Youtube Transcript Scraper

Extract transcripts, video details, and metadata from YouTube videos with high accuracy and reliability. This Apify actor supports bulk processing, multiple languages, and intelligent proxy management.

Why Choose Us?

• 🔍 High Accuracy: Uses yt-dlp for reliable video data extraction
• ⚡ Fast Processing: Parallel processing with configurable workers
• 🌍 Multi-Language: Support for transcripts in multiple languages
• 🛡️ Anti-Blocking: Intelligent proxy management with automatic fallback
• 📊 Rich Metadata: Extract comprehensive video and channel information
• 🔄 Retry Logic: Robust error handling with configurable retries
• 💾 Live Saving: Results saved immediately to prevent data loss

Key Features

• Bulk Processing: Process multiple YouTube URLs simultaneously
• Language Selection: Choose preferred transcript language
• Proxy Support: Built-in proxy management with residential fallback
• Rich Data: Extract transcripts, video details, channel info, and metadata
• Error Handling: Comprehensive error handling and logging
• Rate Limiting: Configurable delays to avoid rate limiting
• Parallel Execution: Multi-threaded processing for faster results

Input

Input Schema

{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4hVGCWH1Kc"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
    }
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "maxWorkers": 4,
  "requestDelay": 1,
  "maxRetries": 3,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
startUrls	Array	✅ Yes	-	List of YouTube video URLs to process
language	String	❌ No	"en"	Preferred language code for transcripts
maxWorkers	Integer	❌ No	4	Number of parallel workers (1-10)
requestDelay	Integer	❌ No	1	Base delay between requests in seconds
maxRetries	Integer	❌ No	3	Number of retry attempts for failed requests
proxyConfiguration	Object	❌ No	{"useApifyProxy": false}	Proxy configuration settings

Output

Output Schema

{
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4hVGCWH1Kc",
  "title": "Example Video Title",
  "length": "10:30",
  "channel_name": "Example Channel",
  "views": 1000000,
  "transcript": [
    {
      "start": "0.000",
      "dur": "2.500",
      "text": "Hello and welcome to this video."
    },
    {
      "start": "2.500",
      "dur": "3.200",
      "text": "Today we'll be discussing..."
    }
  ],
  "message": "Transcript loaded from subtitles:en",
  "success": true,
  "video_id": "Z4hVGCWH1Kc",
  "channel_url": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC...",
  "upload_date": "20231201",
  "description": "Video description text...",
  "tags": ["tag1", "tag2", "tag3"],
  "category": "Education",
  "like_count": 5000,
  "dislike_count": 100,
  "comment_count": 250
}

Output Fields

Field	Type	Description
url	String	Original YouTube video URL
title	String	Video title
length	String	Video duration in MM:SS format
channel_name	String	Channel name
views	Number	View count
transcript	Array	Array of transcript segments with timing
message	String	Status message about transcript extraction
success	Boolean	Whether processing was successful
video_id	String	YouTube video ID
channel_url	String	Channel URL
upload_date	String	Upload date (YYYYMMDD format)
description	String	Video description
tags	Array	Video tags
category	String	Video category
like_count	Number	Like count
dislike_count	Number	Dislike count
comment_count	Number	Comment count

🚀 How to Use the Actor (via Apify Console)

1. Log in at https://console.apify.com and go to Actors
2. Find the youtube-transcript-scraper actor and click it
3. Configure inputs:
   • Add YouTube video URLs in the startUrls field
   • Set preferred language (optional)
   • Configure proxy settings if needed
   • Adjust processing parameters
4. Run the actor and monitor logs in real time
5. Access results in the OUTPUT tab
6. Export results to JSON or CSV format

Best Use Cases

• 📚 Educational Content: Extract transcripts from educational videos for study materials
• 🎬 Content Analysis: Analyze video content and speech patterns
• 🌐 Translation: Extract transcripts for translation services
• 📝 Documentation: Create written records of video content
• 🔍 Research: Analyze video content for research purposes
• 📊 SEO: Extract keywords and content for SEO analysis
• 🎯 Accessibility: Create accessible content from video transcripts

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What types of YouTube URLs are supported?

A: The actor supports standard YouTube watch URLs (youtube.com/watch?v=...) and shortened URLs (youtu.be/...).

Q: Can I extract transcripts in different languages?

A: Yes! Set the language parameter to your preferred language code (e.g., "es" for Spanish, "fr" for French). The actor will try to find transcripts in that language first, then fall back to available alternatives.

Q: What happens if a video has no transcript?

A: The actor will return a result with an empty transcript array and a message indicating that no transcript is available for that video.

Q: How does the proxy fallback work?

A: If you enable proxy and YouTube blocks the initial proxy, the actor automatically switches to a residential proxy and continues processing all remaining URLs with that proxy.

Q: Can I process private or age-restricted videos?

A: No, the actor can only process publicly available videos that don't require authentication.

Q: What's the maximum number of URLs I can process?

A: There's no strict limit, but we recommend processing up to 100 URLs per run for optimal performance and to avoid rate limiting.

Q: How accurate are the transcripts?

A: The actor extracts official YouTube subtitles and auto-generated captions. Accuracy depends on the quality of the original subtitles provided by the video creator.

Q: Can I get timestamps with the transcript?

A: Yes! Each transcript segment includes start time and duration information for precise timing.

Support and Feedback

• 📧 Email: support@apify.com
• 💬 Chat: Available in the Apify Console
• 📖 Documentation: https://docs.apify.com
• 🐛 Bug Reports: Report issues through the Apify Console

Cautions

⚠️ Important Notes:

• Data is collected only from publicly available YouTube videos
• No data is extracted from private, unlisted, or age-restricted content
• The end user is responsible for ensuring legal compliance
• Respect YouTube's Terms of Service and rate limits
• Use transcripts responsibly and respect copyright laws
• This tool is for educational and research purposes only

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Built with ❤️ by the Apify team