YouTube Subtitles

Download YouTube subtitles as ready-to-use SRT and VTT files, with a download link for each file, plus the plain text. Pick the language and whether you want manual or auto-generated subtitles; paste single videos, a playlist or a channel.

What you get

• Real subtitle files. Each video's subtitles are saved as <videoId>-<language>.srt and .vtt files you can download straight from the link in srtFileUrl and vttFileUrl, or from the run's key-value store.
• The file content in the dataset too, in the srt and vtt fields, plus the plain text, for workflows that do not download files.
• Language of your choice, in order of preference, with optional YouTube translation.
• Manual or auto-generated: captionType picks human-made subtitles only, auto-generated only, or the best available.
• Videos without subtitles never fail the run. They come back with an errorCode and are not charged.
• Playlists and channels expand into their videos, with a per-source limit.

Use cases

• Download subtitles to edit in Premiere, DaVinci Resolve or Subtitle Edit, or to re-upload on another platform.
• Grab SRT files for a whole course playlist to translate or localize.
• Add subtitles to your own player or video site with WebVTT.

Input

{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8dPuuaLjXtNlUrzyH5r6jN9ulIgZBpdo"
  ],
  "subtitleFormats": ["srt", "vtt"],
  "saveSubtitleFiles": true,
  "languages": ["es", "en"],
  "captionType": "any",
  "maxVideosPerSource": 10,
  "maxItems": 50
}

Field	What it does
videoUrls	Video URLs or IDs. Playlist, channel and search URLs also work.
subtitleFormats	srt, vtt or both (default both).
saveSubtitleFiles	Save each subtitle as a downloadable file and add the link to the item (default on).
languages	Subtitle languages in order of preference.
translateTo	Optional YouTube translation.
captionType	Advanced: any, manual or auto.
maxVideosPerSource, publishedAfter, includeShorts, onlyNewVideos	Advanced: for playlists and channels.
maxItems	Hard limit for the whole run (default 50).

Output

One item per video:

{
  "videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video) (4K Remaster)",
  "language": "en",
  "languageName": "English",
  "isAutoGenerated": false,
  "availableLanguages": ["en", "de-DE", "ja", "pt-BR", "es-419"],
  "srt": "1\n00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:03,040\n[♪♪♪]\n...",
  "vtt": "WEBVTT\n\n00:00:01.360 --> 00:00:03.040\n[♪♪♪]\n...",
  "srtFileUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/<storeId>/records/dQw4w9WgXcQ-en.srt",
  "vttFileUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/<storeId>/records/dQw4w9WgXcQ-en.vtt",
  "text": "[♪♪♪] ♪ We're no strangers to love ♪ ...",
  "errorCode": null,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-09-13T01:30:00+00:00"
}

Items without subtitles have error and errorCode filled in and are not charged:

errorCode	Meaning
NO_CAPTIONS	The video has no subtitles
NO_CAPTIONS_IN_LANGUAGE	No subtitles of the requested type
VIDEO_UNAVAILABLE / VIDEO_UNPLAYABLE	Private, removed or region-locked video
AGE_RESTRICTED	Age restricted video
LIVE_NOT_ENDED	Live stream still running or upcoming
BLOCKED	YouTube blocked every attempt; try again

Pricing

From US$ 3.50 per 1,000 videos with subtitles delivered, no monthly fee. US$ 5.00 on the Free plan, lower on paid Apify plans:

Apify plan	Per 1,000 videos with subtitles
Free	US$ 5.00
Starter (Bronze)	US$ 4.50
Scale (Silver)	US$ 4.00
Business (Gold) and above	US$ 3.50

One charge per video, whether you take SRT, VTT or both. Videos without subtitles, unavailable or blocked are free.

How to use

• Console: paste the URLs, click Start, open the Storage tab to download the .srt and .vtt files, or export the dataset.
• API: POST https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/scrapewise~youtube-subtitles/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_TOKEN with the input as the body, then fetch srtFileUrl.
• Integrations: n8n, Make, Zapier and Google Drive through the Apify integrations.

FAQ

How long do the download links work? The files live in the run's default key-value store and follow your Apify data retention (unnamed storages are kept for the retention period of your plan). Copy them elsewhere if you need them longer.

Can I get subtitles in a language the video does not have? Set translateTo. It uses YouTube's own translation, which YouTube refuses for many requests; when it does, the original language is delivered and translationError says why.

Are auto-generated subtitles included? Yes, when there are no manual ones in your languages. Use captionType: "manual" to get human-made subtitles only.

Does it create subtitles for videos that have none? No. It downloads the subtitles YouTube already has.

Can I use it from an AI agent (MCP)? Yes, through the Apify MCP server, like any Apify Actor. The agent gets the subtitle text and the srtFileUrl / vttFileUrl links.

Limitations

• Only videos with subtitles (manual or auto-generated) can be downloaded.
• Age-restricted videos and running live streams are not supported.
• YouTube blocks most datacenter IPs, so residential proxy is the default. Keep it on.
• Something broke? Open an issue on the Actor page. Issues are answered within 12 hours.

This Actor collects only public data and respects the site's terms.

Changelog

• 2026-09-14: lower price, from US$ 3.50 per 1,000 on paid plans (US$ 5.00 on Free).
• 2026-09-13, 0.1: first release. SRT and VTT files with download links, language preference, manual or auto-generated subtitles, playlists and channels.

Keywords: youtube subtitles, youtube subtitles downloader, youtube srt, download youtube subtitles, youtube vtt.