# TikTok Transcript Scraper – Subtitles, Captions & AI Whisper (`tubetext/tiktok-transcript`) Actor

Get the transcript of any TikTok video as clean text, timestamps or SRT. TikTok to text from URLs or share links: uses TikTok captions and subtitles, with Whisper AI speech to text when there are none. $0.003 per transcript, failed videos are free.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/tubetext/tiktok-transcript.md
- **Developed by:** [TubeText Labs](https://apify.com/tubetext) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Videos, AI
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.20 / 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.
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

## TikTok Transcript Scraper – Subtitles, Captions & AI Whisper

> By **TubeText Labs** – see all our tools at the end of this page.

Turn TikTok videos into clean transcripts for ChatGPT, Claude, RAG pipelines, content repurposing, trend research and social listening. Paste as many video links as you like. Works as a TikTok audio-to-text / speech-to-text tool: if a video has no captions, its speech is transcribed with Whisper AI.

### Why this one

- 🎯 **Complete coverage** – uses TikTok's own captions when they exist, and transcribes the rest with **Whisper AI** (on by default). In our tests every video with real speech got a transcript.
- 💸 **Pay only for results** – videos that are deleted, private, photo slideshows or music-only are **free**.
- 🔇 **No junk transcripts** – short clips set to a song or another creator's sound (dances, edits, lip-syncs) are treated as music and skipped for free; Whisper "Thank you" loops and sound-effect-only clips are detected and not charged. Want lyrics too? Turn on *Also transcribe music videos*.
- ⚡ **Fast and reliable** – lightweight requests, no browser, automatic retries through rotating proxies. Failed videos are free.
- 🌍 **Any language** – original-language captions by default; optionally prefer translated captions (e.g. `en`).
- 🧠 **AI-ready output** – plain text, timestamped sentences, SRT subtitles, raw segments and optional RAG chunks.
- 📊 **Video stats included** – creator, caption, hashtags, posting time, plays, likes, comments, shares, saves, sound and duration.

### Input example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://www.tiktok.com/@hermoneymastery/video/7691028177199680781",
    "https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTyXc9cpY/"
  ],
  "aiTranscription": "missing"
}
```

**AI transcription modes**

- `missing` (default) – TikTok captions first, Whisper AI only for videos without captions.
- `all` – Whisper AI for every video (consistent punctuation and number formatting).
- `off` – TikTok captions only; videos without captions are returned as `no_transcript` for free.

### Output example

```json
{
  "status": "ok",
  "videoId": "7691028177199680781",
  "url": "https://www.tiktok.com/@hermoneymastery/video/7691028177199680781",
  "authorUsername": "hermoneymastery",
  "authorName": "Her Money Mastery",
  "description": "…",
  "hashtags": ["budgeting", "budgetingforbeginners"],
  "createTime": "2026-09-30T13:18:05+00:00",
  "durationSeconds": 167,
  "playCount": 224400,
  "likeCount": 22400,
  "commentCount": 154,
  "shareCount": 4449,
  "saveCount": 13779,
  "source": "captions",
  "captionType": "creator",
  "language": "en",
  "transcript": "Because it is going to do much more than just you paying your bills a month ahead of time…",
  "timestampedText": "[00:02] Because it is going to do much more than just you paying your bills a month ahead of time.\n…",
  "wordCount": 412
}
```

`source` is `captions` (TikTok captions) or `ai` (Whisper). `captionType` is `creator`, `auto`, `translated` or `ai`. With *AI transcription* set to `all`, every video with speech is transcribed by Whisper, including ones that use a borrowed sound; if AI isn't possible (too long or no media), you get TikTok's captions instead of nothing.

### Pricing

Pay per event:

- **$3.00 per 1,000 transcripts** from TikTok captions (cheaper on higher Apify plans).
- **$0.006 per started minute** of AI transcription – only when real speech is found. A typical 45-second TikTok costs $0.006.
- Deleted, private, slideshow and music-only videos are free.

Example: 1,000 typical TikToks with 75% caption coverage ≈ $2.25 + about 30 AI minutes ($0.18) ≈ **$2.43**.

### Use it from your tools

- **API / Python**: `client.actor("tubetext/tiktok-transcript").call(run_input={"urls": [...]})`, then read the default dataset.
- **n8n / Make / Zapier**: use the Apify integration, run this Actor and map the `transcript` field.
- **YouTube too?** Use [YouTube Transcript Scraper](https://apify.com/tubetext/youtube-transcript-fast) from the same team.
- **Instagram Reels too?** Use [Instagram Reels Transcript](https://apify.com/tubetext/instagram-reels-transcript): reel links or @usernames, same clean output.

### Ready-made examples

- [TikTok to Text](https://apify.com/tubetext/tiktok-transcript/examples/tiktok-to-text)
- [TikTok Subtitles to SRT](https://apify.com/tubetext/tiktok-transcript/examples/tiktok-subtitles-srt-download)
- [TikTok Transcripts for ChatGPT and RAG](https://apify.com/tubetext/tiktok-transcript/examples/tiktok-transcripts-for-rag)
- [TikTok Creator Latest Videos to Text](https://apify.com/tubetext/tiktok-transcript/examples/tiktok-creator-latest-videos-transcripts)
- [TikTok Speech to Text](https://apify.com/tubetext/tiktok-transcript/examples/tiktok-video-speech-to-text)
- [TikTok Hooks Swipe File](https://apify.com/tubetext/tiktok-transcript/examples/tiktok-hooks-swipe-file)
- [TikTok Captions in English](https://apify.com/tubetext/tiktok-transcript/examples/tiktok-captions-translated)
- [Bulk TikTok Transcripts to CSV](https://apify.com/tubetext/tiktok-transcript/examples/tiktok-transcripts-bulk-csv)
- [TikTok to SRT with AI](https://apify.com/tubetext/tiktok-transcript/examples/tiktok-to-srt-subtitles-ai)
- [TikTok Transcript API for n8n and Make](https://apify.com/tubetext/tiktok-transcript/examples/tiktok-transcript-api-n8n)

### TubeText Labs tools

**TubeText Labs** builds 9 pay-per-result Apify Actors for video, social and e-commerce data – no login, JSON/CSV/Excel output, and ready for ChatGPT and Claude (Apify MCP), n8n, Make and Zapier. All tools: [apify.com/tubetext](https://apify.com/tubetext)

**Transcripts**

- [YouTube Transcript Scraper](https://apify.com/tubetext/youtube-transcript-fast) – videos, Shorts, playlists and whole channels to text; Whisper AI when there are no captions
- [TikTok Transcript Scraper](https://apify.com/tubetext/tiktok-transcript) *(this tool)* – TikTok captions plus Whisper AI, SRT and timestamps
- [Instagram Reels Transcript](https://apify.com/tubetext/instagram-reels-transcript) – reel links or @usernames to text with Whisper AI

**Video & ad analysis**

- [Video Breakdown AI](https://apify.com/tubetext/video-breakdown-ai) – hook analysis, shot list, cut pacing, products shown and script of any TikTok, Reel or YouTube video
- [Video Ad Analyzer](https://apify.com/tubetext/video-ad-analyzer) – competitors' YouTube video ads by brand or domain (Google Ads Transparency), torn down by AI

**Channel analytics**

- [YouTube Channel Analytics](https://apify.com/tubetext/youtube-channel-analytics) – subscribers, recent video performance, Social Blade grade, ranks and estimated earnings

**E-commerce & travel**

- [TikTok Shop Product Scraper](https://apify.com/tubetext/tiktok-shop-product-scraper) – US TikTok Shop prices, items sold, stock per SKU and shop stats
- [AliExpress Search Scraper](https://apify.com/tubetext/aliexpress-search-scraper) – AliExpress search results by keyword: price, items sold, rating, shipping, badges
- [Google Hotels Scraper](https://apify.com/tubetext/google-hotels-scraper) – hotel prices for any destination and dates, per booking site and as a 90-day price calendar

### FAQ

**Can I transcribe a creator's or hashtag's latest videos?** Yes – run a TikTok profile or hashtag scraper first, then pass its run's dataset as `datasetId` (sort with `datasetSortBy`, limit with `maxVideosFromDataset`). Profile links pasted directly return an error that points you here.

**Why did a video return `no_transcript`?** It was deleted or private, it is a photo slideshow, it uses a song/borrowed sound without captions (music), or it contains only sound effects. These are never charged.

**Is AI transcription accurate?** It uses Whisper large-v3-turbo, which usually gives cleaner punctuation and numbers than auto-generated captions. Expect occasional errors on names and heavy accents. In a test on 7 videos, Whisper agreed with TikTok's own auto-captions on about 90% of words (TikTok's captions are themselves automatic, so this is a consistency check, not a ground-truth score).

**Is this legal?** The Actor only reads publicly available video pages, without logging in. You are responsible for how you use the data (copyright, privacy and TikTok's terms).

**Do duplicate links cost twice?** No – different forms of the same TikTok link (share links, `m.tiktok.com`, links with `?lang=…`, embed links) are recognised as one video and charged once.

**Can I cap what a run costs?** Yes – set *Maximum cost per run* in the run options. The run stops cleanly when the next item would go over it: you are never charged more, and you get a clear "stopped at your limit" status message.

**What happens if a big run hits the time limit?** It stops cleanly shortly before the limit: everything finished so far is delivered, the run ends as succeeded, and the status message says how many items weren't started. Raise the run timeout, or run again with the inputs that were not started.

# Actor input Schema

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

TikTok video links (https://www.tiktok.com/@user/video/123…), share links from the app (tiktok.com/t/…, vm.tiktok.com/…) or numeric video IDs. One per line, as many as you like.

## `datasetId` (type: `string`):

A dataset from another Actor run, e.g. a TikTok profile, hashtag or trending scraper (pick it, or paste its ID via API). The TikTok video links in it are transcribed. Read-only access to this one dataset is requested.

## `datasetSortBy` (type: `string`):

Which videos to take first when the dataset has more than 'Max videos from dataset'.

## `maxVideosFromDataset` (type: `integer`):

How many video links to take from the dataset (each is billed like a single video).

## `aiTranscription` (type: `string`):

Videos without TikTok captions are transcribed with Whisper AI. Charged per started minute of audio, only when real speech is found – music-only videos are free.

## `maxAiMinutesPerVideo` (type: `integer`):

Longer videos are skipped by AI transcription to keep costs predictable.

## `transcribeMusic` (type: `boolean`):

By default, caption-less videos that use a song or another creator's sound are treated as music and skipped (free). Turn on to transcribe lyrics too.

## `languages` (type: `array`):

Optional language codes in order of preference (e.g. en, es). TikTok sometimes offers translated captions. Empty = the video's original language.

## `includeTimestampedText` (type: `boolean`):

Adds a 'timestampedText' field with one \[mm:ss] line per sentence.

## `includeSrt` (type: `boolean`):

Adds an 'srt' field in SubRip (.srt) format.

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

Adds a 'segments' array with start, duration and text.

## `chunkWords` (type: `integer`):

Set e.g. 300 to add a 'chunks' array: transcript split into ~N-word blocks with start/end timestamps. 0 = off.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many videos to process in parallel.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://www.tiktok.com/@hermoneymastery/video/7691028177199680781",
    "https://www.tiktok.com/@beatrizcontreras31/video/7691869739597024542"
  ],
  "datasetSortBy": "views",
  "maxVideosFromDataset": 50,
  "aiTranscription": "missing",
  "maxAiMinutesPerVideo": 60,
  "transcribeMusic": false,
  "languages": [],
  "includeTimestampedText": true,
  "includeSrt": false,
  "includeSegments": false,
  "chunkWords": 0,
  "maxConcurrency": 10
}
```

# 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 = {
    "urls": [
        "https://www.tiktok.com/@hermoneymastery/video/7691028177199680781",
        "https://www.tiktok.com/@beatrizcontreras31/video/7691869739597024542"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("tubetext/tiktok-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 = { "urls": [
        "https://www.tiktok.com/@hermoneymastery/video/7691028177199680781",
        "https://www.tiktok.com/@beatrizcontreras31/video/7691869739597024542",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("tubetext/tiktok-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 '{
  "urls": [
    "https://www.tiktok.com/@hermoneymastery/video/7691028177199680781",
    "https://www.tiktok.com/@beatrizcontreras31/video/7691869739597024542"
  ]
}' |
apify call tubetext/tiktok-transcript --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,tubetext/tiktok-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/qpi7obBVnra6NWaK2/builds/TPz096ail6myKlxJ1/openapi.json