Instagram Transcript

What is Instagram Transcript Extractor?

Instagram Transcript Extractor is an Apify Actor that extracts transcripts, subtitles, and captions from any Instagram video, Reel, or IGTV. Just provide a video URL and get back timestamped transcript segments, full text, and video metadata — ready to use in your workflows.

The Actor first attempts to extract existing auto-generated captions from Instagram. If no captions are available, it automatically falls back to speech-to-text transcription powered by Deepgram Nova-2 — so you get a transcript even when the video has no subtitles.

Key Features

• Extract Instagram transcripts with accurate start/end timestamps for every segment
• 50+ languages supported — specify any ISO 639-1 language code
• Speech-to-text fallback — automatically transcribes audio when no captions exist
• Multiple output formats — JSON (structured), SRT (subtitle file), or plain text
• Video metadata included — title, author, duration, thumbnail, and upload date
• No Instagram login required — works with any public video URL
• Handles all Instagram video types — Reels, IGTV, and video posts (/p/, /reel/, /reels/, /tv/)

Use Cases

• Content repurposing — Turn Instagram Reels into blog posts, newsletters, or social media captions
• Accessibility — Generate subtitles and captions for videos that don't have them
• Market research — Analyze what creators and brands are saying in their Instagram content
• SEO and content strategy — Extract trending topics and keywords from viral Reels
• Dataset building — Collect transcripts at scale for training, analysis, or archival
• Translation workflows — Extract text to translate Instagram content into other languages

How to Extract Instagram Transcripts

1. Go to the Instagram Transcript Extractor on Apify
2. Paste an Instagram video URL into the Video URL field
3. Choose your preferred language and output format
4. Click Start and wait for the run to finish
5. Download your transcript from the Dataset tab

You can also call this Actor via the Apify API to integrate transcript extraction into your own applications and automations.

Input Parameters

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
url	string	Yes	—	Instagram video URL (Reel, IGTV, or video post)
language	string	No	en	Preferred transcript language (ISO 639-1)
format	string	No	json	Output format: json, text, or srt
includeMetadata	boolean	No	true	Include video metadata (title, author, duration) in the output

Supported URL Formats

All of these URL formats are accepted:

• https://www.instagram.com/reel/ABC123DEF/
• https://www.instagram.com/reels/ABC123DEF/
• https://www.instagram.com/p/ABC123DEF/
• https://www.instagram.com/tv/ABC123DEF/
• https://m.instagram.com/reel/ABC123DEF/
• https://instagram.com/reel/ABC123DEF/

Output

JSON Format

When format is set to json, the Actor produces a structured dataset with transcript segments, full text, and optional metadata:

{
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/ABC123DEF/",
  "platform": "instagram",
  "metadata": {
    "title": "How to learn Python in 2025",
    "author": "codingwithsarah",
    "duration_seconds": 47,
    "thumbnail_url": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/...",
    "upload_date": "20250115"
  },
  "transcript": {
    "language": "en",
    "segments": [
      { "start": 0.0, "end": 3.5, "text": "Here are my top tips for learning Python this year." },
      { "start": 3.5, "end": 7.2, "text": "First, don't start with a course. Start with a project." }
    ],
    "full_text": "Here are my top tips for learning Python this year. First, don't start with a course. Start with a project."
  }
}

SRT Format

When format is set to srt, the Actor outputs a standard SRT subtitle file stored in the key-value store under the OUTPUT key:

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,500
Here are my top tips for learning Python this year.

2
00:00:03,500 --> 00:00:07,200
First, don't start with a course. Start with a project.

Plain Text Format

When format is set to text, the Actor outputs the full transcript as plain text, one segment per line.

How Much Does It Cost?

The Actor uses Apify Proxy for all requests. A typical single-video extraction uses minimal compute and proxy resources. Running the Actor on Apify's free tier is sufficient for low-volume use. For bulk extraction, costs scale with the number of videos processed.

If the video has existing captions, extraction is fast and lightweight. The speech-to-text fallback path requires downloading audio and calling an external STT API, which takes slightly longer.

Error Codes

If extraction fails, the Actor returns a structured error instead of a transcript:

{ "error": "NO_TRANSCRIPT", "message": "No transcript available for this video: ...", "url": "..." }

Code	Description
INVALID_URL	The provided URL is not a valid Instagram URL
NO_TRANSCRIPT	The video has no captions and speech-to-text could not produce a transcript
VIDEO_NOT_FOUND	The video was not found, is private, or has been removed
RATE_LIMITED	Too many requests — retry after a short delay
PLATFORM_ERROR	An unexpected error occurred during extraction

FAQ

How do I extract transcripts from Instagram videos?

Paste the Instagram video URL into the Actor's input, choose your language and format, and click Start. The Actor handles everything — downloading captions, falling back to speech-to-text if needed, and returning a clean transcript.

Does this work with Instagram Reels?

Yes. The Actor supports all Instagram video types including Reels (/reel/), IGTV (/tv/), and regular video posts (/p/).

Does this work with Instagram videos that don't have subtitles?

Yes. If no auto-generated captions are available, the Actor automatically downloads the audio and transcribes it using Deepgram's Nova-2 speech-to-text model. This requires a DEEPGRAM_API_KEY environment variable to be configured.

What languages are supported?

The Actor supports any language available in Instagram's auto-generated captions. For the speech-to-text fallback, language support depends on the Deepgram Nova-2 model, which covers 50+ languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and many more.

Can I extract transcripts in bulk?

Yes. You can call this Actor via the Apify API or use it with Apify integrations (Zapier, Make, n8n, and more) to process multiple videos in sequence or in parallel.

Do I need an Instagram account or login?

No. The Actor works with any public Instagram video without requiring authentication.

Does it work with private Instagram accounts?

No. The Actor can only extract transcripts from public Instagram videos. Private account content requires authentication, which is not supported.