Generate complete transcripts from any YouTube video. Free online generator with AI-powered accuracy, timestamps, and multiple export formats. No account needed — paste a URL and go.
YouTubeTranscripts.co is a free YouTube transcript generator that converts any video to text in under 2 seconds. Paste a YouTube URL, and the tool extracts the full transcript with timestamps — whether the video has official captions, auto-generated subtitles, or no captions at all. Over 27,000 people search for a YouTube transcript generator every month. This tool is the fastest option available: no signup, no browser extension, no limits on free usage.
Copy the URL from your browser, the YouTube share button, or the mobile app. All URL formats are supported: youtube.com/watch?v=, youtu.be/ short links, and URLs with playlist or timestamp parameters.
YouTubeTranscripts.co checks for three caption sources in order: (1) manual captions uploaded by the creator, (2) YouTube's auto-generated subtitles, (3) AI transcription via Whisper for uncaptioned videos. The best available source is used automatically.
The full transcript appears on screen with timestamps. Copy it with one click, download as TXT/SRT/VTT/JSON, or use the developer API to generate transcripts programmatically.
Paste URL
Any YouTube video link
Process
Captions extracted or AI transcribes audio
Done
Full transcript with timestamps
Built for speed, accuracy, and flexibility. Here is what sets this generator apart from alternatives like Tactiq, NoteGPT, and manual copy-pasting from YouTube.
No account creation, no browser extension, no app download. Open YouTubeTranscripts.co in any browser on any device and start generating transcripts immediately.
Videos without captions are transcribed using OpenAI Whisper with 95%+ accuracy. The generator works on every YouTube video — not just ones with existing subtitles.
Every transcript includes segment-level timestamps. Navigate to exact moments in the video, pull timestamped quotes, or create chapter markers.
Generate transcripts in English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi, Portuguese, and 90+ additional languages. Auto-detected or manually specified.
The REST API supports batch requests of up to 25 videos. Generate transcripts at scale for content pipelines, research datasets, or AI training data.
Download generated transcripts as plain text, SRT (for video editors), VTT (for web players), or JSON (for developers). All formats are generated from the same extraction.
The generator outputs transcripts in five formats. Each format is generated from the same source data — choose the one that fits your workflow.
| Format | Description | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Plain Text | Clean readable text with no timestamps or metadata | Blog posts, study notes, summarization |
| Timestamped Text | Text with [mm:ss] time markers per segment | Video navigation, quoting with references |
| SRT | SubRip subtitle format with sequence numbers and time ranges | Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro |
| VTT | WebVTT format for HTML5 video players | Web applications, custom video players |
| JSON | Structured array with text, offset_ms, and duration fields | API integrations, RAG systems, data analysis |
Use the YouTubeTranscripts.co API to generate transcripts in your application. 150 free requests included — no credit card required.
# Generate a transcript with curl
curl -X POST "https://api.youtubetranscripts.co/v1/transcript" \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"url": "https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID", "format": "json"}'
# Python SDK
from youtubetranscripts import YouTubeTranscripts
client = YouTubeTranscripts(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")
# Single video
transcript = client.get_transcript("https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID")
print(f"Generated {transcript.word_count} words in {transcript.lang}")
# Batch — up to 25 videos
urls = [
"https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_1",
"https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_2",
"https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_3",
]
results = client.get_transcripts(urls)
for r in results:
print(f"{r.video_id}: {r.word_count} words")/v1/transcript{
"video_id": "VIDEO_ID",
"title": "Introduction to Machine Learning",
"lang": "en",
"source": "caption_manual",
"word_count": 3421,
"content": [
{ "text": "Welcome to this introduction to machine learning.", "offset_ms": 800 },
{ "text": "Today we will cover supervised and unsupervised learning.", "offset_ms": 3200 }
]
}People generate YouTube transcripts for dozens of reasons. These are the six most common workflows our users report.
Generate a transcript, edit it for readability, and publish as a blog post or article. A 15-minute video yields roughly 2,000-2,500 words of content — enough for a full article.
Students use the generator to create searchable text from university lectures and online courses. Timestamps help you find specific topics without rewatching entire videos.
Download the SRT file and import it directly into Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, or Final Cut Pro. Saves hours compared to manual subtitle creation.
Generate JSON transcripts and load them into LangChain, LlamaIndex, or custom retrieval-augmented generation systems. The offset_ms field enables precise source attribution.
Generate a transcript in the original language, then use the lang parameter to request translations. Create multilingual subtitles from a single video.
Many teams record meetings and webinars on YouTube (unlisted). Generate transcripts to create meeting minutes, action items, and searchable archives.
We tested the most popular YouTube transcript generators side by side. Here is how they compare across features that matter.
| Feature | YouTubeTranscripts.co | NoteGPT | Tactiq | YouTube (native) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free usage limit | Unlimited | 5/month | 10/month | Unlimited |
| Signup required | No | Yes | Yes | No (Google account) |
| Extension required | No | No | Yes | No |
| AI for uncaptioned | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Export formats | 5 (TXT, SRT, VTT, JSON, timestamps) | 2 (TXT, PDF) | 1 (TXT) | 1 (TXT) |
| Developer API | Yes | No | No | No |
| Batch processing | 25/request | No | No | No |
A YouTube transcript generator is a tool that converts the spoken audio of a YouTube video into written text. YouTubeTranscripts.co generates transcripts by extracting existing captions or using AI (OpenAI Whisper) to transcribe the audio when no captions are available. The output includes timestamps and can be exported in 5 formats.
Yes. The web tool is 100% free with no daily limits, no signup, and no watermarks. You can generate unlimited transcripts in your browser. The developer API provides 150 free requests, after which paid plans start at $5 for 500 requests.
No. The web tool requires no account. Just paste a URL and get your transcript. You only need to create an account if you want API access, which gives you an API key for programmatic use.
Yes. The generator works on videos of any length. Captioned videos return transcripts in under 2 seconds regardless of length. AI transcription for uncaptioned videos scales with duration — expect about 10 seconds per 10 minutes of video.
Paste the YouTube video URL into YouTubeTranscripts.co and click 'Get Transcript'. The full text of the video appears on screen within seconds. Click 'Copy' to copy it to your clipboard, or 'Download' to save it as a text file.
Yes. If the video has captions in multiple languages, select your preferred language from the dropdown. For AI-transcribed videos, specify the language code (e.g., 'es' for Spanish, 'ja' for Japanese) and the system generates the transcript in that language.
YouTube's built-in transcript button only shows text for videos with enabled captions, offers no download option, and provides a single format. YouTubeTranscripts.co adds AI transcription for uncaptioned videos, 5 export formats, batch processing, and a developer API.
Unlisted videos work as long as you have the full URL. Private videos require the creator to make them at least unlisted. Our tool cannot access videos that are set to private — YouTube does not expose their captions or audio to external services.
Use the API batch endpoint: POST /v1/transcript/batch with an array of up to 25 URLs. All videos are processed in parallel and returned as a single JSON response. This is the fastest way to generate transcripts at scale.
Auto-generated and AI transcripts may contain errors, especially with technical jargon, proper nouns, or heavy accents. The API response includes a 'source' field ('caption_manual', 'caption_auto', or 'ai_generated') so you know the reliability level. Manual captions are the most accurate.
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Transcribe any YouTube video to text for free
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Extract full text from any YouTube video
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No signup, no extension, no limits. Paste a YouTube URL and get the full transcript in seconds.