# YouTube Transcript Scraper - Bulk Subtitles ($3/1K) (`generous_fog/youtube-transcript-scraper`) Actor

Get full YouTube transcripts and subtitles in bulk: clean text for AI plus timestamped lines, any language or auto-translation, with title, channel, views and description. No login. $3 per 1,000 transcripts, pay only for delivered transcripts.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/generous\_fog/youtube-transcript-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Cracks API](https://apify.com/generous_fog) (community)
- **Categories:** Videos, AI, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 1,000 transcript delivereds

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/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## YouTube Transcript Scraper

Get the full transcript (subtitles / captions) of any public YouTube video in bulk. Paste video links, get clean plain text plus timestamped lines, ready for ChatGPT, summaries, SEO content, research, and translation.

**$3 per 1,000 transcripts. You pay only for transcripts actually delivered.** Videos without captions, private or deleted videos, and invalid links are never charged.

> **Unofficial.** This independent Actor is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by YouTube or Google.

### Why choose this YouTube Transcript Scraper?

- **Pay only for success.** No transcript = no charge.
- **Reliable.** When YouTube shows a bot check, the Actor automatically retries with a fresh proxy IP.
- **Bulk input.** Watch links, youtu.be links, Shorts, live and embed URLs, or plain video IDs.
- **Any language.** Choose a preferred language, prefer human captions over auto-generated ones, or get YouTube's automatic translation.
- **AI-ready output.** One clean `transcript` text field for LLMs, plus a `segments` array with start time and duration for every line.
- **Video details included.** Title, channel, duration, views, description, thumbnail, and keywords come with every transcript.
- **Right language by default.** When your language is missing, it falls back to the video's original spoken language, not a random subtitle track.
- **No login, no cookies, no API key.**

### Use cases

- Summarize videos with ChatGPT, Claude, or any LLM
- Turn videos into blog posts, newsletters, and social content
- Build RAG / knowledge bases from YouTube channels and courses
- Research competitors, podcasts, interviews, and product reviews
- Create subtitles, quotes, and searchable video archives
- Analyze keywords and topics across many videos

### Quick start

```json
{
  "videos": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "https://youtu.be/9bZkp7q19f0",
    "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "includeTimestamps": true
}
```

### Input

| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `videos` | - | YouTube URLs or 11-character video IDs, one per line |
| `language` | `en` | Preferred transcript language code (en, hi, es, de, ...) |
| `preferManualCaptions` | `true` | Prefer creator-uploaded captions over auto-generated |
| `translateIfMissing` | `false` | Return YouTube's automatic translation when the language is missing |
| `includeTimestamps` | `true` | Add timestamped `segments` |
| `maxConcurrency` | `5` | Videos processed in parallel |
| `maxRetries` | `6` | Fresh-IP retries when YouTube asks for a bot check |
| `proxyConfiguration` | Apify Proxy | Proxy settings |

If the preferred language is not available and translation is off, the best available transcript is returned and `requestedLanguageFound` is `false`.

### Output

```json
{
  "status": "success",
  "videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video)",
  "channelName": "Rick Astley",
  "channelId": "UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw",
  "durationSeconds": 213,
  "viewCount": 1700000000,
  "description": "The official video for Never Gonna Give You Up ...",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/maxresdefault.jpg",
  "keywords": ["rick astley", "never gonna give you up"],
  "language": "en",
  "languageName": "English",
  "isAutoGenerated": false,
  "isTranslated": false,
  "requestedLanguageFound": true,
  "availableLanguages": [{ "code": "en", "name": "English", "isAutoGenerated": false }],
  "transcript": "We're no strangers to love You know the rules and so do I ...",
  "wordCount": 402,
  "segmentCount": 61,
  "segments": [{ "start": 18.64, "duration": 3.24, "text": "We're no strangers to love" }]
}
```

Videos that cannot be delivered are listed with `status` set to `no_captions`, `unavailable`, `invalid_input`, or `error`, plus a short explanation. These rows are **not charged**.

### Pricing

- **$3 per 1,000 delivered transcripts** (`transcript` event)
- A tiny Actor-start fee
- No charge for videos without captions, unavailable videos, invalid links, or failures

### FAQ

**Does it work for videos without subtitles?** Only videos with captions (human or auto-generated) have a transcript. Most spoken videos have auto-generated captions. Videos without any captions are returned as `no_captions` and not charged.

**Can I get transcripts in Hindi or other languages?** Yes. Set `language` to the code you need. Enable `translateIfMissing` to get YouTube's automatic translation when that language does not exist.

**Can I use it with n8n, Make, Zapier or the API?** Yes. Run it through the Apify API or integrations and read the dataset as JSON, CSV, or Excel.

### Responsible use

Use transcripts in line with YouTube's terms, copyright law, and the creator's rights. Do not republish other creators' content without permission.

# Actor input Schema

## `videos` (type: `array`):

YouTube video URLs or 11-character video IDs. Works with watch, youtu.be, Shorts, live and embed links. One per line.

## `language` (type: `string`):

Language code such as en, hi, es, de. If this language is not available, the best available transcript is returned (or translated if enabled below).

## `preferManualCaptions` (type: `boolean`):

Use creator-uploaded captions before YouTube auto-generated captions when both exist.

## `translateIfMissing` (type: `boolean`):

If the preferred language is not available, return YouTube's automatic translation into it.

## `includeTimestamps` (type: `boolean`):

Add a segments array with start time, duration and text for every caption line. The full plain-text transcript is always included.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many videos are processed at the same time.

## `maxRetries` (type: `integer`):

Retries with a fresh proxy IP when YouTube asks for a bot check.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Apify Proxy is used by default and gives the best reliability.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videos": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "https://youtu.be/9bZkp7q19f0"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "preferManualCaptions": true,
  "translateIfMissing": false,
  "includeTimestamps": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 5,
  "maxRetries": 6,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `transcripts` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 = {
    "videos": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
        "https://youtu.be/9bZkp7q19f0"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("generous_fog/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 = {
    "videos": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
        "https://youtu.be/9bZkp7q19f0",
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

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

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

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

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "videos": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "https://youtu.be/9bZkp7q19f0"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call generous_fog/youtube-transcript-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,generous_fog/youtube-transcript-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/97rDFxVg07qx9e8T5/builds/FiY6yI0qcQJWdnfgT/openapi.json