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YouTube transcript generator · TXT · SRT · VTT · JSON

Free YouTube Transcript Generator: Paste a Link, Get the Text in Seconds

TubeTranscript gives you text to copy, download as TXT, SRT, VTT or JSON, or hand to AI. Built for creators, students and developers.

Free to try: 5 a day, 15 with a free account. No card needed.

Pro transcripts are always private to your team. Free transcripts of public videos can appear in our public transcript library.

How to get a transcript in three simple steps

  1. Paste a YouTube linkA watch, youtu.be, Shorts, live or embed link.
  2. Select Get transcriptWe read the captions, or transcribe the audio with AI when there are none.
  3. Copy or downloadCopy the text, or download TXT, SRT, VTT or JSON.

01 / Captions first

Turn a YouTube link into a readable YouTube transcript

Paste watch, Shorts, live, or embedded video URLs

Watch, youtu.be, Shorts, embed and live URLs are all accepted.

Captions first, AI transcription as a fallback

We try available captions first, with audio transcription as a fallback when possible. Here is how we transcribe a video with no captions.

02 / Formats

Copy or download transcripts in useful formats

Choose plain text, SRT, VTT, or timed JSON

TXT
Readable text without timestamps, for notes and editing.
SRT / VTT
Subtitle files made from the timed lines. Check the timing in your player or editor.
JSON
Each line with its start and duration, for scripts and AI workflows that cite the source.
Copy text
The whole transcript to your clipboard in one click.

Only need the words? Use YouTube to text. Editing video? Download YouTube subtitles as SRT or VTT.

03 / Extension

Read transcripts next to the video with our Chrome extension

Tube Transcript for Chrome adds a Transcript button next to CC on YouTube. The transcript opens beside the video and follows along as it plays, so you can search it, jump to any line and keep the parts that matter.

  • Sidebar next to the video that follows the current line, with chapters. Open it with the button or Alt+T.
  • Search and jump: find a word, then click any line to go to that moment.
  • Highlights and notes in five colors, marked on the video's progress bar and collected on one My highlights page.
  • Copy or export the transcript as TXT, SRT, VTT or JSON.
Add to Chrome – it's freeChrome Web Store
  • Free
  • No account
  • Works locally

How the extension worksExtension privacy

Tube Transcript sidebar next to a YouTube video, with a chapter heading, green and pink highlights and the line that is playing

Screenshots show Building a Cathedral without Science or Mathematics by engineerguy (Bill Hammack), licensed CC BY. Tube Transcript is not affiliated with YouTube or Google.

04 / API & MCP

Connect via REST API or MCP

The REST API has one endpoint, POST /api/v1/extract, that returns a video's transcript as a single JSON payload for scripts, n8n and Make. The MCP servers give Claude Code, Cursor and Windsurf a get_transcript tool over Streamable HTTP, plus AI tools for hooks, mindmaps and blog drafts. Both need a Pro plan API key.

cURL · bash
curl -X POST https://tubetranscript.io/api/v1/extract   -H "Authorization: Bearer $TUBETRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"   -H "Content-Type: application/json"   -d '{"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ivqWN4L3zU"}'

Start with the quickstart, or read how to pass transcript JSON to an LLM.

Understand free limits and transcript privacy

Start without an account or create a free account

No account is needed for 5 transcripts every 24 hours (1 of them AI-transcribed when a video has no captions); a free account gets 15, 3 of them AI-transcribed.

Who can see your transcripts

Pro transcripts are always private to your team. Free transcripts of public videos can appear in our public transcript library. Library pages never show who requested a transcript. How we store transcripts.

Use a transcript for your next step

Creators

Start an article, find quotes or outline show notes from your own videos. Review the text before adapting it, and keep links to the source.

Students and researchers

Read a lecture or interview, take notes and use timestamps to check a passage in the original video.

Developers

Retrieve timed JSON through the YouTube transcript API, or connect the MCP server to your AI client with a Pro API key.

Available captions first, audio transcription when needed

Reading a video's captions is fast. A video without captions has its audio downloaded and transcribed with AI, which takes longer.

Audio transcription handles videos up to 30 minutes without an account or on the free plan, and up to 2 hours on Pro. We can't reach private, removed or restricted videos, and automatic text can contain errors. Read our limits and privacy documentation before building an automated workflow.

YouTube transcript questions

Is TubeTranscript free?

Without an account you get 5 transcripts per 24 hours, including 1 AI transcription of a video without captions. A free account raises this to 15 transcripts per 24 hours, including 3 AI transcriptions. Pro adds private transcripts and API/MCP access.

Why not use YouTube's Show transcript?

YouTube's Show transcript panel is fine for reading along. TubeTranscript gives you the whole text to copy at once, TXT, SRT, VTT or JSON downloads, and AI transcription when a video has no captions. See the full comparison with YouTube's transcript.

Can I get a transcript without timestamps?

Yes. Copy the text or download TXT from the result. JSON keeps the timing, and SRT and VTT turn the timed lines into subtitles.

What if the video has no captions?

We transcribe its audio with AI instead: videos up to 30 minutes without Pro, up to 2 hours with Pro. It takes longer than reading captions, and it can't work for private or removed videos.

Does it support YouTube Shorts?

Yes. Paste a watch, youtu.be, Shorts, embed or live link. Private, removed or restricted videos can't be read, whatever the link.

What languages are supported?

The transcript comes out in the language of the video's captions or speech. Accuracy depends on the language, the sound quality and the speaker. The web extractor does not translate.

Are my transcripts private?

Pro transcripts are always private to your team. Free transcripts of public videos can appear in our public transcript library. Library pages never show who requested a transcript.

How accurate is the text?

Captions and speech recognition can contain mistakes. Check important names, numbers and quotes against the original video before publishing or citing them.

For account or billing questions, see Free and Pro pricing or contact support.

Ready to read your video as text?

Paste a link at the top of the page. No account needed.

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