Free YouTube Transcript Generator
Extract Any YouTube Transcript Instantly
Need this at scale? YouTube Transcript API →
How to Get a YouTube Transcript
Paste a YouTube link
Drop any video URL or ID into the box. Switch tabs to pull a playlist or run a keyword search instead.
Fetch the transcript
We grab the captions and return clean text with timestamped segments in seconds - auto-generated or creator-uploaded.
Copy, download, or automate
Copy the text, download a .txt file, or switch to the API to do it at scale from your own code.
YouTube to Text in Seconds
A fast, free YouTube transcript extractor - no extension, no watermark, no account.
- Full transcript text with per-segment timestamps
- Works with auto-generated and uploaded captions
- Copy to clipboard or download as .txt
- Playlist and keyword search, not just single videos
- No sign-up, no extension, no watermark
- Clean output ready for summaries, subtitles, and AI
Works on Any YouTube Video
Convert any public YouTube video to text - long podcasts, lectures, tutorials, interviews, and Shorts. The tool reads both creator-uploaded and auto-generated captions, in any language YouTube provides them, and works straight from a watch link, a youtu.be link, or an 11-character video ID. Need a whole playlist or a topic? Switch to the playlist or search tab to pull a list of videos and grab each transcript.
Need Transcripts in Your Code?
This tool is for one-off transcripts. To pull them programmatically, the YouTube transcript API returns the same text as timestamped JSON, with a batch endpoint for whole channels and playlists. Check pricing , 100 credits a month are free and only successful fetches are billed.
YouTube is the one platform that usually has captions
YouTube auto-generates captions on nearly every upload, which makes it the easiest of the major platforms to get text out of. Where TikTok and Instagram usually force speech-to-text, most YouTube videos already have a track sitting there, often in several languages.
The difference that catches people out is length. A ten-minute video is roughly 1,500 words and an hour-long podcast can pass 10,000, so a YouTube transcript is usually something you search or summarise rather than read. Timestamps matter more here than on short-form video, because finding the moment is the point.
The cases that still fail are specific: live streams while they are still running, videos where the uploader disabled captions, and clips with no speech at all. Everything else generally has something to pull.
Frequently asked questions
Is this YouTube transcript tool free?
Yes. Paste any public YouTube video link to get its full transcript free, with no sign-up. The free tool is rate-limited; for higher limits and programmatic access, use the TranscriptFetch API.
How do I get a transcript from a YouTube video?
Paste the video URL (or 11-character ID) into the box above and click Get transcript. You'll get the full text plus optional timestamps, which you can copy or download as a .txt file.
Does it work for videos without captions?
It returns the transcript whenever YouTube has captions available - creator-uploaded or auto-generated. If a video has no transcript, the tool tells you.
Can I get transcripts for a whole playlist or channel?
The free tool lists videos from a playlist or a search so you can grab each transcript. For bulk fetching across playlists, channels, and search - plus a batch endpoint - use the API.
Can I use the transcripts for AI summaries or RAG?
Yes. Transcripts come as clean text with timestamped segments, ready for summarization, search indexing, subtitles (SRT/VTT), and LLM/RAG pipelines. The API returns structured JSON for automation.
Does it handle long videos and podcasts?
Yes. An hour-long video can produce more than 10,000 words, and the transcript comes back with per-segment timestamps so you can find the moment rather than scrolling the whole thing.
What about live streams?
A stream that is still running has no finished caption track, so it cannot be transcribed until it ends. Once the recording is published it behaves like any other video.
What are the limits?
The free tool allows a handful of fetches per hour per IP address. Create a free account for an API key with much higher limits and one credit per successful fetch.
Need this at scale? YouTube Transcript API →