Free · no signup · no credit card
Free YouTube transcript tool
Paste a public YouTube URL. Get the spoken text as plain text — free, no signup.
Protected by Cloudflare Turnstile
What you get
Copy captions without the download dance
Skip downloader sites and ad walls. Paste a URL, get the spoken text.
Live caption track
Pulls the public caption file for the URL you paste — not a scraped screenshot.
Copy-ready plain text
Paste a URL, get spoken text. No ads, no signup, no download dance.
Any share link
Watch URLs, youtu.be short links, Shorts, and embeds all resolve automatically.
Caption tracks, not guesswork
Manual or auto captions — whichever YouTube exposes. The API also returns timed segments.
Quick start
How to get a YouTube transcript
Three steps from a video link to copyable captions. Works on public videos that expose a caption track.
- Step 1
Copy the YouTube URL
Grab a watch URL, youtu.be link, Shorts URL, or embed — anything with a public video ID.
- Step 2
Paste it above
Drop the URL in, complete the Turnstile check, and submit.
- Step 3
Copy the text
We flatten the caption track to plain text. Use it in docs, show notes, blog posts, or LLM prompts.
Use cases
What people use YouTube transcripts for
Captions unlock search, editing, and automation that video alone cannot.
Show notes and blog posts
Turn long-form uploads into searchable articles, newsletter drafts, or chapter outlines.
Quote checks and research
Find exact spoken claims without scrubbing the timeline — useful for journalists and analysts.
Accessibility and SEO
Publish transcript text beside embedded video so spoken content can be indexed and read.
AI pipelines and products
Chunk segments for embeddings, or call the transcript API from your backend when you need volume.
What you actually get
Captions, formats, and what you get back
This page is a YouTube shortcut. The API also covers TikTok and Instagram Reels with one auth header. Read the transcript guide → Also try the free TikTok transcript generator.
Manual vs auto captions
YouTube does not tag tracks as manual or auto in the response. You get the best available caption file. Pass language on the API when several tracks exist.
When the video has no captions
Music-only uploads or caption-disabled videos can resolve with no text. That is expected — not a broken lookup.
Browser tool vs API response
This page returns plain text. The API also returns transcript.segments with startMs and endMs for chaptering and clip cuts.
Instagram Reels too
Reels transcripts are API-only at GET /v1/instagram/posts/transcript. TikTok has its own free browser tool on this site.
Fair use on a free page
Built for one-off YouTube transcripts, not automation
Free YouTube transcript lookups are capped per IP and gated by Cloudflare Turnstile — fine for spot checks, not a batch worker or browser extension.
Hit the cap? Sign up for 100 free API credits and call the transcript API from code.
For when one-off isn't enough
Batch YouTube transcripts from code
Need hundreds of YouTube URLs for webinar archives, competitor explainers, or a vector index? Call the transcript API from your backend. New accounts get 100 free API credits.
- Fetch a CSV of YouTube URLs with bounded concurrency
- Keep segments for timestamps; store plainText for embeddings
- Chunk by sentence (~500 tokens with overlap) for RAG indexes
- Pair with channel/video listing endpoints so you are not hand-curating links
More free tools
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Open tool
FAQ
YouTube transcript FAQ
How do I get a free YouTube transcript?
Paste a public YouTube URL into the tool above, complete the Turnstile check, and copy the plain-text captions.
Does this work on any YouTube video?
Any public video with a caption track. Private, members-only, or caption-disabled videos return no text.
What's the difference between manual and auto-generated captions?
YouTube does not label tracks as manual or auto — you get the best available file. Pass language on the API when several tracks exist.
Can I get a YouTube transcript with timestamps?
This page returns plain text. The API also returns transcript.segments with startMs and endMs.
Why is there a verification step?
Protected by Cloudflare Turnstile. Need volume? Sign up for 100 free API credits.
Can I transcribe Instagram Reels here?
No — Reels are API-only at GET /v1/instagram/posts/transcript.
How do I batch-fetch transcripts or feed a RAG pipeline?
Use the API with bounded concurrency. Keep segments for timestamps, plainText for embeddings. See the transcript guide for examples.
How is this different from the free downloader sites?
Live caption data — no ads, no scraper chain.
What URL formats are supported?
Watch URLs, youtu.be short links, Shorts, and embeds — anything with a public video ID.
Does the free YouTube transcript tool require an API key?
No. This page runs anonymously behind a Cloudflare Turnstile check — no signup, no key. The API endpoint behind it (GET /v1/youtube/videos/transcript) does require an x-api-key for programmatic/batch use. See the YouTube transcript API glossary entry (/glossary/youtube-transcript-api) for the full request/response shape.
Is authentication required to get a YouTube transcript?
Not on this free page. For the REST endpoint, yes — pass x-api-key on every request. There is no anonymous/no-auth mode for the API itself, only for this browser tool.
Need more than a spot check?
Sign up for 100 free API credits, then call these tools from your own code — no browser Turnstile in the way.