# YouTube Transcript Scraper: $2 per 1,000 (`rowfinch/youtube-transcript-scraper`) Actor

Get the transcripts of YouTube videos, Shorts and a channel's latest videos, in the language you choose or the one spoken, with timestamps if you want them. Videos without captions are free. $2 per 1,000 transcripts.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/rowfinch/youtube-transcript-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Rowfinch](https://apify.com/rowfinch) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 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.

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

Get the transcripts of YouTube videos, Shorts and a channel's latest videos, with each video's title, channel, views and length.

Pick a language, or get each video in the language spoken in it. Turn on timestamps to get every line with its start and end. Videos without captions are free.

**$2 per 1,000 transcripts.**

### What it's for

- **AI agents and LLM pipelines**: clean text to summarize, classify, embed or feed to RAG.
- **Content research**: hooks, scripts and talking points of the channels in your niche, as text you can search.
- **Repurposing**: turn your own videos into posts, newsletters, blog drafts or subtitles.
- **Study and research**: lectures, talks and interviews as text, with timestamps to cite.

### Input

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| `videoUrls` | Video or Shorts URLs (`youtube.com/watch`, `youtu.be`, `/shorts/`, `/live/`) or video IDs, one per line |
| `channels` | Channel URLs or @handles, one per line |
| `maxVideosPerChannel` | Videos per channel, newest first (default 10) |
| `language` | A code like `en`, `es` or `pt-BR`. Videos without captions in it come in the language spoken in them |
| `timestamps` | Adds `segments`: each line with its start and end, in seconds |

Inputs saved for other YouTube transcript actors carry over: `youtube_url`, `channel_url`, `max_videos`, `languages` and `startUrls` work too.

### Output

One row per video:

```json
{
  "input": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arj7oStGLkU",
  "videoId": "arj7oStGLkU",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arj7oStGLkU",
  "title": "Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator | Tim Urban | TED",
  "channelName": "TED",
  "channelId": "UCAuUUnT6oDeKwE6v1NGQxug",
  "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUUnT6oDeKwE6v1NGQxug",
  "duration": 844,
  "viewCount": 62109477,
  "description": "Tim Urban knows that procrastination doesn't make sense…",
  "language": "en",
  "autoGenerated": false,
  "transcript": "So in college, I was a government major, which means I had to write…",
  "segments": [
    { "start": 12.645, "end": 14.015, "text": "So in college," },
    { "start": 15.349, "end": 16.913, "text": "I was a government major," }
  ]
}
```

`autoGenerated` is `true` for YouTube's automatic captions and `false` for captions written by people. `segments` comes only with `timestamps` on. A video without captions comes with an empty `transcript` and `language` set to `null`.

Videos and channels that can't be read get a row with the reason, free of charge:

```json
{ "input": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxxxxxxxxxx", "error": "Private video" }
```

### Price

- **$0.002 per transcript**
- Videos without captions: free
- Private, missing or invalid videos and channels: free

| Run | Cost |
|---|---|
| 1,000 videos | $2 |
| A channel's 100 latest videos | $0.20 |

A run stops at the maximum cost you set for it. On Apify's free plan, a run reads up to 100 videos.

### FAQ

**Which videos have captions?**
Almost every video with someone talking: YouTube captions them automatically. Many also have captions written by people, which come first.

**Which languages?**
Any language a video has captions in. Leave `language` empty to get the one spoken in each video. It doesn't translate: when a video has no captions in your language, you get the spoken one, and `language` says which. Captions made for a video's dubbed audio come only when you ask for their language.

**How long can a video be?**
Any length. The transcript covers the whole video.

**Shorts and live streams?**
Shorts work like any video. A live stream has a transcript once it has ended and YouTube has captioned it.

**Does it work with private, members-only or age-restricted videos?**
No. Only public videos.

**Is it legal?**
It reads only public videos. Names and voices are personal data under GDPR and similar laws: use them for a legitimate purpose and honor deletion requests.

# Actor input Schema

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

Videos or Shorts, one per line.

## `channels` (type: `array`):

Channel URLs or @handles, one per line. Each gives its latest videos.

## `maxVideosPerChannel` (type: `integer`):

Newest first.

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

A code like en, es or pt-BR. Videos without captions in it come in the language spoken in them.

## `timestamps` (type: `boolean`):

Adds each line with its start and end, in seconds.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arj7oStGLkU"
  ],
  "maxVideosPerChannel": 10,
  "timestamps": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `transcripts` (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=arj7oStGLkU"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("rowfinch/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=arj7oStGLkU"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("rowfinch/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=arj7oStGLkU"
  ]
}' |
apify call rowfinch/youtube-transcript-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,rowfinch/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/RUIL59maTZ3WLEC2l/builds/S8tl6nn4NvxVMEMSU/openapi.json