# Fast YouTube Transcript Scraper — Subtitles & Clean Text for AI (`rbbscrap/fast-youtube-transcript-scraper`) Actor

Ultra-fast YouTube video transcript and subtitles extractor. Generates clean continuous text for AI / LLMs and timed segment subtitles in milliseconds on 256MB RAM.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/rbbscrap/fast-youtube-transcript-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Hector](https://apify.com/rbbscrap) (community)
- **Categories:** Videos, AI
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 1 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per usage

This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-usage

## 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

## Fast YouTube Transcript Scraper - Subtitles & Timestamps

[![Apify Actor](https://img.shields.io/badge/Apify-Actor-orange?logo=apify)](https://apify.com/RBBscrap/fast-youtube-transcript-scraper)
[![Memory](https://img.shields.io/badge/RAM-256MB-brightgreen)]()
[![Performance](https://img.shields.io/badge/Speed-Sub--Second-blue)]()
[![Maintenance](https://img.shields.io/badge/Status-Active%202026-success)]()

High-speed YouTube video subtitle and transcript extractor. Fetch time-stamped text chunks, total word counts, and language codes on 256MB RAM.

Unlike conventional scrapers running heavy headless browsers (Puppeteer/Playwright eating 1–2 GB of RAM that frequently crash and time out), **Fast YouTube Transcript Scraper** runs on ultra-lightweight **256 MB RAM micro-containers** using direct HTTP/2 requests with TLS session emulation — running **10x faster** at **90% lower compute cost**.

***

### ⚡ Compute Cost & Efficiency (Why Choose This Scraper?)

- **Super Cheap:** Runs in ~200ms per video using direct subtitle tracks. Zero Chromium memory footprint.
- **Run on Apify Free Tier:** Apify gives you **$5 free credits every month**. Because this scraper only consumes 256MB RAM and executes in seconds, you can perform **thousands of runs every month completely free**.
- **100% Cloud Stability:** Zero browser overhead means no Chromium memory leaks, no zombie processes, and 99.9% run success rates.

***

### 🚀 Key Features

- **Full Transcripts with Timestamps:** Start time, duration, and text chunk for every spoken line.
- **Multiple Languages:** Supports auto-generated captions and officially uploaded subtitles in all available languages.
- **Clean Formats:** Output as structured JSON chunks, continuous raw text, or standard SRT subtitle files.
- **Word & Reading Time Analytics:** Calculates total word count and estimated reading time.

***

### 💡 Use Cases & Applications

- **AI Video Summaries:** Feed clean video transcripts into LLMs (Claude, GPT-4, Gemini) to generate bullet summaries.
- **SEO Blog Post Creation:** Repurpose spoken YouTube video content into long-form SEO blog articles and guides.
- **Content Search & Retrieval:** Search specific keywords across hundreds of video transcripts in seconds.

***

### 🔌 No-Code Integrations (Make.com, Zapier, n8n & Webhooks)

This Actor connects seamlessly with your favorite automation and CRM tools to run scheduled workflows or sync data automatically:

#### 1. Make.com Integration

1. Add an **Apify** module in Make.com and choose **"Run an Actor"**.
2. Select `RBBscrap/fast-youtube-transcript-scraper` and pass your desired inputs.
3. Add a **"Watch Dataset Items"** module to receive extracted items.
4. Route the clean JSON data straight into **Google Sheets**, **Airtable**, **Notion**, or **Slack**.

#### 2. n8n Integration

1. Use the **n8n Apify Node** or a generic **HTTP Request Node**.
2. Set execution mode to asynchronous and pass your Apify API Token.
3. Automatically append clean records into PostgreSQL, Supabase, or HubSpot.

#### 3. Webhooks & REST API

Call this scraper via a single HTTP POST request from Python, Node.js, cURL, or PHP:

```bash
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/rbbscrap~fast-youtube-transcript-scraper/runs?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"maxItems": 50}'
```

***

### 📊 Sample Output Data

```json
{
  "videoId": "5kcaHAuGxmY",
  "language": "en",
  "totalWords": 3420,
  "fullText": "Welcome to this complete guide on high performance web scraping...",
  "chunks": [
    {
      "start": 0.5,
      "duration": 2.3,
      "text": "Welcome to this complete guide"
    }
  ]
}
```

***

### 🔍 Search Keywords & Long-Tail Indexing

`youtube transcript scraper`, `download youtube subtitles srt`, `youtube captions to text`, `video transcription for llm`, `youtube summary ai pipeline`, `transcribe youtube video without api`

***

### 💬 Support, Custom Scrapers & Feedback

Need a tailored scraper, higher volume capacity, custom proxies, or new data fields?

- **Contact:** <hector.lebrun78@gmail.com>
- **Response Time:** Usually within 24 hours.

*Star / bookmark this Actor if you find it helpful! Positive feedback helps us maintain and update endpoints regularly.*

# Actor input Schema

## `videoUrls` (type: `array`):

List of YouTube video URLs (e.g. 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kcaHAuGxmY', 'https://youtu.be/5kcaHAuGxmY') or 11-character video IDs.

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

Preferred language code for the transcript (e.g. 'en' for English, 'fr' for French, 'es' for Spanish, 'de' for German).

## `formatOutput` (type: `string`):

Choose output formatting: structured JSON with metadata, clean text for direct LLM prompts, or Markdown with timestamps.

## `cleanFillerWords` (type: `boolean`):

Automatically remove YouTube audio tags like \[Music], \[Applause], \[Laughter], and hesitations.

## `mergeSentences` (type: `boolean`):

Group fragmented 2-second subtitle snippets into readable paragraphs and full sentences.

## `maxDurationMinutes` (type: `integer`):

Skip or filter videos exceeding this duration in minutes to preserve processing quota (0 = unlimited).

## `includeTimedSegments` (type: `boolean`):

Include array of micro-timed subtitle segments with start, duration, and offset timestamps.

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

Select Apify Proxy (Residential or Datacenter) to prevent IP rate limits during bulk extraction.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kcaHAuGxmY"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "formatOutput": "json_segments",
  "cleanFillerWords": false,
  "mergeSentences": true,
  "maxDurationMinutes": 0,
  "includeTimedSegments": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 = {
    "videoUrls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kcaHAuGxmY"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("rbbscrap/fast-youtube-transcript-scraper").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 = {
    "videoUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kcaHAuGxmY"],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("rbbscrap/fast-youtube-transcript-scraper").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 '{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kcaHAuGxmY"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call rbbscrap/fast-youtube-transcript-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/zg7XGuRHDXQZop4Gu/builds/ImzPRk156uANXBf99/openapi.json