YouTube Transcript API
YouTube's published captions with timestamps — not speech-to-text. Flat 1 credit; 404 is free.
GET request to /v1/youtube/transcript that responds with clean JSON and costs 1 credit. Pass cache=true for a free 24h cache hit; default is always fresh. Start with 100 free credits — no credit card.What is the YouTube Transcript API?
Returns the captions YouTube publishes for a video — manual or auto-generated. It does not perform speech-to-text. Long live streams and VODs frequently have no auto-captions at all. When there is no caption track this endpoint returns 404 and costs 0 credits (strictly better than charging for a null body); use /v1/youtube/audio-transcript to transcribe the audio directly (priced per minute). The 404 body includes code (no_captions / language_not_available), reason, availableLanguages[], hasAutoCaptions, and — when the video is reachable with audio — a suggestion block with estimatedCredits for audio-transcript. Success responses use the same transcript vocabulary as audio-transcript / Rumble: text + segments[{text,startMs,endMs}], plus source: "captions", requestedLanguage, and returnedLanguage (no redundant language twin). Pass language to require that track; there is no silent fallback. Flat 1 credit on success.
What you get
- Full transcript text with start/end timestamps when available
- Auto-detected language and segment count
- AI audio transcription fallback when no captions exist
- Clean JSON ready for search, subtitles, or AI pipelines
Try it
Fill in the parameters below and copy a ready-to-run request, or open the live Playground to run it against your account (no API key paste).
Parameters
curl "https://api.captapi.com/v1/youtube/transcript?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DdQw4w9WgXcQ" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer capt_live_..."
# or: -H "x-api-key: capt_live_..."Edit the parameters and the code updates instantly. Switch languages and hit copy.
Example response
{
"success": true,
"data": {
"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
"videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
"title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video) (4K Remaster)",
"text": "[♪♪♪] ♪ We're no strangers to love ♪ ♪ You know the rules and so do I ♪ ♪ A full commitment's what I'm thinking of ♪ ♪ You wouldn't get this from any other guy ♪ ♪ I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling ♪ ♪ Gotta make you understand ♪ ♪ Never gonna give you up ♪ ♪ Never gonna let you down ♪ ♪ Never gonna run around and desert you ♪ ♪ Never gonna make you cry ♪ ♪ Never gonna say goodbye ♪ ♪ Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you ♪ ...",
"segments": [
{
"text": "[♪♪♪]",
"startMs": 1360,
"endMs": 3040
},
{
"text": "♪ We're no strangers to love ♪",
"startMs": 18640,
"endMs": 21880
}
],
"platform": "youtube",
"requestedLanguage": null,
"returnedLanguage": "en",
"isAutoGenerated": false,
"isTranslated": false,
"hasAutoCaptions": true
}
}Billing metadata is returned in response headers: X-Captapi-Credits (credits charged), X-Captapi-Cache (hit or miss), and X-Captapi-Source. Failed requests (4xx/5xx) are never charged. See the full list of error codes in the error reference.
Response structure
A successful call returns success and a data object with the following fields:
Top-level fields
urlCanonical URL of the item.videoIdYouTube video id parsed from the url.titleTitle of the item.textFull caption text — segment texts joined with a single space. Same key as /audio-transcript.platformAlways "youtube" on this endpoint.requestedLanguageLanguage the caller asked for (null when unspecified).returnedLanguageLanguage of the caption track actually returned.sourceAlways "captions" — YouTube's published caption track (not speech-to-text). Pair with /audio-transcript source:"asr".isAutoGeneratedWhether the selected YouTube caption track is auto-generated (ASR). Null when source is not captions.isTranslatedWhether the transcript was machine-translated to the requested language. Null when unknown.hasAutoCaptionsHas auto captions. Example: true.
Segments
Each item in segments contains:
textFull caption text — segment texts joined with a single space. Same key as /audio-transcript.startMsCue start in integer milliseconds.endMsCue end in integer milliseconds (always > startMs).
Parameters
| Name | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| url | string | Yes | Public YouTube video URL, e.g. https://youtube.com/watch?v=ID. Not a TikTok/Instagram/Facebook URL. The URL platform must match this endpoint's platform. Do not pass cross-platform URLs, e.g. YouTube to TikTok, Instagram to Facebook, LinkedIn to X/Twitter, or Pinterest to Rumble. |
| language | string | No | Preferred caption language as an ISO code, e.g. "en". Defaults to auto-detect. |
| cache | boolean | No | Set true to serve from the 24h response cache (0 credits on hit). Default false — always fetch fresh. |
Authentication: send your key as Authorization: Bearer capt_live_.... A typical call costs 1 credit. Pass cache=true for a free 24h cache hit; default is always fresh.
How it works
- 1. Sign up — get 100 free credits, no card required.
- 2. Create a key from your dashboard.
- 3. Send one request to
/v1/youtube/transcriptand parse the JSON response.
Use cases
Accessibility
Provide captions and transcripts for hearing-impaired users.
Content Analysis
Analyze spoken content for keywords, topics, and sentiment.
Search & Discovery
Make video content searchable by text.
Content Creation
Extract quotes and key phrases from videos.
Language Learning
Provide text alongside audio for language learners.
Research
Analyze large volumes of video content efficiently.
SEO
Extract text content for search engine optimization.
Frequently asked questions
What does the YouTube Transcript API do?+
The YouTube Transcript API lets you extract the full, timestamped transcript from a public YouTube video using one GET request to /v1/youtube/transcript. It returns clean JSON — no OAuth or infrastructure setup required.
How many credits does the YouTube Transcript API cost?+
Each successful call costs 1 credit. Pass cache=true to serve from the 24h cache (0 credits on hit); default is always fresh. Selected profile endpoints also accept cacheMaxAge=1d|3d|7d|14d|30d. Failed or empty results are never charged.
Do I need a YouTube API key or OAuth?+
No. A single Captapi key works across every platform Captapi supports — YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter/X, Reddit, Threads, Bluesky, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Rumble, Spotify, Kwai, and more. We handle proxies, rate limits, retries, and authentication for you.
Why did I get 404 on a video with clear speech?+
This endpoint returns captions YouTube published — it does not run speech-to-text. Read detail.code: no_captions means tracks=0 (common on long live streams); language_not_available means tracks exist but not in your language (see availableLanguages). On no_captions, detail.suggestion points at /v1/youtube/audio-transcript with estimatedCredits. 404 never charges credits.
If I pass language=en and only Turkish captions exist, what happens?+
We try YouTube's timedtext translation into en. If that fails → 404 language_not_available with availableLanguages (not a silent Turkish transcript). On success, requestedLanguage and returnedLanguage are both set; isTranslated is true when YouTube translated.
Is the YouTube Transcript API suitable for production use?+
Yes. It is a stable REST endpoint with predictable JSON and automatic retries. Pass cache=true to serve from the 24h cache (0 credits on hit); default is always fresh. Selected profile endpoints also accept cacheMaxAge=1d|3d|7d|14d|30d. Use it for analytics, monitoring, and content automation.
More YouTube APIs
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