# YouTube Transcript Scraper API: per video, drop-in input (`steadydata/youtube-transcript-scraper`) Actor

YouTube transcript API: timestamps for any video URL, in the caption language you pick, or the original when that track is missing. Same videoUrl and targetLanguage input and data rows (start, dur, text) as the popular per-video transcript actor, plus the full text. Pay per video.

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

## Pricing

from $2.60 / 1,000 transcript delivereds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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: per video, drop-in input

YouTube transcript with timestamps for any video URL, in the caption language you pick, or the original language when that track is missing. Same videoUrl and targetLanguage input and the same data rows (start, dur, text) as the popular per-video transcript actor, plus the full text. Pay per video.

### Why this scraper

- **Drop-in for per-video workflows.** Send `videoUrl` and `targetLanguage`, get back one row with `data`: lines of `start`, `dur` and `text`, the times as strings with three decimals. n8n, Make and Zapier steps and scripts built on that shape keep working when you change only the actor ID to `steadydata/youtube-transcript-scraper`.
- **Measured, not promised.** On 03-10-2026 a platform run over 24 popular videos delivered 23 transcripts; the 24th has no captions at all and came back as a free error row.
- **The full text too.** Next to the lines, every row carries `text` (the whole transcript in one string), the title, channel, length, the language delivered and every caption language the video has.
- **Batches when you want them.** `videoUrls` takes up to 500 videos in one run, one row each; leave it empty and the actor behaves like a single-video call.
- **Only delivered transcripts are charged.** Private, removed or caption-less videos come back as free error rows with the reason.

### Who this is for

- Automations that fetch one transcript per new video (n8n, Make, Zapier, webhooks).
- RAG and AI agent pipelines that need timestamped text to cite or chunk.
- Content teams repurposing videos into posts, show notes and subtitles.

### Who this is not for

**Read this before you buy.** This actor does not machine-translate. When a video has a caption track in the language you ask for, you get it; when it has none, you get the transcript in the video's original language and the row says `requestedLanguageMissing: true`. We tested YouTube's own translation route and it was blocked for 22 of 24 videos, so we do not sell it. Videos without any captions (no uploaded subtitles and no automatic captions) cannot be transcribed here: this actor reads captions, it does not listen to audio.

### Input fields

| Field | Type | Required or default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| `videoUrl` | text |  | A YouTube video URL (watch, youtu.be, shorts, embed) or an 11-character video ID. |
| `targetLanguage` | text (en, pt, es, fr, de, it, ja, ko, zh, ru, ar, hi, nl, pl, tr, vi, id, th, sv, da, no, fi, cs, hu, ro, uk, el, he, fa, bn, ta, te, mr, ur, gu, kn, ml, pa, sr, hr, bg, sk, lt, lv, et, sl, ca, af, sq, am, hy, az, eu, be, bs, my, ceb, zh-Hans, zh-Hant, co, eo, fil, fy, gl, ka, ht, ha, haw, hmn, is, ig, ga, jv, kk, km, rw, ku, ky, lo, la, lb, mk, mg, ms, mt, mi, mn, ne, ny, or, ps, sm, gd, sn, sd, si, so, st, su, sw, tg, tt, tk, ug, uz, cy, xh, yi, yo, zu) | required | The language you want the transcript in. When the video has a caption track in that language you get it; when it has none you get the original-language transcript, and the row says so (requestedLanguageMissing). No machine translation. |
| `videoUrls` | list of text |  | Extra videos for the same run, one row each, up to 500 in total. Leave empty to work exactly like a single-video run. |

### Input example

```json
{
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IELMSD2kdmk",
  "targetLanguage": "en"
}
```

A batch in one run:

```json
{
  "targetLanguage": "en",
  "videoUrls": ["https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ", "jNQXAC9IVRw"]
}
```

### Output example

| Field | Type | What it holds | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| `videoUrl` | text | The video's watch URL, also when the input was a bare ID or a short link. | `https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IELMSD2kdmk` |
| `targetLanguage` | text | The language that was asked for. | `en` |
| `data` | list | The transcript as lines, each with start and dur (seconds, as text with three decimals) and the text: the same shape as the other actor. | `[{"start": "0.280", "dur": "4.440", "text": "first line o...` |
| `videoId` | text | YouTube's 11-character video ID. |  |
| `title` | text | The video title as the channel wrote it. |  |
| `channel` | text | The name of the channel that published the video. |  |
| `durationSeconds` | number | Length of the video in seconds. |  |
| `language` | text | Language code of the transcript that was delivered. | `en` |
| `isAutoGenerated` | true/false | True when the captions are YouTube's automatic speech recognition, false for uploaded captions. | `True` |
| `requestedLanguageMissing` | true/false | True when the video has no caption track in the asked language; the row then holds the original-language transcript (see language). | `False` |
| `availableLanguages` | list | Every caption language the video has. | `["en"]` |
| `text` | text | The whole transcript as one text, ready for an LLM or a search index. |  |

A real row from a run on 03-10-2026, asking Dutch for a video that only has English and German captions (lines shortened to three):

```json
{
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw",
  "targetLanguage": "nl",
  "data": [
    {"start": "1.200", "dur": "2.160", "text": "All right, so here we are, in front of the elephants"},
    {"start": "5.318", "dur": "2.656", "text": "the cool thing about these guys is that they have really..."},
    {"start": "7.974", "dur": "4.642", "text": "really really long trunks"}
  ],
  "videoId": "jNQXAC9IVRw",
  "title": "Me at the zoo",
  "channel": "jawed",
  "durationSeconds": 19,
  "language": "en",
  "isAutoGenerated": false,
  "requestedLanguageMissing": true,
  "availableLanguages": ["de", "en"],
  "text": "All right, so here we are, in front of the elephants the cool thing about these guys is that they have really... really really long trunks",
  "status": "ok"
}
```

### Related actors from steadydata

- [youtube-transcript-bulk](https://apify.com/steadydata/youtube-transcript-bulk): transcripts for hundreds of videos with SRT output
- [youtube-channel-transcripts](https://apify.com/steadydata/youtube-channel-transcripts): every transcript of a whole channel
- [youtube-video-details](https://apify.com/steadydata/youtube-video-details): views, tags and category of the same video

### Pricing

Pay per event: one `transcript-fetched` event per delivered transcript, whatever its length. No charge for videos without captions, private or removed videos, and no separate platform-usage surcharge.

**Free Apify plan:** this actor delivers up to 25 rows per run for accounts on the Apify free plan, and then stops with a message. That limit is set by us, not by Apify. Any paid Apify plan runs it at full size, billed per delivered row.

**Reviews:** if this actor saves you time, a short review on this page is the one thing that helps most.

### FAQ

**Do I have to change my workflow to switch?** No: `videoUrl` and `targetLanguage` are the same fields, and `data` holds the same `start`, `dur` and `text` lines. The extra fields can be ignored.

**Which URL formats work?** watch URLs, youtu.be links, Shorts, embeds and bare 11-character video IDs.

**Why did I get another language than I asked for?** The video has no caption track in that language; `requestedLanguageMissing` is true and `availableLanguages` lists what it does have.

**Are automatic captions included?** Yes. Uploaded captions are preferred over automatic ones in the same language; `isAutoGenerated` tells you which you got.

**What happens when YouTube changes something?** The actor is checked daily. While something is broken, failed videos are not charged.

**Can I call it from my own code, like an API?**
Yes. Every run is available through the Apify API: start it with one HTTP request, then read
the results as JSON, CSV or Excel from the dataset endpoint, or use the official Python and
JavaScript clients. The input is the same JSON as in the input example above, so a scheduled
script, a Make or Zapier step or an AI agent can call it without any changes.

# Changelog

This Actor's version history is a separate document: https://apify.com/steadydata/youtube-transcript-scraper/changelog.md

# Actor input Schema

## `videoUrl` (type: `string`):

A YouTube video URL (watch, youtu.be, shorts, embed) or an 11-character video ID.

## `targetLanguage` (type: `string`):

The language you want the transcript in. When the video has a caption track in that language you get it; when it has none you get the original-language transcript, and the row says so (requestedLanguageMissing). No machine translation.

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

Extra videos for the same run, one row each, up to 500 in total. Leave empty to work exactly like a single-video run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IELMSD2kdmk",
  "targetLanguage": "en"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (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 = {
    "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IELMSD2kdmk",
    "targetLanguage": "en"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("steadydata/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 = {
    "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IELMSD2kdmk",
    "targetLanguage": "en",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("steadydata/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 '{
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IELMSD2kdmk",
  "targetLanguage": "en"
}' |
apify call steadydata/youtube-transcript-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,steadydata/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/Oqcg2thfao0U3sU8h/builds/GQB9gW7W9qfaeDTDv/openapi.json