Getting started: your first transcript in two minutes

Every TranscriptFetch account starts with an API key already created for you and 100 free credits a month. No card is required to make your first request.

1. Get your API key

Sign in and open the dashboard at transcriptfetch.com/app. Your first key is generated automatically the first time you visit, and the full token is shown once — copy it then. Only a SHA-256 hash is stored, so a lost key cannot be recovered and has to be regenerated.

2. Make a request

Authenticate with a bearer token. The base URL is https://transcriptfetch.com.

curl -X POST https://transcriptfetch.com/api/v1/transcripts/video \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPTFETCH_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"}'

The same endpoint accepts YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Spotify and Apple Podcasts links, plus direct media file URLs. You do not pick a platform — the source is detected from the link.

3. What you get back

A JSON response containing the transcript text, per-segment timestamps, the detected language, and a request_id you can quote in a support conversation.

The rest of the API

• POST /api/v1/transcripts/video — one video, podcast episode or media file
• POST /api/v1/transcripts/batch — many videos in one call
• POST /api/v1/transcripts/channel — every video on a YouTube channel
• POST /api/v1/transcripts/playlist — every video in a YouTube playlist
• POST /api/v1/transcripts/search — find videos by keyword
• GET /api/v1/transcripts/jobs/{jobId} — poll a long-running AI transcription job
• GET /api/v1/me — your remaining credit balance
• GET /api/v1/health — service status

What a request costs

One credit per successful response, whatever the length — a four-hour podcast costs the same single credit as a 30-second TikTok. Failed requests are free. See "How credits and billing work" for plans and top-ups.

If your first request fails

• 401 Unauthorized — the header must be Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY. A bare key with no Bearer prefix is the most common cause.
• 404 / no transcript found — the video is private, region-locked, or removed. Check the link opens in a logged-out browser.
• Live streams — a stream that is still broadcasting has no finished transcript. Wait until it ends.
• No captions on the source — short-form video and podcasts often have no caption track. AI transcription covers these; it returns a job you poll rather than an immediate transcript.

Still stuck? Start a conversation from the chat launcher and include your request_id.