transcriptfetch
Get API access

Instagram Reels Transcript API

Instagram Transcript API: any Reel URL to timestamped text

Get the transcriptCheck the docs
100 free credits · no card
POST/api/v2/transcripts/video200 · 1.24s
{"ok": true,"data": {"kind": "transcript","platform": "instagram","video_id": "bNpx7gpSqbY","duration": 401,"segments": [{ "start": 41.0, "text": "I studied hundreds of companies" },{ "start": 46.2, "text": "Five factors shaped their outcomes" },{ "start": 52.3, "text": "One factor stood above the rest" },… 43 more]},"usage": { "credits_spent": 1, "balance": 4812 }}
46 segments · 14.2 KB1 credit

What the endpoint returns

Reels, feed videos and IGTV, from a public URL. Every response carries per-segment start times and the duration, so you can quote the exact second a claim was made and anyone can check it. One credit per transcript, nothing at all when a fetch fails.

Get the transcript

Transcript segments

segments[]text

Timing data

startduration

Source metadata

titleplatform

Request metadata

request_idusage

Features that make the API easier to ship

Reels, feed videos and IGTV from a public URL

Captions when they exist, AI transcription when they do not

Per-segment timestamps: start and duration

No login, no app review, no expiring tokens

Batch endpoint for up to 50 URLs per call

Plain text and segmented JSON in one response

Who it is for, and how they use it

Three ways in, depending on how you work. Same endpoint, same credit, same response shape underneath all of them.

Engineers building a product

You need Reel text in a pipeline without an app review or a token that expires every sixty days.

Analysts and marketers

You are tracking what creators say about a category, across more accounts than anyone can watch.

Teams building with assistants

Your agent needs to read a Reel mid-conversation and cite it without inventing a timestamp.

Call the endpoint

One POST with the URL. Same JSON for every Reel you send.

Drop it in a workflow

An official n8n node. Run it on a schedule or a trigger.

Let an assistant do it

Connect once and Claude or ChatGPT fetches transcripts mid-chat.

Team fit

Built for every way your team works

Bring the same structured response into the tools and workflows your team already uses.

DevelopersResearch and marketingAI and agentsRESTNO CODEMCPWebhooks or polling for transcription jobsAn MCP server, plus Python and JavaScript SDKs

Start sending requests in minutes

The first successful response needs one account, one key, and one source URL.

  1. 1

    Create your account

    Start with 100 free credits. No payment card is required.

  2. 2

    Copy an API key

    Generate a key in the dashboard and send it as a Bearer token.

  3. 3

    Send one source URL

    POST the public video, episode, or media URL without parsing it first.

  4. 4

    Receive structured text

    Store the transcript, timestamps, source metadata, and usage result.

Transparent monthly pricing

Start with 100 free credits each month. Upgrade when the API becomes part of your workflow.

Basic
$5/mo

1,000 credits every month

For side projects and light pipelines.

Start with Basic
Pro
$15/mo

10,000 credits every month

For production apps, agents, and RAG pipelines.

Go Pro
Mega
$45/mo

50,000 credits every month

For high-volume pipelines and whole-channel workloads.

Go Mega
Scale
$229/mo

300,000 credits every month

For serious volume: pipelines, platforms, and data teams.

Scale up
Compare every plan →

Instagram has no public transcript endpoint.

The Graph API only reaches accounts you own, and it returns no transcript at all. A public Reel URL is enough here.

With the Graph API or a scraper

App review, a business account and a token that expires, and even then no transcript field exists. Scraping instead means a login wall for datacenter traffic, proxies to rotate, and a markup change that breaks you quietly.

With TranscriptFetch

Send the URL with your key. Reels rarely carry a caption track, so the audio is transcribed on the same call at the same price. Failed requests cost nothing, and Instagram's changes are ours to chase.

No code required

Let the assistant read the Reel itself.

Add the MCP server once and Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor can pull a transcript mid-conversation. Same key, same credit, no glue code and nothing to deploy.

Set up MCPOr browse the n8n node →

https://transcriptfetch.com/mcp

ClaudeTool: transcriptfetch
What does this Reel actually claim about retention?
CALLING get_transcript(video="instagram.com/reel/DbSf…")
At 00:18 he says rewriting the first three seconds nearly doubled median watch time.
99.78%
Independently monitored uptime
100
Free credits every month
$0
Charged for a failed request
1
Response shape across sources

Check live status, incident history, API stability, and public package records yourself.

Live status ↗Trust center →

Questions people ask first

Guides from the blog

How to add captions to Instagram Reels (every method)The Captions sticker, auto captions, editing apps, and the transcript-first workflow, plus fixes for when Instagram captions refuse to show …Read the guide →How to copy or download Instagram captions (every method)Need to copy or download Instagram captions? Here are every practical method, what works on mobile and desktop, and when to automate it.Read the guide →

Instagram Reels Transcript API

Extract transcripts from Instagram Reels with a developer-friendly API built for automation, analytics, and content workflows. Send a Reel URL or post identifier, and get structured transcript data you can use in search, moderation, summarization, accessibility features, and downstream AI pipelines.

What this API does

The Instagram Reels Transcript API helps you programmatically retrieve spoken content from Reels so your application can understand video content as text. It is designed for teams building products that need reliable transcript access at scale, without manual copy and paste or brittle scraping logic inside the app layer.

Use it to:

  • turn Reels audio into machine-readable text
  • power content discovery and semantic search
  • summarize creator content automatically
  • analyze trends, topics, and sentiment across videos
  • support moderation and compliance workflows
  • improve accessibility with transcript-based experiences
  • feed transcript data into LLM or RAG pipelines

Built for developers

The API returns structured output that is easy to work with in backend services, data pipelines, and product features. Whether you are processing a single Reel on demand or running batch jobs across large content sets, the integration is straightforward.

Typical developer workflows include:

  • submitting an Instagram Reel URL for transcript extraction
  • retrieving normalized transcript text and metadata
  • storing transcripts for indexing and analytics
  • enriching video records in your database
  • triggering follow-up actions such as summarization, classification, or tagging

Common use cases

Content intelligence

Convert short-form video into searchable text so you can understand what creators are saying, identify recurring themes, and surface relevant content faster.

AI and LLM pipelines

Use Reel transcripts as clean input for summarization, question answering, topic extraction, entity detection, or retrieval systems.

Moderation and compliance

Scan spoken content for policy-sensitive language, risk indicators, or brand safety issues as part of automated review flows.

Accessibility and UX

Support features such as transcript views, keyword highlights, and better navigation across video content.

Why teams use it

  • simple API integration for transcript retrieval
  • structured results for application and data use
  • useful for both real-time requests and offline processing
  • designed for products that need clear, reusable text output from Instagram Reels

If you need to extract transcript data from Instagram Reels in a way that is easy to integrate into developer workflows, this API provides a clean foundation for building search, analytics, moderation, and AI-powered features.

Start with 100 free credits

Paste a Reel link or copy the curl, whichever suits you. No card, no sales call.

Get started freeRead the docs