# YouTube Transcript $1.5/1k: Bulk Subtitles & Channels (`wiseus-labs/youtube-transcript-scraper`) Actor

$1.50 per 1,000 transcripts, failed videos are free. Bulk YouTube transcripts and subtitles from videos, Shorts, channels and playlists. Full text and timestamps for LLM and RAG. No API key.

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

## Pricing

from $1.50 / 1,000 transcript extracteds

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 as plain text and as timestamped segments. Paste video URLs, or a channel or playlist URL, and get one dataset row per video. You pay only for videos where a transcript was found.

### 📄 Example output

One row for `https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ` (text and segments shortened):

```json
{
  "videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video) (4K Remaster)",
  "channelName": "Rick Astley",
  "channelId": "UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw",
  "lengthSeconds": 213,
  "language": "en",
  "captionType": "manual",
  "text": "[♪♪♪] ♪ We're no strangers to love ♪ ♪ You know the rules and so do I ♪ ♪ A full commitment's what I'm thinking of ♪ ...",
  "segments": [
    { "start": 1.36, "duration": 1.68, "text": "[♪♪♪]" },
    { "start": 18.64, "duration": 3.24, "text": "♪ We're no strangers to love ♪" },
    { "start": 22.64, "duration": 4.32, "text": "♪ You know the rules and so do I ♪" }
  ],
  "segmentCount": 61,
  "status": "ok",
  "reason": null
}
```

### 💡 Common uses

- Feed transcripts to LLMs and RAG pipelines.
- Download the subtitles of a whole channel or playlist as text for research or analysis.
- Turn videos into text for summaries, notes, articles or translation.
- Use it as a YouTube transcript API from your code through the Apify API.

### 📊 What you can extract

| Field | Description |
| --- | --- |
| `videoId` | 11-character YouTube video ID. |
| `url` | Standard watch URL of the video. |
| `title` | Video title. |
| `channelName` | Name of the channel that published the video. |
| `channelId` | Channel ID, starts with `UC`. |
| `lengthSeconds` | Video length in seconds. |
| `language` | Language code of the transcript you got, for example `en` or `de-DE`. |
| `captionType` | `manual` for subtitles added by the author, `auto` for automatic captions made by YouTube. |
| `text` | Full transcript as one string. |
| `segments` | List of `{start, duration, text}`. Times are in seconds. |
| `segmentCount` | Number of segments. |
| `status` | `ok`, `no_captions`, `unavailable` or `error`. See [Statuses](#-statuses). |
| `reason` | Why there is no transcript. `null` when the status is `ok`. |

### 🚀 How to use

1. Open the Actor and fill in the input, or paste JSON in the JSON tab.
2. Click **Start**.
3. Open the **Output** tab when the run finishes and download the results.

A list of videos. Any URL form works: watch, youtu.be, Shorts, embed, live, mobile, or a bare video ID.

```json
{
  "videos": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "https://youtu.be/l6USUAIKJls",
    "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AO23am9UvjQ"
  ]
}
```

The 20 latest videos of a channel:

```json
{
  "channelOrPlaylistUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/@lexfridman"],
  "maxVideosPerSource": 20
}
```

A playlist, with each transcript in the original language of the video:

```json
{
  "channelOrPlaylistUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4"],
  "maxVideosPerSource": 100,
  "language": "original"
}
```

You can combine videos, channels and playlists in one run. If the same video appears twice, it is processed once.

### ⚙️ Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `videos` | array of strings | empty | Video URLs or IDs. |
| `channelOrPlaylistUrls` | array of strings | empty | Channel URLs (`@handle`, `/channel/UC...`, `/c/...`, `/user/...`) or playlist URLs. For a channel, the latest uploads are taken first. |
| `maxVideosPerSource` | integer | `50` | How many videos to take from each channel or playlist. |
| `language` | string | `en` | Preferred subtitle language as an ISO code, or `original`. See [Language selection](#-language-selection). |
| `maxConcurrency` | integer | `5` | How many videos are processed in parallel, from 1 to 20. |

### 💰 Pricing

$1.50 per 1,000 videos with a transcript ($0.0015 per video).

Each run also has a start fee of $0.00005 (5 cents per 1,000 runs).

Videos without subtitles, unavailable videos and errors are free. For example, 10,000 videos with a transcript cost $15.

You can set a maximum cost per run in Apify. When the run reaches it, the Actor stops and keeps the results it already has.

### 🌍 Language selection

For each video the Actor picks one subtitle track in this order:

1. Manual subtitles in your language.
2. Automatic captions in your language.
3. Manual subtitles in the original language of the video.
4. Automatic captions in the original language of the video.

A language code also matches its regional variants: `en` matches `en-US` and `en-GB`.

Set `language` to `original` (or leave it empty) to skip steps 1 and 2 and always get the transcript in the language the video is spoken in.

The `language` field in the output shows which track you got. If a video has no subtitles in your language, you get the original language instead.

### ✅ Statuses

| Status | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| `ok` | Transcript found. This is the only status you pay for. |
| `no_captions` | The video is available but has no subtitles or automatic captions. |
| `unavailable` | The video is private, deleted, age-restricted, members-only or not playable. `reason` has the message from YouTube. |
| `error` | The input is not a valid video, channel or playlist URL, the channel or playlist was not found, or the video could not be fetched. `reason` explains which. |

If a run gets no transcripts at all, the dataset gets one extra row with `status` set to `run_summary`. Its `reason` and `counts` fields show how many videos ended with each status.

### ❓ FAQ

**Does it work with YouTube Shorts?**
Yes. Paste the Shorts URL like any other video.

**Do I need a YouTube API key or a Google login?**
No. The Actor works with public videos only and needs no keys or accounts.

**Can it translate transcripts?**
Not yet. Translation is planned. Today you get the transcript in your language if the video has it, otherwise in the original language.

**What about private and age-restricted videos?**
They are not supported. You get a row with status `unavailable` and the reason from YouTube. These rows are free.

**How do I export the results?**
Open the run's dataset and download it as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or HTML. You can also read the dataset through the Apify API or send it to other tools with Apify integrations.

# Actor input Schema

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

YouTube video URLs or 11-character IDs. Any form works: watch, youtu.be, Shorts, embed, live, m.youtube.com, with or without extra parameters.

## `channelOrPlaylistUrls` (type: `array`):

Channel URLs (@handle, /channel/UC..., /c/..., /user/...) or playlist URLs. For a channel, the latest uploads are taken first.

## `maxVideosPerSource` (type: `integer`):

How many videos to take from each channel or playlist.

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

ISO language code, for example en, de, es. "en" also matches en-US and en-GB. The Actor takes manual subtitles in this language, then automatic ones, and if the video has neither, subtitles in the original language of the video. Enter "original" (or leave the field empty) to always get subtitles in the original language of the video.

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

How many videos are processed in parallel. Higher values finish large runs faster.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videos": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "channelOrPlaylistUrls": [],
  "maxVideosPerSource": 50,
  "language": "en",
  "maxConcurrency": 5
}
```

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

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

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

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,wiseus-labs/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/gY2iq9A78Sf70B85R/builds/IMEHpPH9SKcMTYehr/openapi.json