Get YouTube video transcript with timestamps
English transcript with every timed caption line.
{
"videos": [
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
],
"language": "en",
"includeSegments": true
}Video data
YouTube Transcript Scraper: transcripts with timecodes from any video
Extract YouTube transcripts with timecodes from single videos, playlists and whole channels: full transcript text, timed segments, chapters, title, channel, views, duration and the caption language used. Get ready-made SRT or WebVTT files and retrieval chunks for RAG.
★ 5.0 rating · 1 reviews22 users95.5% successful runs (30 days)
What data you get
transcript | Full transcript text |
segments | Caption lines with start time and duration |
chapters | Video chapters |
title / channel | Video title and channel |
views | View count |
duration | Video duration |
language | Caption language used |
srt / vtt | Optional ready-made subtitle file |
ragChunks | Optional retrieval chunks with chapter and timestamps |
How it works
- Open the scraper on Apify and sign up (free).
- Enter routes, dates and options in the form.
- Click Start and download results as JSON, CSV or Excel, or call the API.
Pricing
$0.50 per 1,000 rows
Pay per event: you are charged per video transcribed, and per video listed when you pass a channel or playlist.
Apify gives $5 free credits every month — enough to test this scraper at no cost.
Example tasks
Ready-made inputs. Copy one into the scraper form or send it through the API.
Transcribe a whole YouTube channel for RAG
Last 20 videos split into retrieval chunks.
{
"videos": [
"https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd"
],
"maxVideosPerChannel": 20,
"chunkForRag": true,
"chunkSize": 1200
}Download YouTube subtitles as SRT
Ready-made SRT file for one video.
{
"videos": [
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
],
"subtitleFormat": "srt"
}Spanish transcript of a YouTube Short
Spanish captions, auto-generated allowed, with description.
{
"videos": [
"https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kJQP7kiw5Fk"
],
"language": "es",
"allowAutoGenerated": true,
"includeDescription": true
}Use cases
- AI and RAG builders: turn YouTube channels into searchable, chunked knowledge bases.
- Content creators: repurpose videos into blog posts, summaries and subtitles.
- Researchers: analyse what is said across many videos at scale.
- SEO and marketing teams: mine competitor videos for topics and keywords.
FAQ
What can I pass in?
Video URLs, Shorts, bare video IDs, playlist URLs or channel URLs; playlists and channels are expanded automatically.
What if a video has no manual subtitles?
By default the actor falls back to YouTube's automatic captions; you can turn this off.
Can I get SRT or VTT subtitle files?
Yes. Choose srt or vtt and the file comes back as text next to the transcript.
Is it legal to scrape YouTube transcripts?
The actor reads captions that YouTube shows publicly. Make sure your use complies with local law, YouTube's terms and the creators' copyright, and avoid collecting personal data.
How do I get the data into my app?
Use the Apify API, Python or JavaScript clients, or integrations with Make, n8n, Zapier and Google Sheets.