YouTube Transcript & Chapter Extractor

Extract structured YouTube transcripts with timestamps, language selection, joined plain text, chapters parsed from descriptions, and video metadata. No buyer API key is required.

Why use it

• Language preferences use exact matches first, then related base languages.
• Returns both clean plain text and timestamped segments.
• Includes available caption languages, chapters, metadata, counts, and canonical URLs.
• Invalid, unavailable, disabled-caption, and rate-limited videos become explicit failure rows.

Input

Provide videoUrls, optional languageCodes, and a bounded maxVideos. Run the default input for a public YouTube Developers sample.

{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7lc1UVf-VE"
  ],
  "languageCodes": ["en"],
  "maxVideos": 10,
  "includeSegments": true,
  "includePlainText": true,
  "includeMetadata": true
}

Output and workflows

Each requested video produces a success or explicit failure row. Successful rows include the canonical video URL, selected and available languages, timestamped transcript segments, joined text, chapters, metadata, and counts according to the selected output switches.

Common uses include RAG ingestion, searchable video archives, research, summaries, show notes, accessibility workflows, quote discovery, and joining transcripts with channel metadata. Verify source context and rights before publishing derived material.

API and automation

curl -X POST \
  "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/gifted_wagon~youtube-transcript-extractor-pro/run-sync-get-dataset-items" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"videoUrls":["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7lc1UVf-VE"],"languageCodes":["en"]}'

In n8n or Make, map new video URLs into videoUrls, send joined text to the next AI or storage step, and route failure rows for review. For recurring channel workflows, combine this Actor with YouTube Channel Video Explorer.

Pricing

The primary transcript-extracted event starts at $0.004 per successful transcript. Only successful transcript rows are charged; failed videos and the OUTPUT summary are uncharged. A small Actor-start event covers startup.

Responsible use

Use public captions only where your purpose and applicable terms, copyright, privacy, and data-protection rules permit. This Actor does not bypass private, paid, age-restricted, or disabled captions. YouTube is a trademark of Google LLC; this independent Actor is not affiliated with or endorsed by YouTube.

The default dataset contains one result per requested video. OUTPUT contains counts, budget status, and the value-event name.

FAQ and limitations

• Is a buyer API key required? No.
• Can it generate captions when a video has none? No. It extracts available public caption tracks; it does not transcribe audio.
• Does it bypass private, paid, age-restricted, or disabled captions? No.
• How is language selected? Requested language codes are tried in order, with related base-language fallback when available.