# YouTube Transcript Scraper (No API Key, No Login) (`locaihost/youtube-transcripts`) Actor YouTube transcript scraper for videos, channels, playlists and searches. Plain text, timestamps, SRT and WebVTT, RAG chunks, plus title, channel, views, publish date and caption languages. Videos without captions are free rows. No login, no API key. $1.50 per 1,000 transcripts. - **URL**: https://apify.com/locaihost/youtube-transcripts.md - **Developed by:** [locaihost data](https://apify.com/locaihost) (community) - **Categories:** Videos, AI, Social media - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $0.83 / 1,000 transcripts This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. 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 ## YouTube Transcript Scraper (No API Key, No Login) Get the transcript of any public YouTube video as one row per video, from video links, whole channels, playlists or searches. Each row has the plain text, timestamped segments, optional SRT or WebVTT subtitles and RAG chunks, plus the video's title, channel, publish date, views and caption languages. You don't need a login, an API key or cookies. What people use it for: - Search or chat over video: RAG chunks carry start and end times, so an answer can link to the right moment. - Reusing talks, podcasts and tutorials as text for articles, show notes and summaries. - Researching a channel or topic: every transcript from a channel's latest videos or a YouTube search, in one table. - Subtitle files: SRT and WebVTT in your language, from human-made or auto-generated captions. - Watching channels: schedule it with `onlyNew` to get only the new videos' transcripts. ### Quick start Paste this into the **JSON** tab of the input and click **Start**: ```json {"urls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arj7oStGLkU", "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ", "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc"], "languages": ["en"]} ``` That returns 3 transcripts in about 10 seconds. For a channel, paste its link or `@handle`, for example `https://www.youtube.com/@TED` with `"maxVideosPerChannel": 5`. Add `"chunkSize": 300, "chunkOverlap": 40` for RAG chunks. ### What you get | Group | Fields | |---|---| | Video | `videoId`, `url`, `title`, `channelName`, `channelHandle`, `channelId`, `channelUrl`, `publishDate` (YYYY-MM-DD, the date shown on the video's page), `publishedAt` (exact time, UTC), `durationSeconds`, `duration`, `viewCount`, `likeCount`, `category`, `thumbnailUrl` | | Transcript | `hasTranscript`, `transcript` (plain text), `wordCount`, `characterCount`, `segmentCount` | | Formats | `segments` (start, end, text; on by default), `srt`, `vtt` (when asked), `chunks` (index, start, end, wordCount, text; when `chunkSize` is set) | | Language | `language`, `languageName`, `isAutoGenerated`, `isTranslated`, `translatedFrom`, `isFallbackLanguage`, `availableLanguages` (every caption track the video offers), `captionLanguages` (every language code with captions, once each), `manualCaptionLanguages` (codes with human-made captions, not auto-generated) | | No transcript | `noTranscriptReason` (`no-captions`, `no-matching-language`, `private`, `age-restricted`, `members-only`, `live-now`, `upcoming`, `temporarily-blocked`, `translation-refused` and others), `noTranscriptMessage` | | Source | `sourceType` (`video`, `channel`, `playlist`, `search`), `sourceInput`, `sourcePosition`, `scrapedAt` | Inputs can be video links (watch, youtu.be, Shorts, live, embed) or bare IDs, channel links or `@handles` (the latest N videos), playlist links, and YouTube searches (the top N results in YouTube's order). You can mix them in one run, and each video is read once. One real row (run on 2026-10-18, with the text, `segments` and the language lists cut short): ```json { "videoId": "arj7oStGLkU", "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arj7oStGLkU", "title": "Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator | Tim Urban | TED", "channelName": "TED", "channelHandle": "@TED", "channelId": "UCAuUUnT6oDeKwE6v1NGQxug", "publishedAt": "2016-04-06T16:59:35.000Z", "publishDate": "2016-04-06", "durationSeconds": 844, "duration": "14:04", "viewCount": 62072457, "likeCount": 2055195, "category": "People & Blogs", "hasTranscript": true, "language": "en", "languageName": "English", "isAutoGenerated": false, "isTranslated": false, "isFallbackLanguage": false, "availableLanguages": [{"code": "ar", "name": "Arabic", "isAutoGenerated": false}, {"code": "bg", "name": "Bulgarian", "isAutoGenerated": false}], "captionLanguages": ["ar", "bg"], "manualCaptionLanguages": ["ar", "bg"], "transcript": "So in college, I was a government major, which means I had to write a lot of papers. ...", "wordCount": 2277, "characterCount": 12671, "segmentCount": 315, "segments": [{"start": 12.645, "end": 14.015, "text": "So in college,"}, {"start": 15.349, "end": 16.913, "text": "I was a government major,"}], "sourceType": "video", "sourcePosition": null } ``` A video without a transcript is a free row with `hasTranscript: false`, a `noTranscriptReason` and a plain-words `noTranscriptMessage`. The dataset has three views (**Overview**, **Video details**, **No transcript (free)**) and exports to JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML. The run's `SUMMARY` record counts videos by outcome and lists anything that failed. ### Price You pay per transcript returned. There is no charge for Apify platform usage on top. | Row | Free and Starter | Scale | Business | |---|---|---|---| | Transcript | $1.50 per 1,000 | $1.125 per 1,000 | $0.825 per 1,000 | Plus $0.00005 per run start. **Apify's free $5 monthly credit covers about 3,300 transcripts.** Free-plan runs stop at 200 videos each; any paid Apify plan removes the cap. Example: a channel's latest 50 videos cost $0.075. **Free rows:** videos with no captions (or none in your languages), private, removed, age-restricted and members-only videos, live streams and premieres that haven't finished, videos YouTube refused to show, videos skipped by `onlyNew`, and the same video found twice in one run (read once). A run that returns nothing because of the input costs nothing. To cap a run's spend, set `maxVideos` or **Maximum cost per run** in the run options. ### Limits - It returns the captions YouTube has: human-made, auto-generated or YouTube's automatic translation. It doesn't transcribe audio, so a video with no captions at all comes back as a free row. Auto-generated captions have no punctuation in some languages and can mishear names. - List languages in order of preference (`en`, `es`, `pt-BR`, ...). Human-made captions win over auto-generated ones. When a video lacks your language, you get the video's own language (`isFallbackLanguage: true`, on by default), YouTube's translation (`translate`, off by default) or a free row saying so. - YouTube refuses translated captions far more often than the captions themselves. When it refuses, you get the video's own language if the fallback is on, or a free `translation-refused` row if it is off. - It sees what a logged-out viewer sees. Age-restricted, members-only and private videos need a signed-in viewer, and this Actor never signs in, so they come back as free rows. - YouTube sometimes refuses a request. The Actor then retries from a new IP address, moving from datacenter to residential proxies only when it has to. A video YouTube keeps refusing becomes a free `temporarily-blocked` row, and you can run it again later. - Sizes: up to 5,000 latest videos per channel (10 by default; Shorts and past live streams only with `includeShorts`), up to 5,000 per playlist (100 by default) and up to 500 results per search (10 by default). - Views and likes are YouTube's public counts at the time of the run. Likes are missing when the channel hides them. ### Only new since last run, and schedules Put a channel, playlist or search in the input, turn on `onlyNew` and schedule the Actor under **Schedules** in Apify Console. Each run then returns and charges for only the videos this input (same sources and language settings) hasn't returned before. Videos that came back without a transcript are not remembered, so they are tried again next time. ### Integrations: API, n8n, Make and AI agents **API.** Run it and get the rows back in one call: ```bash curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/locaihost~youtube-transcripts/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"urls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arj7oStGLkU"], "languages": ["en"], "chunkSize": 300}' ``` Apify's API clients for Python and JavaScript work the same way. **n8n, Make, Zapier, Google Sheets, Slack, webhooks.** Apify's integrations can send each run's dataset on, for example new transcripts from a channel into a vector database or a Google Doc. **AI agents (MCP).** Add this Actor to Claude, Cursor or any MCP client with `https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=locaihost/youtube-transcripts`, then ask something like *"Summarise what the last 5 videos on this channel say about pricing."* ### FAQ #### How much does it cost to scrape YouTube transcripts? $1.50 per 1,000 transcripts on the Free and Starter plans, less on Scale and Business. Videos without captions are free. Apify's free $5 monthly credit covers about 3,300 transcripts. #### Do I need a YouTube API key? No. The official YouTube Data API doesn't return transcripts of other people's videos. This Actor reads the captions a logged-out viewer can see. #### Can I use it through the API or from Python? Yes. Use the `run-sync-get-dataset-items` call above, or Apify's Python and JavaScript clients. Every run's data is also available as JSON, CSV or Excel from its dataset. #### Can I use it from an AI agent? Yes. Through the Apify MCP server (`https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=locaihost/youtube-transcripts`) any MCP client can call it with video, channel or playlist links and read the transcripts back. #### Is it legal to scrape YouTube transcripts? The Actor reads the captions and public video details that YouTube shows a viewer who isn't signed in. It never signs in and never reads private, members-only or age-restricted videos. Transcripts are the creators' work and stay under their copyright: use them for analysis, research, search, accessibility and internal tools, not to republish as your own content. YouTube's terms restrict automated access, so check that your use fits them and the laws where you work. You are responsible for how you use the results. #### Why are some fields empty? A video without a transcript has `transcript: null` and says why in `noTranscriptReason`. `likeCount` is empty when the channel hides likes, `srt` and `vtt` appear only when you turn them on, and `chunks` only when `chunkSize` is above 0. #### Which languages work? Any language YouTube has captions for. Use codes like `en`, `es`, `de`, `ja`, `pt-BR`. Leave `languages` empty to get each video's own language. #### Can I see the publish date and which caption languages a video has? Yes, on every row, including the free rows for videos without a transcript. `publishDate` is the date shown on the video's page (`2024-03-01`) and `publishedAt` is the exact moment in UTC, so near midnight the two can name different days. `captionLanguages` lists every language with captions (`["en", "es", "fr"]`) and `manualCaptionLanguages` lists the ones made by people. That lets you pick out videos with human-made English captions before you pay for transcripts. Both come from the same requests as the transcript and cost nothing extra. ### More from locaihost data - [Doc to Markdown](https://apify.com/locaihost/doc-to-markdown): turn PDFs and office documents into clean Markdown and chunks for the same RAG pipeline. - [OCR for scanned documents](https://apify.com/locaihost/ocr): text from scans and images when there's no text layer to read. - [TikTok Trends Scraper](https://apify.com/locaihost/tiktok-trends): trending hashtags and videos by country, to find topics worth covering. - [Google Trends Scraper](https://apify.com/locaihost/google-trends): check whether a topic is growing before you make a video about it. ### Did it help? If this saved you time, a quick rating on the Store helps other people find it. ### Support Something not working, or a field you need? Open an issue on the **Issues** tab: we answer issues within 24 hours. # Changelog This Actor's version history is a separate document: https://apify.com/locaihost/youtube-transcripts/changelog.md # Actor input Schema ## `urls` (type: `array`): One per line. Video links (watch, youtu.be, Shorts, live, embed) or 11-character video IDs; channel links or handles like @TED (reads the channel's latest videos); playlist links or IDs. ## `searchQueries` (type: `array`): Words to search for, one search per line. Reads the top results of each search, as YouTube ranks them. ## `maxVideosPerChannel` (type: `integer`): How many of each channel's newest videos to read. ## `includeShorts` (type: `boolean`): Off: a channel's regular videos only. On: everything the channel uploaded, Shorts and live stream recordings included. ## `maxVideosPerPlaylist` (type: `integer`): How many videos to read from each playlist, in playlist order. ## `maxResultsPerSearch` (type: `integer`): How many of the top results to read for each search. ## `searchCaptionedOnly` (type: `boolean`): Uses YouTube's own "Subtitles/CC" search filter. Videos with only auto-generated captions are left out of the results. ## `maxVideos` (type: `integer`): Stop after reading this many videos in total. 0 means no limit. ## `languages` (type: `array`): Caption languages you want, in order of preference, as codes like en, es, pt-BR. The first one the video has is used. Leave empty to get each video in its own spoken language. ## `includeAutoGenerated` (type: `boolean`): Most videos only have YouTube's automatic captions. Human-made captions are always preferred when both exist. ## `fallbackToAnyLanguage` (type: `boolean`): When a video has none of your languages, return its transcript in the language it has (marked isFallbackLanguage) instead of a free row saying so. ## `translate` (type: `boolean`): When a video has none of your languages, use YouTube's own automatic translation into the first of your languages it can translate to (marked isTranslated). Checked before the fallback below. YouTube often refuses translations; then the fallback applies, or the row is free. ## `includeSegments` (type: `boolean`): Each caption line with its start and end time in seconds. The plain transcript text is always included. ## `includeSrt` (type: `boolean`): Adds the captions as an SRT subtitle file in the srt field. ## `includeVtt` (type: `boolean`): Adds the captions as a WebVTT subtitle file in the vtt field. ## `chunkSize` (type: `integer`): Splits each transcript into chunks of about this many words, each with its start and end time, ready to embed. 0 turns chunking off. 200 to 400 suits most embedding models. ## `chunkOverlap` (type: `integer`): Words repeated at the start of the next chunk, so a sentence cut at a chunk edge stays findable. Try 10 to 20% of the chunk size. ## `onlyNew` (type: `boolean`): For scheduled runs: skip videos this same input already returned in an earlier run, so you only pay for new ones. Videos that had no transcript are checked again next time. ## Actor input object example ```json { "urls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arj7oStGLkU", "@TED", "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8dPuuaLjXtNlUrzyH5r6jN9ulIgZBpdo" ], "searchQueries": [ "how to make sourdough", "kubernetes tutorial" ], "maxVideosPerChannel": 10, "includeShorts": false, "maxVideosPerPlaylist": 100, "maxResultsPerSearch": 10, "searchCaptionedOnly": false, "maxVideos": 0, "languages": [ "en" ], "includeAutoGenerated": true, "fallbackToAnyLanguage": true, "translate": false, "includeSegments": true, "includeSrt": false, "includeVtt": false, "chunkSize": 0, "chunkOverlap": 0, "onlyNew": false } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `transcripts` (type: `string`): One row per video: transcript, metadata, and the reason when there is no transcript. ## `full` (type: `string`): Every field, including timestamped segments, chunks and SRT/VTT when asked for. ## `summary` (type: `string`): Counts, videos without transcripts by reason, anything that failed, and cost. # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "urls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arj7oStGLkU", "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ", "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc" ], "languages": [ "en" ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("locaihost/youtube-transcripts").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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "urls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arj7oStGLkU", "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ", "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc", ], "languages": ["en"], } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("locaihost/youtube-transcripts").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=arj7oStGLkU", "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ", "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc" ], "languages": [ "en" ] }' | apify call locaihost/youtube-transcripts --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,locaihost/youtube-transcripts" } } } ``` 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 ` 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/t836MIomOqhDM5qUw/builds/pwFs9HC7kI8zo7kkb/openapi.json