# 🎬 TikTok · Instagram · Facebook · YouTube Shorts Transcriber (`scrapier/tiktok-instagram-facebook-youtube-shorts-transcriber`) Actor

Transcribe audio from TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube Shorts videos in seconds. Extract accurate subtitles, captions, and spoken text from public videos at scale. Ideal for content analysis, research, SEO, lead generation, monitoring, and AI workflows.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/scrapier/tiktok-instagram-facebook-youtube-shorts-transcriber.md
- **Developed by:** [Scrapier](https://apify.com/scrapier) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, SEO tools, Lead generation
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $4.99 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

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

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).


# README

## 🎬 TikTok · Instagram · Facebook · YouTube Shorts Transcriber

Turn any public **TikTok video**, **Instagram Reel**, **Facebook Reel**, or **YouTube Short** into a clean, **timestamped transcript** with **automatic language detection** — in one click. Perfect for content repurposing, subtitles, research, SEO, and accessibility.

> Paste a link ➡️ get accurate text back. No login, no manual downloads, no copy-pasting.

---

### ✨ Why Choose This Actor?

- 🌍 **4 platforms, 1 tool** — TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube Shorts in a single run.
- 🧠 **Accurate AI transcription** — powered by Whisper with word-level timing and 90+ language auto-detection.
- 🛡️ **Beats blocks automatically** — a built-in **Direct → Datacenter → Residential** proxy ladder keeps working when plain scrapers get rejected.
- ⏱️ **Timestamps included** — every line is time-coded, ready for subtitles (SRT-style) or video search.
- 💾 **Real-time results** — transcripts stream into your dataset as each video finishes; a long run never loses progress.
- 📊 **Clean, multi-view output** — Overview, Transcripts, and Timestamped Lines tabs.

---

### 🔑 Key Features

| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| 🎥 Bulk input | Transcribe many videos in one run — paste a list or upload a file. |
| 🗣️ Auto language detection | Detects the spoken language automatically, or force one for speed. |
| 🧩 Multiple models | Choose Tiny → Large-v3 to balance speed, accuracy, and cost. |
| ⏱️ Timestamped segments | Each line carries `start`/`end` times. |
| 🛡️ Smart proxy fallback | Escalates only when blocked, then sticks with what works. |

---

### 📥 Input

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `start_urls` | array | ✅ | Public video links (TikTok / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube). Bulk supported. |
| `language` | string | ➖ | `auto` (default) or an ISO code like `en`, `es`, `hi`. |
| `whisperModel` | string | ➖ | `tiny` · `base` (default) · `small` · `medium` · `large-v3`. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | ➖ | Apify Proxy settings. Keep enabled so the fallback ladder is available. |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "start_urls": [
    { "url": "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6W_841xoprg" },
    { "url": "https://www.tiktok.com/@mrbeast/video/7600180137346256158" },
    { "url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/DYfGcnSBrT8/" },
    { "url": "https://www.facebook.com/reel/966384272838084" }
  ],
  "language": "auto",
  "whisperModel": "base",
  "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true }
}
````

***

### 📤 Output

Each video produces one dataset record:

```json
{
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6W_841xoprg",
  "videoId": "6W_841xoprg",
  "platform": "youtube",
  "title": "Can a Window Stop a Wrecking Ball?",
  "status": "success",
  "durationSec": 30.0,
  "transcript": "[1.04s - 5.67s] Let's try wood.\n[5.67s - 6.67s] Drop it. ...",
  "plainTranscript": "Let's try wood. Drop it. Oh, that was awesome. ...",
  "detected_language": "en",
  "languageProbability": 0.9976,
  "segments": [
    { "start": 1.04, "end": 5.67, "text": "Let's try wood." }
  ],
  "timestamp": "2026-06-14T06:14:04.022Z"
}
```

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `sourceUrl` | The video link you submitted. |
| `videoId` | Platform video ID. |
| `platform` | `tiktok` · `instagram` · `facebook` · `youtube`. |
| `title` | Video title (when available). |
| `status` | `success` or `failed`. |
| `durationSec` | Audio duration in seconds. |
| `transcript` | Timestamped, line-by-line transcript. |
| `plainTranscript` | Continuous plain-text transcript. |
| `detected_language` | Detected (or forced) language code. |
| `languageProbability` | Confidence of language detection (0–1). |
| `segments` | Array of `{start, end, text}` segments. |
| `timestamp` | When the record was produced (UTC). |

**Output views:** 📊 *Overview* · 📝 *Transcripts* · ⏱️ *Timestamped Lines*.

***

### 🚀 How to Use (Apify Console)

1. Log in at <https://console.apify.com> → **Actors**.
2. Open **TikTok · Instagram · Facebook · YouTube Shorts Transcriber**.
3. Paste your video URLs into **🔗 Video URLs**.
4. (Optional) pick a language and model; leave proxy enabled.
5. Click **Start** and watch transcripts appear in real time. 🎉
6. Open the **Output** tab and export to **JSON / CSV / Excel**.

### 🤖 Use via API

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/<ACTOR_ID>/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"start_urls":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6W_841xoprg"}]}'
```

***

### 💡 Best Use Cases

- ✂️ Repurpose Reels/Shorts into blog posts, threads, and newsletters.
- 📝 Generate subtitles and captions for accessibility.
- 🔍 Make video content searchable and SEO-friendly.
- 📊 Analyze hooks, scripts, and messaging across creators.

***

### 💰 Pricing

Pay-per-event, so you only pay for what you transcribe:

| Event | What it bills |
|---|---|
| **Actor Start** (`base-pay`) | A small flat fee per run. |
| **Transcription** (`row_result`) | One charge per successfully transcribed video (primary event). |

Failed downloads are **not** charged — you only pay for transcripts you actually get.

***

### ❓ FAQ

**Does it work on private videos?**
No — only public content. Private, age-restricted, deleted, or geo-locked videos can't be transcribed.

**Why did a video fail?**
Most failures are private/region-locked content or a temporary platform block. The proxy ladder retries automatically; re-running often succeeds.

**Which languages are supported?**
90+ languages via Whisper. Leave language on **Auto-detect** for mixed batches.

**How accurate are the timestamps?**
Segment-level timing comes straight from the speech model and is reliable for subtitles and search.

***

### ⚖️ Notes & Compliance

- Only **publicly available** content is processed.
- You are responsible for complying with each platform's Terms of Service and applicable laws (GDPR/CCPA, copyright, etc.).

### 🆘 Support

Found a bug or want a new feature? Open an issue from the Actor's **Issues** tab — feedback is welcome!

# Actor input Schema

## `start_urls` (type: `array`):

🎥 Add one or more public video links — TikTok, Instagram Reel, Facebook Reel, or YouTube Short. Bulk input supported: paste a list or upload a file.

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

🗣️ Language of the speech. Leave as Auto-detect unless you want to force a specific language (improves speed & accuracy for known content).

## `whisperModel` (type: `string`):

⚙️ Accuracy vs. speed trade-off. 'base' is fast and great for most short clips; larger models are more accurate but slower & pricier.

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

🌍 Requests start direct (no proxy). If a platform blocks the request, the actor automatically escalates Datacenter → Residential and sticks with Residential for the rest of the run. Keep Apify Proxy enabled so these fallbacks are available.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "start_urls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6W_841xoprg",
    "https://www.tiktok.com/@mrbeast/video/7600180137346256158"
  ],
  "language": "auto",
  "whisperModel": "base",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# 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 = {
    "start_urls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6W_841xoprg",
        "https://www.tiktok.com/@mrbeast/video/7600180137346256158"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("scrapier/tiktok-instagram-facebook-youtube-shorts-transcriber").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 = {
    "start_urls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6W_841xoprg",
        "https://www.tiktok.com/@mrbeast/video/7600180137346256158",
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("scrapier/tiktok-instagram-facebook-youtube-shorts-transcriber").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "start_urls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6W_841xoprg",
    "https://www.tiktok.com/@mrbeast/video/7600180137346256158"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call scrapier/tiktok-instagram-facebook-youtube-shorts-transcriber --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=scrapier/tiktok-instagram-facebook-youtube-shorts-transcriber",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "🎬 TikTok · Instagram · Facebook · YouTube Shorts Transcriber",
        "description": "Transcribe audio from TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube Shorts videos in seconds. Extract accurate subtitles, captions, and spoken text from public videos at scale. Ideal for content analysis, research, SEO, lead generation, monitoring, and AI workflows.",
        "version": "0.2",
        "x-build-id": "CPx8QqnyHZ9L6hjV0"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/scrapier~tiktok-instagram-facebook-youtube-shorts-transcriber/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-scrapier-tiktok-instagram-facebook-youtube-shorts-transcriber",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/scrapier~tiktok-instagram-facebook-youtube-shorts-transcriber/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-scrapier-tiktok-instagram-facebook-youtube-shorts-transcriber",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/scrapier~tiktok-instagram-facebook-youtube-shorts-transcriber/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-scrapier-tiktok-instagram-facebook-youtube-shorts-transcriber",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "required": [
                    "start_urls"
                ],
                "properties": {
                    "start_urls": {
                        "title": "🔗 Video URLs",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "🎥 Add one or more public video links — TikTok, Instagram Reel, Facebook Reel, or YouTube Short. Bulk input supported: paste a list or upload a file.",
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "language": {
                        "title": "🌐 Spoken Language",
                        "enum": [
                            "auto",
                            "en",
                            "es",
                            "pt",
                            "fr",
                            "de",
                            "it",
                            "hi",
                            "ar",
                            "id",
                            "ja",
                            "ko",
                            "zh",
                            "ru",
                            "tr",
                            "nl",
                            "pl",
                            "vi",
                            "th",
                            "bn"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "🗣️ Language of the speech. Leave as Auto-detect unless you want to force a specific language (improves speed & accuracy for known content).",
                        "default": "auto"
                    },
                    "whisperModel": {
                        "title": "🧠 Transcription Model",
                        "enum": [
                            "tiny",
                            "base",
                            "small",
                            "medium",
                            "large-v3"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "⚙️ Accuracy vs. speed trade-off. 'base' is fast and great for most short clips; larger models are more accurate but slower & pricier.",
                        "default": "base"
                    },
                    "proxyConfiguration": {
                        "title": "🛡️ Proxy Configuration",
                        "type": "object",
                        "description": "🌍 Requests start direct (no proxy). If a platform blocks the request, the actor automatically escalates Datacenter → Residential and sticks with Residential for the rest of the run. Keep Apify Proxy enabled so these fallbacks are available.",
                        "default": {
                            "useApifyProxy": true
                        }
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```