🎬 YouTube Transcript Scraper

YouTube Transcript Scraper is an Apify Actor that extracts transcripts, subtitles and captions from YouTube videos, Shorts, playlists, channels and search keywords in bulk. Paste links or keywords and get one row per video, with the transcript as a text array, single-line text, WebVTT or SRT, plus optional channel, date, views and likes. Use it as a YouTube video transcript downloader and subtitle downloader, then export JSON, CSV or Excel. Pay per saved transcript, from $0.005 per result on the Gold plan. 🚀 Try it free

What can YouTube Transcript Scraper do?

• 📝 Bulk YouTube transcript extractor - collect the captions of many videos in one run and skip copying by hand.
• 📥 Bulk downloads - download YouTube transcripts in bulk with a simple YouTube transcript tool.
• 🔗 Many source types - video links, Shorts links, playlists, channels and search keywords in the same run.
• 🧾 Four transcript formats - text array, single-line text, WebVTT or SubRip (SRT) subtitles with timestamps, so YouTube subtitles in SRT and VTT are one setting away. Both creator-written and auto-generated captions can be collected.
• 🌍 Multiple languages - get YouTube transcripts in multiple languages by picking a preferred caption language from 76 language codes.
• 🎬 Video metadata with transcript - scrape YouTube captions together with optional details: add channel, publish date, views, likes, comments, keywords, thumbnail and description with simple checkboxes.
• ⚡ Live results - every transcript is written to the dataset as soon as it is ready.
• 🔌 Export and integrations - JSON, CSV and Excel exports, the Apify API, schedules and webhooks.

What data can I extract from YouTube?

Every row always has the first three fields. The other fields are added only when you tick the matching option in the input.

Field	Description
🆔 videoId	The YouTube video ID. Always included.
🎬 title	The video title. Always included.
📝 captions	The transcript in the format you chose: an array of caption lines for json, or a string for text, vtt and srt. Always included.
📺 channelName	Name of the channel that published the video.
🔖 channelID	The channel ID.
📅 datePublished	Publish timestamp in ISO format, for example 2024-02-22T23:00:12.000Z.
📆 dateText	Readable publish date, for example Feb 22, 2024.
⏳ relativeDateText	How long ago the video went live, for example 2 years ago.
👀 viewCount	View count as text, for example 27,406,159 views.
👍 likes	Number of likes as text, for example 564,840.
💬 comments	Number of comments as text, for example 30,915.
🏷 keywords	The video tags as one comma-separated string.
🌄 thumbnailUrl	Direct link to the thumbnail image.
📄 description	The full video description.

YouTube Transcript Scraper only returns videos that have a caption track. Optional details can be empty or null when YouTube does not show them for a video.

What can you do with the data from YouTube?

🎯 Collect YouTube transcripts for AI training data and RAG

1. Add your video, playlist or channel links to urls.
2. Set outputFormat to json to get one clean line per caption, ready as transcript text for search and retrieval.
3. Send the dataset to your language model datasets or retrieval pipeline.

📰 Repurpose YouTube videos into blog posts

1. Paste the video links in urls and choose text as outputFormat.
2. Tick descriptionBoolean and channelNameBoolean to keep context next to each transcript.
3. Summarize YouTube videos, then turn the transcript into articles, quotes and newsletters for content marketing research.

🔍 Run YouTube keyword research from transcripts

1. Add topics to searchKeywords and set maxVideosPerSource for topic research from videos.
2. Tick viewCountBoolean, likesBoolean and keywordsBoolean.
3. Compare transcripts, topics and engagement across channels for competitor video analysis and YouTube research and text analysis.

♿ Create YouTube subtitles for accessibility and study lecture transcripts

1. Add lecture or course links and set outputFormat to srt or vtt.
2. Choose your language.
3. Save the YouTube lecture subtitles for notes, translation or accessibility checks.

How do I use YouTube Transcript Scraper?

1. Open YouTube Transcript Scraper on Apify and click Try for free.
2. Add video, Shorts, playlist or channel links to urls, or type topics into searchKeywords.
3. Choose the outputFormat and the preferred caption language.
4. Tick the extra data points you want, such as channel name, views or likes.
5. Set maxVideosPerSource and, if needed, maxResults to control the size of the run.
6. Click Start and wait for the run to finish.
7. Open the Dataset tab and export the transcripts as JSON, CSV or Excel.

How much does it cost to scrape YouTube transcripts?

YouTube Transcript Scraper uses pay-per-event pricing: you pay for each transcript saved to the dataset, and Apify platform usage is billed in addition. The price per result depends on your Apify plan.

Plan	Price per result	Per 1,000 results
🆓 Free	$0.007	$7.00
🥉 Bronze	$0.0063	$6.30
🥈 Silver	$0.0056	$5.60
🥇 Gold, Platinum and Diamond	$0.005	$5.00

Each run also pays one start event at $0.00005 per GB of memory, minimum one. This Actor runs with 1 GB (1024 MB) by default, so the start of a run costs $0.00005.

Example: saving 200 transcripts on the Gold plan costs 200 x $0.005 = $1.00, plus the $0.00005 start event, with platform usage billed in addition.

Is scraping YouTube transcripts free?

Not entirely. Every saved transcript is charged at the price of your plan, shown in the table above, plus the small start event. Videos that are skipped, for example because they have no captions, are not saved as rows and are not charged as results.

How much does YouTube Transcript Scraper cost per 1,000 results?

1,000 transcripts cost $7.00 on the Free plan, $6.30 on Bronze, $5.60 on Silver and $5.00 on Gold, Platinum and Diamond, plus the $0.00005 start event and platform usage.

Input

Give the Actor at least one link in urls or one keyword in searchKeywords. All fields are optional, but a run with neither has nothing to process. Playlist and channel links are expanded into single videos, up to maxVideosPerSource each. Links you paste for single videos are never limited by that setting, and duplicate links are processed once.

Sources and limits

Field	Type	Required	Description	Default / example
urls	array	No*	YouTube video, Shorts, short-link, playlist or channel links.	["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb9s3UiMSTA"]
searchKeywords	array	No*	Keywords. The top matching videos are added to the run.	["python asyncio"]
scrapeShorts	boolean	No	Include Shorts (60 seconds or less) found inside channels, playlists and searches. A Shorts link you paste is always processed.	false
maxVideosPerSource	integer	No	Videos to take from each playlist, channel or keyword (1 to 1000).	10
maxResults	integer	No	Overall ceiling for the whole run after links are expanded and de-duplicated (0 to 100000). 0 means no limit.	0

*Provide at least one of urls or searchKeywords.

Transcript output

Field	Type	Required	Description	Default / example
outputFormat	string	No	json (array of caption lines), text (one continuous string), vtt (WebVTT) or srt (SubRip).	json
language	string	No	Preferred caption language code, such as en, es, fr, de, hi, ja, zh-Hans. If that language is missing, English is used, then any available track.	en

Extra data points

Field	Type	Required	Description	Default
channelNameBoolean	boolean	No	Add channelName.	false
channelIDBoolean	boolean	No	Add channelID.	false
datePublishedBoolean	boolean	No	Add datePublished.	false
dateTextBoolean	boolean	No	Add dateText.	false
relativeDateTextBoolean	boolean	No	Add relativeDateText.	false
viewCountBoolean	boolean	No	Add viewCount.	false
likesBoolean	boolean	No	Add likes.	false
commentsBoolean	boolean	No	Add comments.	false
keywordsBoolean	boolean	No	Add keywords.	false
thumbnailBoolean	boolean	No	Add thumbnailUrl.	false
descriptionBoolean	boolean	No	Add description.	false

Speed and reliability

Field	Type	Required	Description	Default
maxConcurrency	integer	No	Videos processed at the same time (1 to 16).	4
requestDelaySecs	number	No	Pause in seconds before each request starts (0 to 10).	1
maxRetries	integer	No	Attempts per video before it is skipped (3 to 12).	8
proxyConfiguration	object	No	Optional network setting. Leave it off unless you need a specific network setup.	{"useApifyProxy": false}

Input example

{
  "urls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb9s3UiMSTA",
    "https://www.youtube.com/@example"
  ],
  "searchKeywords": ["python asyncio"],
  "scrapeShorts": false,
  "maxVideosPerSource": 10,
  "maxResults": 0,
  "outputFormat": "json",
  "language": "en",
  "channelNameBoolean": true,
  "datePublishedBoolean": true,
  "viewCountBoolean": true,
  "likesBoolean": true
}

Output

Results go to the default dataset, one row per video, and appear as each transcript is ready. Download them as JSON, CSV or Excel from the Dataset tab or through the API. The dataset has five views: Quick View, Transcript, Channel & Publishing, Engagement Stats and Metadata & Media.

Dataset row with outputFormat set to json and the input above (values are fake examples):

{
  "videoId": "abc123XYZ00",
  "title": "Example video title",
  "channelName": "Example Channel",
  "datePublished": "2024-02-22T23:00:12.000Z",
  "viewCount": "27,406,159 views",
  "likes": "564,840",
  "captions": [
    "Welcome to this example video.",
    "Today we cover the first topic."
  ]
}

With all extra options ticked, the row also contains channelID, dateText, relativeDateText, comments, keywords, thumbnailUrl (for example https://example.com/thumbnail.jpg) and description.

If any video is skipped, the run also saves a skipped-videos.json record in the key-value store, listing each skipped link and the reason:

[
  {
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abc123XYZ00",
    "reason": "No transcript available for this video"
  }
]

Notes and limitations

• Only videos that have captions can return a transcript. Videos without captions are skipped and listed in skipped-videos.json.
• viewCount, likes and comments are text values, and keywords is one comma-separated string.
• Shorts found in channels, playlists and searches are skipped unless scrapeShorts is on.
• Rows can arrive in a different order than your links, because several videos are processed at the same time.
• A very large transcript is trimmed so it fits in one dataset row.
• If a run reaches the spending limit you set, it stops and keeps the transcripts saved so far.

FAQ

Is it legal to scrape YouTube transcripts?

YouTube Transcript Scraper collects publicly visible captions and video details. Whether your use is lawful depends on your country, your purpose and how you use the content, including copyright and platform terms. Read this overview on web scraping legality. This is not legal advice; ask a lawyer if unsure.

Do I need an account, cookies or an API key?

No. YouTube Transcript Scraper does not ask for a YouTube account, cookies or an API key. You only need an Apify account to run it. Add your links or search keywords, choose the format and language, and start the run. Public videos with captions work without any extra setup on your side.

How many videos can I get per run?

Single video links are all processed. For each playlist, channel or keyword you can take 1 to 1,000 videos with maxVideosPerSource, and maxResults adds an overall cap for the run. Set maxResults to 0 for no overall cap. Start with the default of 10 per source for a quick test.

Which languages are supported for YouTube transcripts?

Choose json for a text array, text for one continuous string, vtt for WebVTT or srt for SubRip subtitles with timestamps. Pick a preferred caption language from 76 language codes. If the video has no track in that language, English is used first, then any available track.

What happens when a video has no transcript?

The video is skipped, no row is saved and no result is charged for it. The run keeps going with the other videos. At the end, a skipped-videos.json record in the key-value store lists each skipped link and the reason, so you can check them or retry later.

Can I export YouTube transcripts to CSV or Excel?

Yes. Open the Dataset tab after the run and export the rows as JSON, CSV or Excel, or download them through the API. For spreadsheets, text is usually the easiest format because the whole transcript fits in one cell. Use srt or vtt when you need timestamps.

Can I schedule YouTube transcript scraping or connect other tools?

Yes. Because this is an Apify Actor, you can schedule runs, trigger webhooks when a run finishes and connect the dataset to other tools with Apify integrations. This suits recurring jobs, such as checking a channel for new videos every week with the same input.

Can I use YouTube Transcript Scraper with the Apify API or an MCP server?

Yes. You can start runs and read the dataset through the Apify API, and you can call Actors from MCP-compatible AI tools through Apify. See the Apify API documentation for endpoints, authentication and usage details, and the ready-made API examples shown on this Actor page.

Why am I getting fewer transcripts than expected?

The most common reasons are videos without captions, private or unavailable videos, Shorts skipped because scrapeShorts is off, and low values in maxVideosPerSource or maxResults. Open skipped-videos.json for the reason per video. If requests were refused, try again in a few minutes or lower maxConcurrency for a gentler run.

YouTube Transcript Scraper not working?

First check the run log and skipped-videos.json for the reason, then test with a single public video link that has captions. If the problem continues, open a report in the Issues tab with your run link and input, and we will look into it.

Related Actors

Actor	Use it to
💬 YouTube Comments Scraper	Extract YouTube video comments and replies with author, text, likes and publish date.
⚡ Fast YouTube Channel Scraper	Scrape a channel's Videos, Shorts and Live tabs with view, like and comment counts.
📱 YouTube Shorts Scraper	Extract YouTube Shorts from any channel with views, likes, comments and hashtags.
▶ YouTube Scraper	Scrape YouTube videos, channels, playlists and search results with engagement data.

Support and disclaimer

Found a bug or need a feature? Open an issue in the Issues tab. For custom solutions, integrations or questions, write to hello.dataminds@gmail.com. YouTube Transcript Scraper is independent and not affiliated with YouTube or Google. Trademarks belong to their owners. It collects publicly available data only, and you are responsible for complying with applicable laws and the platform's terms.

Last updated: 2026-10-17