YouTube Transcript Scraper - Subtitles, SRT & VTT

Get the full transcript of any YouTube video (plain text, timestamped segments, SRT or WebVTT) from a link or video ID, in the caption language you prefer, with optional translation into 100+ languages.

Why this Actor

• $3.50 per 1,000 transcripts on every plan ($0.0035 per video), plus Apify platform usage. That event fee is 30% or more below the four most-used YouTube transcript Actors in Apify Store, which charge $0.005 to $0.01 per video; platform usage, billed separately by Apify, narrows that gap. Some smaller Actors charge less (see the comparison below). With the optional Fast processing add-on the total is $0.005 per video.
• Simple, transparent charges. $0.0035 per delivered transcript; a video that has no transcript costs $0.0033 for the lookup, and each extra language tried costs $0.0033. Invalid links and lookups the data source rejects cost nothing, and there is no start fee. Apify platform usage is billed separately.
• Budget control: set a maximum cost per run and the Actor stops cleanly before it goes over, including the Fast add-on.
• 4 output formats in one run: plain text, timestamped segments, SRT and WebVTT, in rows of 26 fields when all four formats are selected (22 fields plus the formats you pick).
• Only new videos: on scheduled runs, videos already delivered by an earlier run are skipped before any request, so you never pay twice for the same transcript.
• Language priority list and translation: give up to 3 caption languages in order (for example de, then en). Each video gets the first one it has, or its default captions if it has none of them. You can also translate every transcript into 100+ languages.

Tested live on 2026-09-29: standard and fast processing, the language priority list, translation, SRT/VTT output and the Free-plan allowance. The maximum-cost stop, Only new videos and saving each transcript as soon as it is ready are covered by automated tests against a simulated data service.

Compared with alternatives

Price for 1,000 videos with captions on the Apify Free plan and on Gold (Platinum and Diamond pay the Gold price for this Actor). The alternatives' prices are as listed and add no platform usage on top. This Actor does: Apify platform usage is billed separately by Apify on top of the prices shown ("+ usage"; see Pricing for typical amounts). Features as described in each Actor's public input and README.

Alternative	Free plan	Gold plan	Channel / playlist input	SRT + VTT	Language priority list	Translation	Videos without captions free
Most-used YouTube transcript Actor (~25,200 users, one video per run)	$10.00	$7.00	✗	✗	✗	one target language	not stated
Second most-used transcript Actor (~11,700 users)	$5.00	$5.00	channel	✗	✗	✗	✓
Third most-used transcript Actor (~8,500 users; optional video metadata)	$7.00	$5.00	✗	✗ (XML or text)	✗ (English preferred)	✗	not stated
Fourth most-used transcript Actor (~8,200 users)	$10.00	$10.00	✗	✗	✗	✗	not stated
Low-cost Actor (~2,500 users)	$1.00 + $0.00005 per run	$0.70 + $0.00005 per run	channel, playlist, search	✓ (one format per run)	✓	✓	not stated
Cheapest per-video Actor (~4,100 users, max 100 transcripts per run)	about $0.02	about $0.02	channel	✓	✓	✓	✓ (except a $0.00001 row fee)
This Actor	$3.50 + usage	$3.50 + usage	✗ (two-step recipe below)	✓ (all formats in one run)	✓ (up to 3)	✓ (100+ languages)	✗ ($0.0033 per video checked)

Prices from public Apify Store listings, checked September 2026 (the four most-used Actors charge the same on Platinum and Diamond as on Gold). With the optional Fast processing add-on this Actor costs $5.00 per 1,000 plus usage, which is not cheaper than the second most-used Actor ($5.00) or the third one on Gold ($5.00).

To be clear: several smaller Actors are much cheaper per video than this one (the two in the table cost $0.02 to $1.00 per 1,000, and others with 1,000 to 2,500 users charge about $0.70 to $1.00 per 1,000, some plus a start fee), and three Actors in the table (the second most-used one and both low-cost ones) accept a channel link directly, which this Actor does not. What this Actor offers is an event fee 30% or more below the four most-used transcript Actors ($3.50 vs $5.00 to $10.00 per 1,000; platform usage is extra here, so the real difference depends on your run), all four output formats in the same row, a language priority list with matchedLanguage / languageUnavailable on each row, translation into 100+ languages, up to 10,000 videos per run, and a clean stop at your maximum cost per run. Unlike two of the Actors above, videos without captions are not free here ($0.0033 per video checked): every lookup is a real, paid request for us whether or not captions exist, so it is charged at cost-covering price instead of being hidden in a higher per-transcript price. If you mainly need the lowest price per video or channel input in one step, a cheaper Actor may suit you better.

Not included

• No AI transcription for videos without captions. The Actor reads the captions YouTube already has (uploaded or automatic). Videos with no captions return no transcript; the lookup costs $0.0033 (video-checked).
• No video metadata beyond the title. Channel name, upload date, view, like and comment counts are not included. Get them with our YouTube Search Scraper.
• No channel, playlist or keyword input. This Actor can't list a channel's uploads or a playlist's videos by itself. Use the two-step recipe under Transcripts for a channel, playlist or keyword.
• No comments. Use our YouTube Comments Scraper.
• No list of available caption languages without fetching a transcript.

What data you get

One row per video. The fields marked "when selected" depend on Output formats.

Field	Type	Example
id	string	91562ec09954574c (stable: same video + delivered language = same ID in every run)
input	string	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8Wu4rSNJms
videoId	string	Y8Wu4rSNJms
videoUrl	string	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8Wu4rSNJms
title	string / null	How to set up BMW eDrive Modes in the New Generation of BMW Plug-In Hybrids
transcriptAvailable	boolean	true
language	string / null	it (language of the delivered text)
originalLanguage	string / null	en (language of the captions on YouTube)
isTranslated	boolean	true
translatedTo	string / null	it
isAutoGenerated	boolean / null	true (automatic captions, detected from caption timing)
segmentsCount	integer	30
durationSeconds	number	75.12 (end of the last caption line)
wordCount / characterCount	integer	185 / 1234
text	string	Elettrifica la tua efficienza di guida. La tecnologia ibrida plug-in ... (when selected)
segments	array	[{ "start": 1.12, "end": 6, "duration": 4.88, "text": "..." }] (when selected)
srt	string	1\n00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:06,000\n... (when selected)
vtt	string	WEBVTT\n\n00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:06.000\n... (when selected)
requestedLanguages	array / null	["de", "en"] (your language list, null when empty)
matchedLanguage	string / null	en (the language from your list that was delivered)
languageUnavailable	boolean	false (true = none of your languages existed, default captions delivered)
requestedTranslation	string / null	it
country	string	US
collectedAt / scrapedAt	ISO date (collectedAt can be null)	2026-09-28T15:53:26.688Z (collectedAt = when the captions were collected, scrapedAt = when this run started)
reason	string	No captions found for this video (only on rows with transcriptAvailable: false)

Always filled when transcriptAvailable is true: id, input, videoId, videoUrl, transcriptAvailable, isTranslated, segmentsCount (at least 1), durationSeconds, wordCount, characterCount, languageUnavailable, country, scrapedAt, and every format you selected (text, segments, srt, vtt). Can be null: title, language and originalLanguage (when the caption language is not reported), translatedTo (no translation), isAutoGenerated (fewer than 4 caption lines), requestedLanguages, matchedLanguage and requestedTranslation (when you did not set them, or no language on your list was available), and collectedAt.

Rows for videos without a transcript (only when Include videos without a transcript is on) contain id, input, videoId, videoUrl, title, transcriptAvailable: false, a reason, requestedLanguages, requestedTranslation and scrapedAt.

How to use

1. Open the Actor in Apify Console and paste video links or IDs into YouTube videos. Watch, youtu.be, Shorts, embed and live links all work.
2. Optional: add Transcript languages in order of preference (for example de, then en), and set Translate to (for example es).
3. Pick the Output formats you need. Plain text and segments are selected by default.
4. Leave Processing speed on Standard (usually a few minutes) or choose Fast processing (about 1 minute, +$0.0015 per video).
5. Optional: set Maximum cost per run in the run options.
6. Click Start, then download the results as JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML, or read them through the API.

Ready-to-paste input:

{
    "videos": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aircAruvnKk",
        "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ"
    ],
    "transcriptLanguages": ["de", "en"],
    "translateTo": "es",
    "outputFormats": ["text", "segments", "srt"],
    "processingSpeed": "standard"
}

API

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/cheapapi~youtube-transcript-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"videos":["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aircAruvnKk"],"transcriptLanguages":["en"],"outputFormats":["text"]}'

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '<YOUR_TOKEN>' });
const run = await client.actor('cheapapi/youtube-transcript-scraper').call({
    videos: ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aircAruvnKk'],
    transcriptLanguages: ['en'],
    outputFormats: ['text', 'segments'],
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items[0].text);

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_TOKEN>")
run = client.actor("cheapapi/youtube-transcript-scraper").call(run_input={
    "videos": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aircAruvnKk"],
    "transcriptLanguages": ["en"],
    "outputFormats": ["text", "segments"],
})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item["title"], item["wordCount"])

Transcripts for a channel, playlist or keyword

This Actor takes video links or IDs. To find videos first, run our YouTube Search Scraper with a topic, keyword or channel name (sort by upload date and keep only video rows), then pass its url or videoId values into YouTube videos. Objects with a url field ([{"url": "https://..."}]) are accepted too.

Note that search results for a channel name usually include the channel's recent videos, but they are not a complete upload list and can include other channels' videos (filter on channelId). For a complete channel or playlist, paste the video links you have, or use an Actor that accepts channel links (see the comparison above).

Use cases

• AI and LLM pipelines: summarize videos, build RAG knowledge bases, generate notes or quizzes from lectures.
• Content repurposing: turn videos into blog posts, newsletters, show notes and social posts.
• SEO and research: analyze what competitors say in their videos, mine keywords and topics at scale.
• Subtitles and localization: export SRT/VTT files and translate captions into other languages.
• Media monitoring: track mentions of brands, products or people across many videos.
• Accessibility and archiving: keep searchable text copies of your own video library.

Advanced options

Option	Default	Meaning
Transcript languages (transcriptLanguages)	empty	Up to 3 caption language codes in order of preference (e.g. de, en, pt-BR, zh-Hans). Each video gets the first one it has captions in; if it has none, its default captions (languageUnavailable: true). Empty = the video's default captions. Each further language tried for a video costs $0.0033 (extra-lookup)
Translate to (translateTo)	empty	Translate the transcript into this language: pick a common one from the list (English, Spanish, German, Japanese, Chinese...) or type any code YouTube supports (100+ languages)
Output formats (outputFormats)	text, segments	Any of text, segments, srt, vtt
Processing speed (processingSpeed)	standard	Standard: usually a few minutes (up to ~45 minutes at peak times); each transcript is saved as soon as it is ready. Fast processing: about 1 minute, +$0.0015 per lookup (normally one per video)
Timestamps in plain text (includeTimestampsInText)	false	text becomes one line per caption with a [m:ss] prefix
Include videos without a transcript (includeVideosWithoutTranscript)	false	Adds a row with transcriptAvailable: false and a reason (no charge for the row; the lookup itself is video-checked)
Max videos (maxVideos)	0 (no limit)	Process only the first N videos of the list (up to 10,000)
Only new videos (onlyNewVideos)	false	Skip videos whose transcript an earlier run with this option already delivered (same Transcript languages and Translate to). Skipped videos are not requested and cost nothing; videos that had no transcript are checked again. Max videos then counts only new videos
Processed videos store name (processedVideosStore)	youtube-transcripts-processed	Key-value store in your Apify account that remembers the delivered videos. Use one name per project or channel; delete the store to start over
Country (country)	US	Country YouTube is opened from (code or name). Matters for region-restricted videos
Interface language (interfaceLanguage)	en	Language of the YouTube interface (not the transcript language)
Operating system (operatingSystem)	windows	windows or macos desktop browser
Device (device)	desktop	Only desktop is supported for transcripts

How the language list works: the first language is requested for every video. Only videos that don't have it are asked again for the next language on your list, so a fallback adds processing time but never adds cost. If captions come back in another language that is also on your list, they are accepted without another request.

Output example

Example output (text and segments shortened; this sample is an Italian translation of English captions):

{
    "id": "91562ec09954574c",
    "input": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8Wu4rSNJms",
    "videoId": "Y8Wu4rSNJms",
    "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8Wu4rSNJms",
    "title": "How to set up BMW eDrive Modes in the New Generation of BMW Plug-In Hybrids",
    "transcriptAvailable": true,
    "language": "it",
    "originalLanguage": "en",
    "isTranslated": true,
    "translatedTo": "it",
    "isAutoGenerated": true,
    "segmentsCount": 30,
    "durationSeconds": 75.12,
    "wordCount": 185,
    "characterCount": 1234,
    "text": "Elettrifica la tua efficienza di guida. La tecnologia ibrida plug-in delle BMW con sistema operativo 8 ti offre il contr ...",
    "segments": [
        { "start": 1.12, "end": 6, "duration": 4.88, "text": "Elettrifica la tua efficienza di guida. La tecnologia" },
        { "start": 3.679, "end": 8.48, "duration": 4.801, "text": "ibrida plug-in delle BMW con" }
    ],
    "srt": "1\n00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:06,000\nElettrifica la tua efficienza di guida. La tecnologia\n\n2\n00:00:03,679 --> 00:00:08,480\nibrida plug-in delle BMW con\n...",
    "requestedLanguages": ["de", "en"],
    "matchedLanguage": "en",
    "languageUnavailable": false,
    "requestedTranslation": "it",
    "country": "US",
    "collectedAt": "2026-09-27T03:12:15.000Z",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-09-29T05:07:23.113Z"
}

The RUN_SUMMARY record in the key-value store lists how many transcripts were delivered, how many already processed videos were skipped (skippedAlreadyProcessed), which videos had none (and why), the processing speed used, how many fallback-language requests were needed, and how many transcripts were delivered in a language outside your list.

Pricing

Typical cost: $0.35 for 100 videos with captions ($3.50 per 1,000), plus Apify platform usage billed separately.

Apify Free plan: Apify does not pay developers for usage on its Free plan, so on the Free plan this Actor can be used for up to $0.25 of results per calendar month — enough to try it on a small input. When the allowance is used up, the run ends with a clear message (not an error). Any paid Apify plan removes the limit; prices are the same.

Pay per event, the same price on every plan. Every lookup we make for a video is paid by exactly one of these events:

Event	Price (all plans)	When
transcript	$0.0035 ($3.50 per 1,000)	A video whose transcript is delivered (pays for its first lookup)
video-checked	$0.0033	A video that was looked up but has no transcript: no captions, none in your languages, or no data (private, removed, age-restricted)
extra-lookup	$0.0033	Each additional lookup because a video lacks the first language on your Transcript languages list (the next language, or its default captions)
fast-processing	$0.0015	Optional add-on, only with Fast processing (about 1 minute): once per lookup

Invalid links, lookups the data source rejects, videos skipped by Only new videos, and videos skipped because of your maximum cost are free. A lookup that was accepted but could not be collected in time, or whose submission got no answer because of a network problem, may already have been paid, so it is charged like a lookup without a transcript (video-checked, or extra-lookup for a later language). There is no start fee.

Apify platform usage is billed separately by Apify (at the default 256 MB a small run typically uses about $0.001–$0.005). Standard processing waits for results, so runs last longer than a quick lookup and use more: roughly 0.02 compute units (about $0.005–$0.01) per 5 minutes of run time at 256 MB. Fast processing shortens the run. The prices and examples below are event fees only.

With an empty Transcript languages list every video is exactly one lookup; with languages, a video that has your first language is also one lookup.

Examples:

• 100 videos, standard: 100 x $0.0035 = $0.35.
• 1,000 videos with fast processing: 1,000 x ($0.0035 + $0.0015) = $5.00.
• 10,000 videos, standard, 9,200 of them with captions: 9,200 x $0.0035 + 800 x $0.0033 = $34.84.
• 1 video, languages de, en, the video only has English: $0.0033 (extra-lookup) + $0.0035 = $0.0068.
• 1 video, languages de, en, es, the video has no captions and every language answers "not available" (worst case): $0.0033 (video-checked) + 3 x $0.0033 (extra-lookup: en, es, default captions) = $0.0132. The same video without a language list: $0.0033.

Set Maximum cost per run in the run options. The Actor stops cleanly when the limit is reached (the add-on and any extra lookups are included in the calculation), and you are never charged past it. When the limit leaves no room to try another language, the video keeps the best result found so far.

Integrations

Connect the Actor to Make, Zapier, n8n, Google Sheets, Slack or your own backend with Apify integrations and webhooks (for example, a webhook on "run succeeded" that pushes transcripts into your app). Use Schedules to process new videos daily. Use the API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) to get transcripts in a single HTTP call, or the Apify MCP server to let AI agents call the Actor.

FAQ

Is there a limit on the Apify Free plan, and is platform usage included? Free plan: up to $0.25 of this Actor's results per calendar month, enough to try it. Apify pays developers nothing for Free-plan usage while our data costs are real, so this keeps the Actor sustainable. Runs that reach the allowance stop cleanly and keep everything collected so far; the allowance resets on the 1st of the month. Any paid Apify plan has no limit. Platform usage (compute) is not included on any plan: Apify bills it separately. At the default 256 MB a small run typically uses about $0.001–$0.005; a standard run that waits longer uses roughly $0.005–$0.01 per 5 minutes. Each run's usage is shown in Apify Console.

Is it legal to scrape YouTube transcripts? The Actor collects captions that YouTube shows publicly to every visitor. You are responsible for how you use the text: respect copyright, YouTube's terms and privacy law (e.g. GDPR) in your use case. When in doubt, ask a lawyer.

How fresh is the data? Every transcript is collected live when you run the Actor. collectedAt shows when.

How long does a run take? Standard processing usually delivers results within a few minutes (up to ~45 minutes at peak times). You don't have to wait for the whole run: each transcript is saved to the dataset as soon as it is ready, and the log shows how many are ready with an estimate of the time left. With Fast processing most runs finish in about 1 minute. Each fallback-language round adds roughly the same time again, but only for the videos that need it.

Why did I get fewer results than videos? Some videos have no captions at all (captions disabled, music without lyrics, very new uploads), are private, age-restricted or removed, or the maximum cost per run was reached. They are listed with a reason in RUN_SUMMARY (or as rows when Include videos without a transcript is on).

What happens when a video doesn't have my language? The Actor tries the next language on your Transcript languages list. If the video has none of them, you get its default captions with languageUnavailable: true and matchedLanguage: null, so you can filter those rows. To always get text in your language, also set Translate to.

Why was I charged video-checked or extra-lookup? Do I pay for videos without a transcript? Yes, a little. video-checked ($0.0033) is charged once for each video that was looked up but has no transcript to deliver (no captions, none in your languages, or no data for the video): checking a video costs us the same whether or not it has captions, and charging that lookup separately keeps the transcript price low instead of spreading the cost over every delivered transcript. Invalid links, videos skipped by Only new videos and videos not requested because of your maximum cost are free. extra-lookup ($0.0033) is charged for each additional lookup made because a video lacks the first language on your Transcript languages list. RUN_SUMMARY shows videosCheckedCharged, extraLookupsCharged and languageFallbackRequests. To avoid extra lookups, leave Transcript languages empty (default captions) or put the language most of your videos have first, and use Translate to for everything else.

How do I control my spending? Set Maximum cost per run in the run options, or use Max videos to cap a long list. The run stops before the limit and RUN_SUMMARY shows stoppedByBudget: true.

Can I scrape a whole channel or playlist, or monitor one regularly? Not directly: this Actor needs video links or IDs. Our YouTube Search Scraper can find a channel's recent videos by searching for its name, but that is not a guaranteed complete list (see Transcripts for a channel, playlist or keyword). To monitor, schedule a YouTube Search Scraper run and chain this Actor with a webhook or a Make/Zapier scenario, with Only new videos on: videos already delivered by an earlier run are skipped before any request and cost nothing. Use a separate Processed videos store name per channel or project. Each row's id also stays the same across runs for the same video and language, so you can deduplicate on id when you store results.

Which export formats are available? JSON, JSONL, CSV, Excel, XML, HTML and RSS from the dataset. SRT and VTT files come as strings in each row; save them as .srt / .vtt.

Where do I get help? Open an issue on the Actor's Issues tab in Apify Console. We read and answer every issue.

Limitations

• isAutoGenerated is detected from caption timing, not read from YouTube, and may be wrong for unusual caption files.
• Translations are machine translations provided by YouTube.
• The language list accepts up to 3 languages.
• Private, members-only and removed videos can't be processed. Region-restricted videos may need the right Country.
• Standard processing usually takes a few minutes and can take up to ~45 minutes at peak times (transcripts are saved as they arrive). Choose Fast processing (paid add-on) if you need results in about a minute.
• Only new videos remembers up to 100,000 delivered videos per store and language setting; videos without a transcript are not remembered and are checked (and charged) again.

Privacy

The Actor collects only public caption text, the video title and the link. It does not collect viewer data, comments or account information. Captions can contain names or other personal data spoken in a video. If you store or publish transcripts, you are responsible for handling such data lawfully (for example under GDPR).