# Audio & Video Transcription — SRT/VTT, $3 per 1,000 min (`tidydata/audio-video-transcription`) Actor

Transcribe audio and video files or podcast feeds to text, SRT and VTT subtitles with timestamps. Whisper large-v3-turbo, 99 languages, automatic language detection, long files supported. Pay only for minutes transcribed; failed files are free.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/tidydata/audio-video-transcription.md
- **Developed by:** [tidydata](https://apify.com/tidydata) (community)
- **Categories:** AI, Videos
- **Stats:** 4 total users, 3 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$3.00 / 1,000 audio minute transcribeds

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

## 🎙️ Audio & Video Transcription — text, SRT & VTT subtitles ($3 per 1,000 minutes)

Turn **audio and video files** or **podcast feeds** into accurate text with timestamps. Powered by **Whisper large-v3-turbo**, **99 languages**, automatic language detection, files up to several hours. **You only pay for minutes actually transcribed** — failed files and files without speech are free.

- ✅ **Direct links** to mp3, m4a, wav, ogg, flac, mp4, mov, webm, mkv… (up to 700 MB per file)
- ✅ **Podcast RSS feeds**: transcribe the latest N episodes in one run
- ✅ **Plain text + SRT + VTT** subtitles ready to use, optional timestamped segments (JSON)
- ✅ **Language auto-detection** or pick one of 28 common languages
- ✅ **Long files** are cut into 10-minute pieces automatically and stitched back with correct timestamps
- ✅ **Cheap and predictable**: one price per audio minute, rounded up per file

### How to use it

1. Paste one or more **file URLs** or **podcast feed URLs**.
2. Optionally set the **language**, how many **episodes** to take from a feed, and a **max minutes per file** safety limit.
3. Run. Each file becomes one row with `text`, `srt`, `vtt`, `language` and `durationMinutes`.

### Output example

```json
{
  "sourceUrl": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Armstrong_Small_Step.ogg",
  "status": "ok",
  "language": "english",
  "durationMinutes": 0.2,
  "text": "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.",
  "srt": "1\n00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,500\nThat's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.\n",
  "vtt": "WEBVTT\n\n00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.500\nThat's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.\n",
  "error": null
}
```

### Pricing

**$0.003 per audio minute** (= $3 per 1,000 minutes). A 1-hour podcast costs about $0.18. Minutes are rounded up per file. Set a **maximum cost per run** in the run options to stay in control. On the free Apify plan the Actor works in **demo mode** (1 file, first 2 minutes) so you can check the quality before paying.

### What it can't do

- It does **not** download from YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Spotify or other streaming sites. Use direct file links or feeds for content you own or have the right to transcribe.
- It does not identify who is speaking (speaker labels).
- Very noisy audio, heavy accents or music-only files can give poor or empty results; empty files are not charged.

### Privacy

Files are processed to produce the transcript and deleted right after. Only the transcript is stored in your run's dataset.

# Actor input Schema

## `urls` (type: `array`):

Direct links to audio or video files (mp3, m4a, wav, ogg, flac, mp4, mov, webm, mkv...) or podcast RSS feed URLs. Use links you have the right to transcribe. YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and other streaming sites are not supported.

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

Spoken language. Leave on Auto-detect unless the audio is short or noisy.

## `includeSubtitles` (type: `boolean`):

Add ready-to-use subtitle files (SRT and VTT text) to every row.

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

Add a list of segments with start and end time in seconds to every row.

## `maxEpisodes` (type: `integer`):

When a URL is a podcast feed, transcribe only the latest N episodes.

## `maxMinutesPerFile` (type: `integer`):

Safety limit: only the first N minutes of each file are transcribed (and charged).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    {
      "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Armstrong_Small_Step.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "language": "auto",
  "includeSubtitles": true,
  "includeSegments": false,
  "maxEpisodes": 3,
  "maxMinutesPerFile": 180
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One row per audio or video file with the full text, language, duration and optional SRT/VTT subtitles.

# 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 = {
    "urls": [
        {
            "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Armstrong_Small_Step.ogg"
        }
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("tidydata/audio-video-transcription").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 = { "urls": [{ "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Armstrong_Small_Step.ogg" }] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("tidydata/audio-video-transcription").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 '{
  "urls": [
    {
      "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Armstrong_Small_Step.ogg"
    }
  ]
}' |
apify call tidydata/audio-video-transcription --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,tidydata/audio-video-transcription"
        }
    }
}
```

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/JWCfii39pwy5bhO2Z/builds/eaw98krAxwlN9o5L8/openapi.json