# YouTube Transcript Scraper (any language, AI fallback) (`techiseasy/youtube-transcript`) Actor

Get transcripts from YouTube videos, playlists, channels or search results. 150+ languages, translation, SRT/VTT/text/JSON output, and AI transcription for videos without captions. Pay per transcript.

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

## Pricing

from $5.00 / 1,000 transcripts

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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

Get the transcript of any public YouTube video, a whole playlist, a channel's uploads, or the results of a YouTube search. Works for videos in 150+ languages, translates transcripts, and can transcribe videos that have no captions with AI.

### What you get

For each video:

- **Full transcript text**, plus timed **segments** (start, end, text)
- **Title, channel, duration, language**, whether captions were auto-generated, and the other caption languages available
- Or the transcript as **SRT, VTT, Markdown, CSV or plain text**, ready to save as a subtitle file

### How to use it

1. Add **video URLs** (watch, youtu.be, Shorts, embed links or IDs), and/or a **playlist or channel URL**, and/or a **search query**.
2. Optionally pick a **language**, a language to **translate to**, and an **output format**.
3. Run it. Each video becomes one row in the dataset; download it as JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML, or read it through the Apify API.

#### Example input

```json
{
  "videos": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"],
  "playlistOrChannel": "https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd",
  "maxVideos": 20,
  "translateTo": "es",
  "format": "json"
}
```

#### Example output

```json
{
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video)",
  "author": "Rick Astley",
  "durationSeconds": 213,
  "language": "en",
  "autoGenerated": false,
  "source": "captions",
  "text": "We're no strangers to love ...",
  "segments": [{ "start": 18.6, "duration": 3.2, "end": 21.8, "timestamp": "0:18", "text": "We're no strangers to love" }]
}
```

### Pricing

You pay per transcript delivered. Videos that fail (private, removed, no captions) are free.

| Event | Price |
| --- | --- |
| Transcript | $0.005 ($5 per 1,000) |
| AI transcription, per minute of video (only with "AI transcription" on, for videos without captions) | $0.005 |

Set a maximum cost per run in the run options and the Actor stops when it's reached.

### Use cases

- Feed YouTube videos into **ChatGPT, Claude, RAG pipelines or vector databases**
- **Summarize** or search a channel's back catalogue
- Make **subtitle files** (SRT/VTT) or translations
- **Research**: competitor content, interviews, podcasts, lectures

### FAQ

**Why do some videos fail?** The video is private, age-restricted, removed, or has no captions. Turn on AI transcription for videos without captions.

**Can I use it from code or from n8n, Make or Zapier?** Yes, through the Apify API or Apify's integrations. If you need high volume or lower latency, the same engine is available as a REST API, Python SDK, n8n node and MCP server at [transcript-yt.com](https://transcript-yt.com).

**Is it legal?** It only reads publicly available captions. You are responsible for how you use the content.

# Actor input Schema

## `videos` (type: `array`):

YouTube watch, youtu.be, Shorts or embed URLs, or 11-character video IDs.

## `playlistOrChannel` (type: `string`):

Get transcripts for the videos in a playlist or a channel's uploads, e.g. https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd.

## `searchQuery` (type: `string`):

Search YouTube and get transcripts for the results.

## `maxVideos` (type: `integer`):

How many videos to take from the playlist, channel or search results.

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

BCP-47 code of the caption track, e.g. en, es, de. Leave empty for the original or English track.

## `translateTo` (type: `string`):

Machine-translate transcripts into this language (150+ supported), e.g. en, fr, ja.

## `format` (type: `string`):

JSON gives full text plus timed segments. Other formats are returned in the 'content' field.

## `includeSegments` (type: `boolean`):

JSON only. Turn off to get just the full text.

## `timestamps` (type: `boolean`):

Prefix each line with \[HH:MM:SS] in text and Markdown output.

## `aiFallback` (type: `boolean`):

Transcribe the audio of videos that have no captions. Charged per minute of video on top of the transcript price.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videos": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "maxVideos": 50,
  "format": "json",
  "includeSegments": true,
  "timestamps": false,
  "aiFallback": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `transcripts` (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 = {
    "videos": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("techiseasy/youtube-transcript").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 = { "videos": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("techiseasy/youtube-transcript").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 '{
  "videos": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ]
}' |
apify call techiseasy/youtube-transcript --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,techiseasy/youtube-transcript"
        }
    }
}
```

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/xjZ8oTs1JDgzgK6Ad/builds/HxaimnS9gmCKpEFy3/openapi.json