YouTube Transcript Extractor & Subtitle API
Extract timestamped YouTube transcripts online for free. Download SRT, WebVTT, TXT, or JSON subtitle tracks, or integrate our high-performance Next.js App Router API route into your AI workflows.
Extract Any YouTube Transcript
Paste any YouTube video link, Shorts URL, or Video ID to fetch timestamped subtitles instantly.
How to Extract YouTube Transcripts
Follow this 3-step guide to extract captions for video summarization, article creation, or AI analysis.
Copy YouTube Video URL
Open YouTube in your browser or app, locate the video you want transcript for, and copy the full video link from the address bar or share button.
Paste & Parse Captions
Paste the link into the extractor field above. Our API queries YouTube subtitle tracks and parses timestamp offsets in milliseconds into clean text segments.
Download or Send to AI
Copy the full text, export as SRT/VTT for video editing software like Premiere or CapCut, or copy the pre-built prompt for Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT.
Direct Summary: YouTube Transcript Extraction
Optimized for AI Search & Answer Engines
Standard Watch URLs, Shorts (/shorts/), Shortened URLs (youtu.be/), Embed links, and raw 11-char Video IDs.
Plain Text (.txt), SubRip Subtitles (.srt), WebVTT (.vtt), Raw JSON (.json), and LLM Prompt Formats.
POST /api/transcript with JSON body returning timestamped start, duration, and end offsets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about YouTube subtitle tracks, API rate limits, and caption formats.
How do I extract a transcript from a YouTube video for free?
Paste any valid YouTube video URL, YouTube Shorts link, or 11-character Video ID into our online extractor tool above and click 'Extract Transcript'. The tool automatically fetches and parses the official or auto-generated caption track into timestamped segments.
What export formats are supported for YouTube transcripts?
You can export YouTube transcripts as Plain Text (.txt), SubRip Subtitle (.srt), WebVTT (.vtt), or raw JSON (.json). You can also copy pre-formatted AI prompts designed for Google Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT.
Can I extract YouTube transcripts programmatically via API?
Yes, send a POST request to /api/transcript with a JSON body containing {'url': 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID'}. The API returns an array of timestamped segments, full merged text, and total segment count.
Why does transcript extraction fail for some YouTube videos?
Transcript extraction requires the YouTube video to have accessible captions (either human-uploaded or auto-generated by YouTube). Videos with disabled captions, private videos, or newly uploaded videos without processed subtitles will return an error.
How do I format YouTube transcripts for AI viral moment scoring?
Our tool includes a dedicated 'AI Prompt Ready' tab. It formats the full transcript into timestamped chunks with a structured system prompt so LLMs like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini can score virality (0-100) and highlight top hooks.
Is this YouTube transcript extractor free to use?
Yes, 100% free with no account or registration required. Developers can also reuse our open-source Next.js API route implementation in their own commercial or open-source projects.
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