcribed and are not charged. Instagram posts have no caption track, so they always use the AI price.

Can it transcribe podcasts and audio files?

Yes. Paste an Apple Podcasts episode link or a direct audio file URL (for example the MP3 link from a podcast RSS feed). There are no captions for audio, so these always use the AI price — a 20-minute episode is $0.03 + 20 × $0.01 = $0.23. Spotify-exclusive and paywalled episodes can't be downloaded and are not charged.

Does it work with Vimeo?

Public Vimeo videos work without login. Videos that are private, domain-restricted, on-demand, or DRM-protected without captions can't be transcribed — failed items are never charged.

What happens if a video has no speech?

Music-only or silent clips produce a transcript that is too short for the quality gate, so they are reported as failures and not charged. You can lower Min transcript length if you want very short clips.

Which languages are supported?

Captions come in whatever languages the platform offers (preferredLanguages picks the track). The AI path handles 90+ spoken languages with auto-detection; languageHint improves accuracy on short clips.

Why did some videos fail?

Typical reasons: private or deleted video, login wall, no speech, or the platform blocked the request. Failures are classified (proxy / rate-limit / blocked / network / other) in the run log and the RUN_REPORT record, and never charged. Keep Apify Proxy enabled (default).

Can I use it from code, Make, Zapier, n8n or an AI agent?

Yes — use the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items), the Python/JavaScript clients, the built-in integrations, or the Apify MCP server so AI agents can call it as a tool.

Is it legal to transcribe videos from these platforms?

This Actor only reads publicly available content. You are responsible for how you use the data — respect copyright, each platform's terms and privacy laws such as GDPR, especially when transcripts contain personal data. If unsure, consult a lawyer.

Something doesn't work — how do I get help?

Open an issue in the Issues tab with the run link and the video URL. We read every issue. If the Actor saved you time, a short review helps other users find it.