# Cheap YouTube Transcript API (`graceful_quidnunc/cheap-youtube-transcript-api`) Actor

This Actor extracts the transcript from a YouTube video. Fast and cheap

- **URL**: https://apify.com/graceful\_quidnunc/cheap-youtube-transcript-api.md
- **Developed by:** [Leif](https://apify.com/graceful_quidnunc) (community)
- **Categories:**
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 results

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?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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 API

Extract YouTube video transcripts in bulk — fast, no browser, no YouTube Data API key required.

Paste video URLs or IDs, run the actor, and get timestamped captions plus video titles in your dataset. Supports watch links, Shorts, `youtu.be`, and raw 11-character video IDs.

### What you get

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| `videoId` | YouTube video ID |
| `videoUrl` | Full watch URL |
| `title` | Video title |
| `language` | Transcript language code |
| `transcript` | Timestamped segments (JSON) or plain text |
| `fullText` | All segments merged into one string |
| `segmentCount` | Number of caption lines |

Failed videos are included with `success: false` and an `error` message — so you never lose track of what didn't work.

### Input

| Parameter | Default | Description |
|-----------|---------|-------------|
| **urls** | — | List of YouTube URLs or video IDs |
| **language** | `en` | Preferred caption language (`es`, `fr`, `de`, …) |
| **format** | `json` | `json` for timestamped segments, `text` for plain string |
| **includeFullText** | `true` | Add a merged `fullText` field (JSON format only) |
| **maxConcurrency** | `20` | Parallel requests — increase for large batches |
| **maxRetries** | `3` | Retries on rate limits and server errors |

### Example input

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "https://youtu.be/jNQXAC9IVRw"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "format": "json",
  "includeFullText": true
}
```

### Use cases

- Feed transcripts into LLMs for summarization, Q\&A, or RAG pipelines
- Repurpose video content into blog posts, newsletters, or social copy
- Build searchable archives from lectures, podcasts, and interviews
- Batch-process hundreds of videos in a single run

Export results as JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML from the Apify Console.

# Actor input Schema

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

List of YouTube video URLs, Shorts links, youtu.be links, or 11-character video IDs.

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

Preferred transcript language code (e.g. en, es, fr). Falls back to available captions.

## `format` (type: `string`):

json returns timestamped segments; text returns plain transcript string.

## `includeFullText` (type: `boolean`):

When format is json, also include a merged fullText field from all segments.

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

Number of parallel API requests. Increase for large batches.

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

Retries per video on rate limits or server errors.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "format": "json",
  "includeFullText": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 20,
  "maxRetries": 3
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Dataset containing transcript results for each video URL.

# 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"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("graceful_quidnunc/cheap-youtube-transcript-api").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"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("graceful_quidnunc/cheap-youtube-transcript-api").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 '{
  "urls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ]
}' |
apify call graceful_quidnunc/cheap-youtube-transcript-api --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

```

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/ikuue2GZ1e9YWbdGA/builds/DZIPe4qBMenGJgm3f/openapi.json