# Instagram Transcript Extractor - Reel Speech to Text, SRT & VTT (`incredible_expertise/instagram-transcript-extractor`) Actor

Turn any public Instagram Reel into a clean transcript: full text plus timestamped segments, SRT and VTT subtitles, in the spoken language (auto-detected). Real speech-to-text with Whisper. You only pay for Reels that return a transcript. $9.90 per 1,000.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/incredible_expertise/instagram-transcript-extractor.md
- **Developed by:** [Alex Vega](https://apify.com/incredible_expertise) (community)
- **Features:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $8.42 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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

## Instagram Transcript Extractor

Turn any public Instagram Reel into a clean transcript: full text plus timestamped segments, with SRT and VTT subtitles, in the spoken language (auto-detected, Spanish included).

### How it works

Most Reels have no caption track, so this Actor does real speech-to-text: it downloads the Reel's audio and transcribes it locally with OpenAI's Whisper model (your choice of `small` for accuracy or `base` for speed). No login is used and no Reel is ever charged unless it actually returns a transcript.

### Input

- **Reel URLs** — public Reel or video-post URLs (one per line).
- **Max Reels** — overall cap for the run.
- **Whisper model** — `small` (default, better with accents and Spanish) or `base` (about 2x faster).
- **Spoken language** — leave empty to auto-detect.
- **Proxy** — datacenter by default (verified working); residential available.

### Output (one row per delivered transcript)

`url`, `shortcode`, `author`, `caption`, `publishedAt`, `durationSeconds`, `language`, `transcript`, `segments` (`{startMs, durationMs, text}`), `srt`, `vtt`, `wordCount`, plus like/comment counts at extraction time.

### Pricing

Pay per result: **$9.90 per 1,000 transcripts**. Reels that are private, unavailable, or contain no speech (music-only) are classified in the run log and **never charged**.

### Honest limits

- Public Reels only; private or age-gated media cannot be fetched without an account, and this Actor does not use accounts.
- Music-only Reels return no transcript (and are not charged).
- Speech-to-text is automatic: names and rare words can be misheard, more so with the `base` model.

# Actor input Schema

## `concurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many Reels to process in parallel. Transcription is CPU-heavy; 2 is a good balance.

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

Optional: force the spoken language (ISO code like 'en' or 'es'). Leave empty to auto-detect - recommended unless you know every Reel is in the same language.

## `maxReels` (type: `integer`):

Overall cap of Reels processed in this run. Trying it out with 25 costs at most about $0.25 in Actor fees (if every Reel returns a transcript).

## `modelSize` (type: `string`):

Whisper model used for speech-to-text. 'small' (default) is more accurate, especially with accents and Spanish; 'base' is about 2x faster and cheaper on platform usage, slightly less accurate.

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

Optional Apify Proxy settings. By default the Actor runs WITHOUT a proxy (direct connection): public Reels were verified reachable with no login in pre-launch tests (10/10 downloads). If Instagram starts limiting your runs, enable Apify Proxy RESIDENTIAL here; traffic is a few MB per Reel and is billed as platform usage.

## `reelUrls` (type: `array`):

Public Instagram Reel (or video post) URLs to transcribe. The pre-filled value is a ready-to-run example (a narrated cooking Reel) - replace it with your own. You only pay for Reels that actually return a transcript: private Reels and Reels without speech are never charged.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "concurrency": 2,
  "language": "",
  "maxReels": 25,
  "modelSize": "small",
  "reelUrls": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DP0sBdWCFLj/"
  ]
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

Dataset of Reel transcripts

# 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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("incredible_expertise/instagram-transcript-extractor").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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("incredible_expertise/instagram-transcript-extractor").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 '{}' |
apify call incredible_expertise/instagram-transcript-extractor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/g8Wa35W336uzhv95W/builds/QhQ9ipr8teDgE3u7f/openapi.json