# YouTube Transcript Scraper - Bulk + Multi-language (`dltik/youtube-transcript-scraper`) Actor

Extract YouTube transcripts in bulk: any public video, manual + auto-generated captions, multi-language fallback. Outputs full text + segments with timestamps. HTTP-only, no API key. Pay $0.005/transcript.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/dltik/youtube-transcript-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [dltik](https://apify.com/dltik) (community)
- **Categories:** AI, Developer tools, Marketing
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$5.00 / 1,000 transcript fetcheds

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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).


# README

## YouTube Transcript Scraper — Bulk Extract Captions, Multi-language, with Timestamps

> Extract **YouTube transcripts in bulk** — any public video, any channel. Manual + auto-generated captions, multi-language fallback, full text + segments with timestamps. HTTP-only via [yt-dlp](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp), better fingerprinting than `youtube-transcript-api`. No API key, no quota. **$0.005 per transcript** ($5 per 1,000).

⭐ **Bookmark this YouTube Transcript Scraper** — Apify ranks actors by bookmarks, so it directly helps the visibility of this scraper on the Apify Store.

### What is the YouTube Transcript Scraper?

The **YouTube Transcript Scraper** is an Apify actor that downloads YouTube video transcripts (subtitles / closed captions) in bulk, fast, and cheap. Drop in a list of YouTube URLs or video IDs and get back the full transcript text plus timestamped segments. Multi-language with fallback — request French, get auto-translated English if French isn't available.

Built on `yt-dlp` instead of the deprecated `youtube-transcript-api` Python lib, so it has better session/cookie management, lower 429 rate, and tolerates DC IPs in most cases. Add the Apify Residential proxy if you hit blocks on aggressive videos.

### Use cases

- **AI training data** — pull transcripts of 1,000+ podcast videos to fine-tune an LLM.
- **Content marketing research** — extract transcripts of competitor YouTube videos and analyze tone, keywords, hooks.
- **Multilingual subtitles** — get auto-generated captions in your target language for video re-localization.
- **Searchable video archives** — turn a 500-video channel into a full-text searchable corpus.
- **Podcast / interview pipelines** — feed YouTube transcripts into Claude / GPT for summarization, highlight extraction, social-media clip generation.
- **SEO research** — find which keywords appear in top-ranking video transcripts.

### Input

```json
{
  "videos": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "https://youtu.be/jNQXAC9IVRw",
    "EZ8RFXNQK2g"
  ],
  "languages": ["en", "fr", "es"],
  "proxyConfig": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"] }
}
````

The `videos` field accepts full URLs (`youtube.com/watch?v=…`, `youtu.be/…`, `youtube.com/shorts/…`, `youtube.com/embed/…`) or raw 11-character video IDs.

### Output

```json
{
  "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "language": "en",
  "is_auto_generated": false,
  "transcript_text": "We're no strangers to love. You know the rules and so do I...",
  "segments": [
    { "start": 18.4, "duration": 3.6, "text": "We're no strangers to love" },
    { "start": 22.0, "duration": 3.2, "text": "You know the rules and so do I" }
  ],
  "char_count": 1842,
  "word_count": 311
}
```

### Pricing

**PAY\_PER\_EVENT — $0.005 per transcript fetched** (= $5 per 1,000). Failed fetches are not charged. Compute and (optional) residential proxy bandwidth are billed by Apify on top — typically <$0.001/transcript with HTTP-only mode.

### FAQ — YouTube Transcript API alternatives

**Why use this scraper vs `youtube-transcript-api` (Python lib)?** That library breaks frequently when YouTube rotates internal endpoints, and it has zero anti-fingerprinting. This scraper uses `yt-dlp`, which is the most-maintained YouTube client (it powers most YouTube downloaders). It bypasses the issues `youtube-transcript-api` users hit weekly.

**Does it work without a proxy?** Often, yes — yt-dlp's session management bypasses most DC blocks. For aggressive videos (recently uploaded, high-view, or live-streamed), enable Apify Residential proxy to maintain >95% success rate.

**Does it support YouTube Shorts and live streams?** Yes — Shorts URLs (`youtube.com/shorts/…`) and live VOD pages are auto-detected.

**Bulk extraction — how fast?** Around 2-3 transcripts per second per actor instance. For 10K transcripts, run with 4-8 concurrent actor runs.

**Multi-language fallback — how does it pick?** It tries each language in your `languages` list in order; if none has a manual transcript, it falls back to auto-generated, then to auto-translated. The chosen language is in the `language` output field.

***

⭐ **Found this useful? Bookmark this YouTube Transcript Scraper** — it's the strongest signal for Apify Store ranking.

#### Related actors

- [Substack Scraper](https://apify.com/dltik/substack-scraper) — for written content + sentiment
- [HackerNews MCP Server](https://apify.com/dltik/mcp-server-hackernews) — tech-content analysis
- [Pappers MCP Server](https://apify.com/dltik/mcp-server-pappers) — French B2B intelligence

License: MIT · Author: [dltik](https://apify.com/dltik)

# Actor input Schema

## `urls` (type: `array`):

List of YouTube video URLs or 11-char video IDs. Supports youtube.com/watch, youtu.be, /shorts/, /live/, /embed/.

## `preferredLanguages` (type: `array`):

ISO 639-1 codes in priority order. Tries manual transcripts first, then auto-generated. Falls back to any available.

## `proxyConfig` (type: `object`):

YouTube blocks datacenter IPs. Apify Residential proxy is enabled by default.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4W9WgXcQ",
    "https://youtu.be/jNQXAC9IVRw"
  ],
  "preferredLanguages": [
    "en",
    "fr",
    "es",
    "de"
  ],
  "proxyConfig": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}
```

# 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 = {
    "urls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4W9WgXcQ",
        "https://youtu.be/jNQXAC9IVRw"
    ],
    "proxyConfig": {
        "useApifyProxy": true,
        "apifyProxyGroups": [
            "RESIDENTIAL"
        ]
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("dltik/youtube-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 = {
    "urls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4W9WgXcQ",
        "https://youtu.be/jNQXAC9IVRw",
    ],
    "proxyConfig": {
        "useApifyProxy": True,
        "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"],
    },
}

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

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

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

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "urls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4W9WgXcQ",
    "https://youtu.be/jNQXAC9IVRw"
  ],
  "proxyConfig": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}' |
apify call dltik/youtube-transcript-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=dltik/youtube-transcript-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "YouTube Transcript Scraper - Bulk + Multi-language",
        "description": "Extract YouTube transcripts in bulk: any public video, manual + auto-generated captions, multi-language fallback. Outputs full text + segments with timestamps. HTTP-only, no API key. Pay $0.005/transcript.",
        "version": "1.0",
        "x-build-id": "eAJUIfRgXSjktHG3a"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/dltik~youtube-transcript-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-dltik-youtube-transcript-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/dltik~youtube-transcript-scraper/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-dltik-youtube-transcript-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/dltik~youtube-transcript-scraper/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-dltik-youtube-transcript-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "required": [
                    "urls"
                ],
                "properties": {
                    "urls": {
                        "title": "YouTube video URLs (or IDs)",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "List of YouTube video URLs or 11-char video IDs. Supports youtube.com/watch, youtu.be, /shorts/, /live/, /embed/.",
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "preferredLanguages": {
                        "title": "Preferred transcript languages",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "ISO 639-1 codes in priority order. Tries manual transcripts first, then auto-generated. Falls back to any available.",
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "default": [
                            "en",
                            "fr",
                            "es",
                            "de"
                        ]
                    },
                    "proxyConfig": {
                        "title": "Proxy configuration",
                        "type": "object",
                        "description": "YouTube blocks datacenter IPs. Apify Residential proxy is enabled by default.",
                        "default": {
                            "useApifyProxy": true,
                            "apifyProxyGroups": [
                                "RESIDENTIAL"
                            ]
                        }
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```