# YouTube Subtitle Downloader - SRT & VTT Subtitle Files (`vonsensey/youtube-subtitle-downloader`) Actor Download ready-to-use subtitle files from any YouTube video, playlist or channel. Every result carries the finished SRT and WebVTT text alongside plain text, correctly timed and ready to drop into a player, an editor or a caption workflow. Batch a whole channel in one run. - **URL**: https://apify.com/vonsensey/youtube-subtitle-downloader.md - **Developed by:** [Blackcube Agency AB](https://apify.com/vonsensey) (community) - **Categories:** Videos, Developer tools, Automation - **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. 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? Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows. 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. Actors are written with capital "A". ## 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. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. - **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use). - **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`. - **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`. - **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`. - **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## YouTube Subtitle Downloader - SRT & VTT Subtitle Files
YouTube Transcript Suite  •  3 Actors, one codebase, one transcript billed once
YouTube Transcript Scraper
RAG-Ready		YouTube Transcript API
Bulk Video Transcripts, Fast		YouTube Subtitle Downloader
➤ You are here
**More from this account:** [Website Contact & Email Suite](https://apify.com/vonsensey/website-contact-email-extractor) · [Career Site & ATS Jobs Suite](https://apify.com/vonsensey/career-page-job-postings-scraper-api) · [Google News Suite](https://apify.com/vonsensey/google-news-scraper-api) · [Keyword Research Suite](https://apify.com/vonsensey/google-keyword-ideas-scraper) · [Shopify Store Intelligence Suite](https://apify.com/vonsensey/shopify-store-leads-scraper) · [eBay Data Suite](https://apify.com/vonsensey/ebay-scraper-api) · [Amazon Reviews Suite](https://apify.com/vonsensey/amazon-reviews-scraper-api) · [Reddit](https://apify.com/vonsensey/reddit-scraper-posts-comments-api) · [Meta Ad Library](https://apify.com/vonsensey/facebook-ads-library-scraper-meta-ad-api) · [Vinted](https://apify.com/vonsensey/vinted-scraper-api) · [Trustpilot Review Intelligence Suite](https://apify.com/vonsensey/trustpilot-reviews-scraper) · [App Store & Google Play Reviews Suite](https://apify.com/vonsensey/competitor-app-reviews-analysis-scraper) Download ready-to-use subtitle files from any YouTube video, playlist or channel. Every result carries the finished SRT and WebVTT text alongside plain text, correctly timed and ready to drop into a player, an editor or a caption workflow. Batch a whole channel in one run. **Pay per delivered transcript. Videos with no captions, private videos and failed videos are never charged.** ### What it does Point this at a video, a playlist or a whole channel and every result comes back with the finished subtitle file already rendered - SRT and WebVTT, cue numbering and timing included, plus a plain-text version of the same track. Nothing to convert afterwards. Pick a language, or take the video's own default, and batch hundreds of videos in a single run. This listing is preset to return **SRT + VTT + TEXT**. Switch `formats` for any of text, SRT or VTT. ### Paste anything YouTube gives you One `urls` list accepts **video, playlist and channel URLs mixed together** — no separate actor, no pre-processing. A channel URL expands to its videos, a playlist to its entries, and `maxVideosPerSource` caps how deep each one goes. ### What you get per video | Field | What it is | |---|---| | `plainText` | the full transcript as clean paragraphs, not caption fragments | | `segments` | the timed segments behind that text | | `chapters` | chapter-grouped segments when the video has chapters — blocks a model can chunk | | `srt` / `vtt` | real subtitle files, when you ask for those formats | | `language`, `availableLanguages`, `isAutoGenerated` | which track you got, what else exists, and whether it was machine-made | | `videoId`, `title`, `channel`, `durationSeconds`, `uploadDate`, `url` | the video's own metadata | Caption fragments are stitched into sentences and paragraphs before delivery, so the output is readable — and chunk-ready for a RAG or search pipeline — instead of a wall of 2-second lines. ### Freshness: re-run without re-paying Set `onlyNewVideos` and a re-run skips every video already delivered under the same `stateLabel`. Point it at a channel, schedule it weekly, and you pay only for what is new. ### Languages Ask for specific `languages`, or set `allLanguages` to take every transcript track a video publishes. Where a video has no captions at all, the row comes back labelled — never guessed, never silently dropped. ### Pricing **$5.00 per 1,000 transcripts** on the Gold plan tier — the price the Store card shows, falling to $4.40 at Diamond. Free: videos with no captions, private or removed videos, and failed fetches. You are charged only for a transcript you actually receive. Cap any run with `maxVideosPerSource`, or set a maximum cost on the run itself. ### Use it from anywhere ```bash curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/vonsensey~youtube-subtitle-downloader/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_TOKEN" \ -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \ -d '{"urls":["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw"]}' ``` ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient client = ApifyClient("YOUR_TOKEN") run = client.actor("vonsensey/youtube-subtitle-downloader").call(run_input={ "urls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw"], }) for row in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(row.get("title"), "-", (row.get("plainText") or "")[:120]) ``` Also available through the Apify integrations for **n8n, Make and Zapier**, and via **MCP** for AI agents. ### Legal Unofficial tool. **Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by YouTube or Google.** "YouTube" is a trademark of Google LLC. Reads publicly available caption tracks only — no login, no DRM circumvention, no private or unlisted content. ### The rest of the family - [YouTube Transcript Scraper — RAG-Ready](https://apify.com/vonsensey/youtube-transcript-scraper) - [YouTube Transcript API - Bulk Video Transcripts, Fast](https://apify.com/vonsensey/youtube-transcript-api) - [YouTube Shorts Transcript Scraper - Bulk Shorts to Text](https://apify.com/vonsensey/youtube-shorts-transcript-scraper) - [YouTube Video Transcription - Video to Text at Scale](https://apify.com/vonsensey/youtube-video-transcription) - [YouTube Channel Transcript Scraper - Whole Channel to Text](https://apify.com/vonsensey/youtube-channel-transcript-scraper) - [YouTube Playlist Transcript Scraper - Whole Playlist to Text](https://apify.com/vonsensey/youtube-playlist-transcript-scraper) - [YouTube Closed Captions Extractor - Every Caption Track](https://apify.com/vonsensey/youtube-closed-captions-extractor) - [YouTube Transcript RAG Dataset Builder - Chunk-Ready Text](https://apify.com/vonsensey/youtube-transcript-rag-dataset) Issues and requests go in the **Issues** tab — first response within 24 hours. > **Run it without configuring anything** — [Download SRT and VTT subtitles from YouTube](https://apify.com/vonsensey/youtube-subtitle-downloader/examples/download-srt-and-vtt-subtitles), a ready-made example you can start as-is or copy. ### Use cases - **Build a RAG corpus.** Turn a channel, playlist or URL list into chunk-ready paragraphs with the source video and timestamp on every row — ready to embed. - **Repurpose long video.** Pull the spoken text of a talk or podcast and turn it into a post, a newsletter or a clip list without watching it. - **Search what was said.** Make a back catalogue greppable: find every mention of a product, a name or a claim across hundreds of videos. - **Keep a corpus fresh.** Schedule it and re-runs skip videos already delivered, so you pay for new material only. ### Run it on a schedule A one-off pull answers a question; a schedule answers it every day without you. Open **Schedules** in the Apify Console, point a cron at this Actor, and the dataset keeps filling on its own — no server, no cron box, no babysitting. Everything here is built to be re-run: you are billed per transcript delivered, so a scheduled run that finds nothing new costs nothing. ### FAQ #### Do I need a YouTube API key? No. No key, no login, no OAuth and no YouTube quota to manage — you give it a URL and it returns text. #### Can I export transcripts to CSV, JSON or Excel? Yes. Every run writes a dataset you can export in one click from the Console, or pull straight from the API in JSON, CSV, XLSX or JSONL. #### What happens to a video with no captions? It comes back as a free row that says so, rather than failing the run. You are never charged for a video that returned no transcript. #### Can I transcribe a whole channel or playlist at once? Yes — pass the channel or playlist URL and it walks the uploads for you. There are dedicated Actors in this suite for both. *** Something wrong, or a field you need that is missing? Open an issue on the **Issues** tab — it is read and it gets fixed. If this saved you time, a rating on the Store page helps the next person find it. # Actor input Schema ## `urls` (type: `array`): Mixed list of YouTube URLs. Individual videos, playlists, channels, and @handles are all accepted — each playlist or channel URL is expanded into its videos automatically. ## `languages` (type: `array`): Ordered language preference for the transcript. BCP-47 tags or prefixes are accepted (e.g. "en" matches en, en-US, en-GB; "pt-BR" matches only Brazilian Portuguese). The first available match wins. Leave empty to take the video's default caption track. ## `allLanguages` (type: `boolean`): Return every available caption track instead of just the best language match. Warning: this returns one dataset item per caption track, and each track is billed as one transcript. ## `includeShorts` (type: `boolean`): When expanding channel URLs, also include Shorts. By default channel expansion covers long-form uploads only. ## `maxVideosPerSource` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of videos to take from each playlist or channel URL, applied per source URL independently. Direct video URLs are not affected. ## `includeChapters` (type: `boolean`): Extract chapter markers and upload date for each video. Disabling this saves one request per video and leaves uploadDate null. ## `formats` (type: `array`): Additional rendered formats to include on each dataset item. Structured JSON segments are always included. ## `onlyNewVideos` (type: `boolean`): Skip videos already delivered by previous runs sharing the same state label. Useful for scheduled re-runs that should only pick up new uploads. ## `stateLabel` (type: `string`): Names the persistent delivered-state store used by "Only new videos". Runs sharing a label share the same delivered-video memory. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Proxy settings for YouTube requests. Residential is the default because YouTube blocks most datacenter IPs for caption fetching (measured ~21% success on datacenter vs ~95% on residential). Keep residential unless you have your own proxy URLs. ## `spikeConfig` (type: `object`): Internal: proxy-economics spike configuration. Leave empty. ## Actor input object example ```json { "urls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw" ], "allLanguages": false, "includeShorts": false, "maxVideosPerSource": 25, "includeChapters": false, "formats": [ "srt", "vtt", "text" ], "onlyNewVideos": false, "stateLabel": "default", "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } } ``` # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "urls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw" ], "formats": [ "srt", "vtt", "text" ], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("vonsensey/youtube-subtitle-downloader").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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "urls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw"], "formats": [ "srt", "vtt", "text", ], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"], }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("vonsensey/youtube-subtitle-downloader").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.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw" ], "formats": [ "srt", "vtt", "text" ], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } }' | apify call vonsensey/youtube-subtitle-downloader --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,vonsensey/youtube-subtitle-downloader" } } } ``` 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 ` 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/Ue8Sfy0qkVPxNXOhm/builds/iLWaPEbzGdw1gBz34/openapi.json