Vimeo Transcript Extractor — Video to Text + SRT 🚀

🎉 Public Vimeo videos to clean text — captions when they exist, speech-to-text when they don't

Built for editors, researchers, agencies and RAG pipelines that need SRT, WebVTT and metadata in one run

---

🔎 What is the Vimeo AI Transcript Extractor — and when should you use it?

The Vimeo AI Transcript Extractor turns a public Vimeo video URL into a transcript, timestamped segments, SRT/WebVTT files and creator metadata. It uses the video's own caption track when there is one and transcribes the audio when there isn't. No Vimeo account. No API key.

Use it when you need: a Vimeo transcript, subtitle files, word timestamps, optional translation, or video metadata from a public or unlisted link.

Use something else when: the video is on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok or Facebook. Use YouTube AI Transcript Extractor for YouTube. Use Instagram AI Transcript Extractor for Reels.

🤖 Use with AI agents

Already connected to the Apify MCP server? Just ask for this Actor by name: sian.agency/vimeo-ai-transcript-extractor

Otherwise copy this prompt into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP-enabled assistant:

I want Vimeo video transcripts using the Apify Actor `sian.agency/vimeo-ai-transcript-extractor`.

Use it when I need: a public Vimeo transcript, SRT or WebVTT subtitles, timestamped segments, optional translation, and video metadata.

Don't use it when: the video is on YouTube — use youtube-ai-transcript-extractor instead.

How to call it: pass `vimeoUrl` for one video or `bulkUrls` for many. Leave `captionMode` on `auto` unless you want captions-only or AI-only. Audio transcription is capped at 30 minutes per video.

Start with this input:
{
  "vimeoUrl": "https://vimeo.com/76979871",
  "captionMode": "auto"
}

Ask me which Vimeo URLs to transcribe, then run the Actor and summarise the results as a table.

Things you can ask your agent for:

• Transcribe this Vimeo staff film and give me an SRT file.
• Pull transcripts from these five Vimeo links and list title, duration and language.
• Translate this Vimeo transcript into French and keep the original timing.

Machine-readable API, MCP config and OpenAPI definition for this Actor are published at apify.com/sian.agency/vimeo-ai-transcript-extractor.md.

---

📋 Overview

Paste a Vimeo URL. Get the spoken text back. Editors, researchers and agencies use it when they need subtitles, a searchable archive, or clean text for an LLM.

Why teams pick this actor:

• ✅ Captions first: uses the video's own track when one exists
• ⚡ AI fallback: transcribes the audio when there is no public track — failed URLs are never billed
• 🎯 Timestamped output: segments, optional speaker labels, SRT and WebVTT
• 💰 Pay per success: failed URLs are not billed
• 💎 Same family as our Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube extractors
• ✨ NEW: bulk lists, translation into 100+ languages, full video metadata on every row

---

✨ Features

• 📝 Native captions: reads the public text track Vimeo already publishes
• 🎙️ Speech-to-text fallback: covers videos that never uploaded captions
• 📜 SRT + WebVTT: drop the files into an editor the same day
• 🔤 Word timestamps: available on the AI path
• 🗣️ Speaker labels: optional, on the AI path
• 🌍 100+ language translation: paid add-on, charged per 1,000 characters
• 📦 Bulk lists: five videos on a free Apify plan, unlimited when you pay
• 👤 Creator metadata: title, duration, owner, thumbnail, embed URL

---

🎬 Quick Start

Open a public Vimeo video. Copy the URL. Run the actor. Read the dataset.

curl -X POST https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/sian.agency~vimeo-ai-transcript-extractor/runs?token=YOUR_TOKEN \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"vimeoUrl": "https://vimeo.com/76979871"}'

---

🚀 Getting Started (3 Simple Steps)

Step 1: Copy the Vimeo URL

Use the address bar on a public video. Channel, player and unlisted-hash links all work.

Step 2: Paste it into the actor

Single field for one video. Bulk list for many.

Step 3: Run and export

Open the dataset. Download JSON, CSV or the SRT field.

That's it. In about a minute you will have:

• The full transcript
• Timestamped segments
• SRT and WebVTT text

---

📥 Input Configuration

Field	Type	Required	Description
vimeoUrl	string	No	One public Vimeo video URL or numeric id
bulkUrls	array	No	Many URLs for one run
captionMode	string	No	auto, captions, or ai
speakerDiarization	boolean	No	Speaker labels on the AI path
translateTo	string	No	Paid translation target

Example:

{
  "vimeoUrl": "https://vimeo.com/76979871"
}

Bulk processing:

{
  "bulkUrls": [
    { "url": "https://vimeo.com/76979871" },
    { "url": "https://vimeo.com/347119375" }
  ]
}

---

📤 Output

Results land in the Apify dataset. Typical fields:

Field	Type	Description
transcript	string	Full spoken text
segments	array	Timestamped cues
srtSubtitles	string	SRT file body
vttSubtitles	string	WebVTT file body
detected_language	string	Caption or audio language
transcriptSource	string	captions or ai
videoTitle	string	Vimeo title
duration	number	Length in seconds
ownerName	string	Uploader name
thumbnailUrl	string	Poster image
vimeoUrl	string	Canonical video URL

Example:

{
  "transcript": "Here at Vimeo, there's always one thing on our minds.",
  "detected_language": "en",
  "transcriptSource": "captions",
  "videoTitle": "The New Vimeo Player (You Know, For Videos)",
  "duration": 62,
  "ownerName": "Vimeo",
  "vimeoUrl": "https://vimeo.com/76979871",
  "status": "success"
}

---

💼 Use Cases & Examples

1. Subtitle a client film

An editor needs SRT tonight.

Input: the Vimeo review link Output: SRT + WebVTT + full text Use: drop the file into Premiere or Resolve

2. Archive a conference channel

A researcher wants searchable talk text.

Input: a bulk list of session URLs Output: one row per talk Use: load JSON into a notes vault or database

3. Localise a product video

A marketer needs French copy from an English Vimeo cut.

Input: URL + translateTo FR Output: original transcript plus translatedTranscript Use: captions and landing-page copy

4. Feed a RAG pipeline

An agency indexes spoken product demos.

Input: scheduled bulk run Output: clean text + metadata Use: chunk and embed

5. Accessibility pass

A university publishes public lectures on Vimeo.

Input: each lecture URL Output: captions even when the file had none Use: publish WebVTT next to the player

---

🔗 Integration Examples

JavaScript/Node.js

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';
const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_TOKEN' });

const run = await client.actor('sian.agency/vimeo-ai-transcript-extractor').call({
  vimeoUrl: 'https://vimeo.com/76979871'
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items[0].transcript);

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient
client = ApifyClient('YOUR_TOKEN')

run = client.actor('sian.agency/vimeo-ai-transcript-extractor').call(
    run_input={'vimeoUrl': 'https://vimeo.com/76979871'}
)

for item in client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).iterate_items():
    print(item.get('transcript'))

cURL

curl -X POST 'https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/sian.agency~vimeo-ai-transcript-extractor/runs?token=YOUR_TOKEN' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"vimeoUrl": "https://vimeo.com/76979871"}'

Automation workflows

1. Trigger: schedule or webhook
2. HTTP request: start this actor
3. Process: read the dataset
4. Action: save SRT, notify, or translate

---

📊 Performance & Pricing

FREE Apify plan

• 5 videos per run — same transcript quality
• No credit card required
• Good for a first test

PAID Apify plan

• Unlimited videos per run
• Translation add-on
• Pay per successful transcript

You only pay for rows that produced a transcript.

View current pricing

---

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How many videos can I process? A: Free Apify plan: 5 per run. Paid plan: unlimited.

Q: Does it work with private videos? A: No. Public and unlisted videos only.

Q: What if the video has no captions? A: Auto and AI mode transcribe the audio instead, up to 30 minutes per video. Captions-only mode returns an error and does not charge.

Q: What output formats are available? A: JSON, CSV, Excel from the dataset. SRT and WebVTT as fields on each row.

Q: How accurate is the transcript? A: Native captions match what the uploader published. Speech-to-text quality follows the audio: clean voice tracks do better than music beds.

Q: How long does a run take? A: A captioned one-minute video is usually under 30 seconds. Speech-to-text follows audio length.

Q: Is this legal? A: We only read publicly available pages and tracks. See the legal section.

---

🐛 Troubleshooting

"Not a usable Vimeo URL"

• Use the full https://vimeo.com/ID link
• Channel and player links also work

"This Vimeo video is private or restricted"

• Open the URL in a private window
• Password and private videos cannot be read

"No public captions and no downloadable audio"

• The file is DRM-only and has no text track
• Try another public video, or ask the owner for a caption file

Empty transcript

• Silent or music-only clips produce no speech
• You are not charged when there is no transcript

---

⚖️ Is it legal to scrape data?

Our actors do not extract private user data such as email addresses. They only extract what the uploader chose to share publicly. We believe they are safe when used for ethical purposes by Apify users.

Results can still contain personal data. Personal data is protected by the GDPR in the European Union and by other rules around the world. Do not scrape personal data unless you have a legitimate reason. If you are unsure, consult a lawyer.

You can also read Apify's blog post on the legality of web scraping.

---

⚠️ Trademark Disclaimer

Vimeo is a trademark of Vimeo.com, Inc. This actor is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Vimeo. It reads publicly available pages and caption tracks.

---

🤝 Support

Join our support community

• Open an issue on the actor page
• Browse SIÁN Agency Store
• 📧 apify@sian-agency.online

---

Built by SIÁN Agency | More Tools