YouTube Transcript Generator
Paste a YouTube URL and get the full transcript for free. No login required.
Need This at Scale?
You just used Supadata's YouTube Transcript API for free. Power your app with the same API — no scraping, no maintenance.
- ✅ 100 free requests per month — no credit card required
- ✅ Multi-platform: YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and more
- ✅ AI fallback for videos without native captions
- ✅ Python & TypeScript SDKs, Make, Zapier, n8n integrations
How It Works
Getting a YouTube transcript takes three simple steps:
- Paste a YouTube URL — Any video, Short, or live stream recording. Just copy the link from your browser or the YouTube app.
- We extract the transcript — Our API fetches the native captions first. If the video has no captions, AI transcription kicks in automatically.
- Copy, download, or integrate — Get your transcript as plain text or with timestamps. Copy to clipboard, download as
.txt, or use the Supadata API to automate it.
Supported Formats and Languages
This YouTube transcript generator works with every type of YouTube content:
- Standard videos — Any length, any topic
- YouTube Shorts — Vertical short-form videos
- Live stream recordings — VODs from past live streams
- Unlisted videos — As long as you have the URL
Multi-Language Support
Transcripts are available in every language YouTube supports. Specify a language code and get transcripts in English, Spanish, Japanese, Hindi, and 100+ other languages. If the requested language isn’t available, we return the next best option automatically.
AI Fallback Transcription
Many YouTube videos don’t have captions — especially older content, niche creators, and non-English videos. Our AI transcription engine generates accurate transcripts even when YouTube provides none. This means you get text from virtually any video, not just the ones with existing subtitles.
Use Cases
Content Repurposing
Turn YouTube videos into blog posts, newsletters, social media threads, or ebooks. Extract the transcript, edit for readability, and publish across channels — all from a single video.
Research and Analysis
Analyze interviews, lectures, podcasts, and conference talks. Search through spoken content, pull quotes, and build datasets from video sources without manual note-taking.
SEO and Content Audits
Extract text from video content to identify keywords, analyze competitor topics, and audit your own video library. Pair transcripts with your SEO tools to find content gaps.
Accessibility
Generate text versions of video content for hearing-impaired viewers, create subtitle files, or provide text alternatives for video-heavy websites.
YouTube Transcript Generator vs. Manual Methods
| Method | Speed | Accuracy | Bulk Support | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| This tool | Instant | High (native + AI) | ✅ Via API | Free |
| Browser extensions | Slow | Varies | ❌ | Free |
| YouTube Studio | Manual | Native only | ❌ | Free |
| Copy-paste from player | Very slow | Low (formatting issues) | ❌ | Free |
| Paid transcription services | Hours/days | Very high (human) | ✅ | $$$ |
Why this tool wins: It combines the speed of automation with the accuracy of native captions — plus AI fallback for videos that have no subtitles at all. And it’s free for individual use.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this YouTube transcript generator free?
Yes. You can use this tool for free with no login required. For high-volume or automated use, the Supadata API offers 100 free requests per month and paid plans starting at $17/month.
Can I get transcripts from private videos?
No — we can only access videos that are publicly available or unlisted (with the direct URL). Private videos are not accessible through any external API.
What languages are supported?
We support every language that YouTube provides captions for — over 100 languages. If a video has auto-generated captions in a specific language, we can extract them. Our AI fallback also works across languages.
How accurate are AI-generated transcripts?
AI transcription accuracy depends on audio quality, accents, and background noise. For clear speech, expect 95%+ accuracy. For challenging audio, results are comparable to YouTube’s own auto-generated captions.
Can I download transcripts as SRT files?
Currently, this free tool outputs plain text and timestamped text. For SRT/VTT format, use the Supadata API directly — it returns structured segments with precise timing data that you can convert to any subtitle format.
Does this work with YouTube Shorts?
Yes. Paste any YouTube Shorts URL and get the transcript just like a regular video.
Can I get transcripts in bulk?
This free tool handles one video at a time. For bulk transcript extraction, the Supadata API supports batch processing and handles thousands of videos per hour. SDKs are available for Python and JavaScript.
How is this different from the YouTube Transcript API?
This page is a free tool for quick, one-off transcript extraction. The YouTube Transcript API is a developer API for integrating transcript extraction into your own apps, with SDKs, webhooks, and no-code integrations (Zapier, Make, n8n).