YouTube Transcript Extractor

Extract transcripts from YouTube videos using only Python standard library. This Actor retrieves YouTube video transcripts with timestamps, supports multiple languages, and returns structured JSON data. Simply provide a YouTube video ID or URL and get the complete transcript in seconds.

What does YouTube Transcript Extractor do?

The YouTube Transcript Extractor Actor allows you to extract YouTube transcripts programmatically without using the official YouTube API. This tool is perfect for content creators, researchers, data analysts, and developers who need to access YouTube video transcripts for analysis, translation, content creation, or data processing.

How to extract YouTube transcript data? Just provide a YouTube video ID (like EHUkxgbj0TQ) or a full YouTube URL, and the Actor will automatically fetch the available transcript in your preferred language. The Actor uses YouTube's internal API to retrieve transcript data, making it a reliable alternative to manual transcription or paid services.

What can YouTube Transcript Extractor do?

🎯 Extract transcripts from any YouTube video - Works with any public YouTube video that has captions enabled

🌐 Multi-language support - Automatically detects available languages and lets you choose your preferred language (Spanish, English, German, French, and more)

⏱️ Timestamped segments - Returns transcript data with precise timestamps for each segment, perfect for video editing or analysis

📊 Structured JSON output - Clean, organized data format ready for further processing, analysis, or integration

🚀 No external dependencies - Uses only Python standard library, ensuring fast execution and reliability

💾 Full text extraction - Get both individual timestamped segments and complete transcript text in one output

What data can YouTube Transcript Extractor extract?

Data Field	Description
Video ID	The unique YouTube video identifier
Video URL	Complete YouTube watch URL
Language Code	ISO language code of the extracted transcript (e.g., 'es', 'en', 'de')
Language Name	Human-readable language name (e.g., 'Spanish', 'English')
Full Text	Complete transcript text without timestamps
Segments	Array of timestamped transcript segments with start time, duration, and text
Total Segments	Number of transcript segments extracted

How to extract YouTube transcript data?

Step-by-step tutorial

1. Get your YouTube video - Find the YouTube video you want to extract the transcript from. You can use either:

   • Video ID: EHUkxgbj0TQ
   • Full URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHUkxgbj0TQ

2. Set your preferences - Choose your preferred language code (e.g., 'es' for Spanish, 'en' for English). If your preferred language isn't available, the Actor will use the first available language.

3. Run the Actor - Execute the Actor with your video input and language preference.

4. Download your data - Access the structured transcript data from the dataset. You can download it in JSON, CSV, Excel, or HTML formats.

Example usage

{
  "videoInput": "EHUkxgbj0TQ",
  "preferLanguage": "es"
}

Input

The YouTube Transcript Extractor accepts the following input parameters:

• videoInput (required): YouTube video ID or full YouTube URL

  • Examples: EHUkxgbj0TQ or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHUkxgbj0TQ

• preferLanguage (optional): Language code for the transcript

  • Default: es (Spanish)
  • Examples: en (English), de (German), fr (French), it (Italian)
  • If the preferred language is not available, the Actor will use the first available language

Click on the Input tab for more information and to see the input schema interface.

Output

You can download the dataset extracted by YouTube Transcript Extractor in various formats such as JSON, HTML, CSV, or Excel.

Output example

{
  "videoId": "EHUkxgbj0TQ",
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHUkxgbj0TQ",
  "languageCode": "es",
  "languageName": "Spanish",
  "totalSegments": 395,
  "fullText": "¡guau! ¡Vean qué locura! Nos acabamos de encontrar con un lugar que vende carne de perro...",
  "segments": [
    {
      "start": 0.0,
      "duration": 1.12,
      "text": "¡guau! ¡Vean qué locura!"
    },
    {
      "start": 1.153,
      "duration": 3.007,
      "text": "Nos acabamos de encontrar con un lugar que vende carne de perro."
    }
  ],
  "input": {
    "videoInput": "EHUkxgbj0TQ",
    "preferLanguage": "es"
  }
}

How much does it cost to extract YouTube transcript data?

YouTube Transcript Extractor uses Apify's consumption-based pricing model. You only pay for the Compute Units (CUs) consumed during the Actor run.

• Free plan: Get started with free CUs to test the Actor
• Pay-as-you-go: Pay only for what you use - typically less than $0.01 per video transcript extraction
• No subscription required: No monthly fees, just pay for actual usage

The Actor is highly efficient, using only Python standard library, which means minimal resource consumption and fast execution times. Most transcript extractions complete in seconds and consume minimal Compute Units.

Use cases

Content creators

• Extract transcripts for subtitles - Get transcripts to create or improve video subtitles
• Content repurposing - Convert video content into blog posts, articles, or social media content
• SEO optimization - Use transcripts to improve video SEO and discoverability

Researchers and analysts

• Data analysis - Analyze video content for research, sentiment analysis, or topic extraction
• Content monitoring - Track mentions, keywords, or topics across multiple YouTube videos
• Academic research - Extract transcripts for qualitative analysis or citation purposes

Developers and businesses

• API alternative - Use as an alternative to YouTube Data API for transcript extraction
• Automation - Integrate transcript extraction into automated workflows
• Content indexing - Build searchable indexes of video content

Translation services

• Multi-language support - Extract transcripts in different languages for translation workflows
• Localization - Get source transcripts for creating localized content

Tips and advanced options

💡 Language selection: If you're unsure about available languages, run the Actor once to see all available options, then specify your preferred language in subsequent runs.

⚡ Performance: The Actor uses only standard library, ensuring fast execution. Most extractions complete in under 10 seconds.

🔒 Privacy: The Actor only extracts publicly available transcript data. No private user data is accessed.

📝 Transcript availability: Note that transcripts are only available for videos that have captions enabled. The Actor will return an error if no transcripts are available.

Is it legal to extract YouTube transcripts?

Our Actor is ethical and extracts only publicly available transcript data that YouTube makes accessible through its platform. The transcripts are the same ones that users can view directly on YouTube's website.

We believe that extracting publicly available transcripts for legitimate purposes (research, content creation, accessibility, etc.) is safe and ethical. However, you should be aware that:

• Transcripts may contain copyrighted content
• You should respect YouTube's Terms of Service
• Use extracted data responsibly and in accordance with applicable laws
• If you're unsure about the legality of your use case, consult with legal counsel

You can read more about the legality of web scraping in our blog post.

Troubleshooting

Error: "transcripciones no disponibles o deshabilitadas"

• The video doesn't have captions enabled. Try a different video or check if the video has subtitles on YouTube.

Error: "No se pudo extraer INNERTUBE_API_KEY"

• This is a temporary issue with YouTube's API. Try running the Actor again after a few minutes.

Preferred language not available

• The Actor will automatically fall back to the first available language. Check the output to see which language was used.

Support

If you encounter any issues or have questions:

• Check the Issues tab for known problems and solutions
• Review the input schema for detailed parameter descriptions
• Contact support through the Apify platform

We're open to feedback and suggestions for improving this Actor. If you need a custom solution based on this Actor, feel free to reach out.

API integration

You can integrate YouTube Transcript Extractor into your applications using the Apify API. The Actor supports:

• REST API - Make HTTP requests to trigger Actor runs
• Webhooks - Get notified when runs complete
• Scheduled runs - Automate transcript extraction on a schedule
• Data export - Access results via API in JSON format

Resources

• Apify Platform documentation
• Apify SDK for Python
• Apify API documentation
• YouTube transcript extraction tutorial

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