Get the transcript of any YouTube video, playlist or channel

Paste a link. ChannelText counts the videos, shows the most it can cost, and gives you every transcript as text or subtitle files in one ZIP.

Result

#	Video	Result	Files

API keys

Get transcripts from your own code with the ChannelText API, paid from the same balance. A new key is shown once; keep it secret and revoke it if it leaks.

Name	Key	Created	Last used

Works for one video or a whole channel. Paste a channel with 300 videos and you see “300 videos, at most $2.40” before you pay anything.

YouTube transcript generator for files and whole channels

YouTube shows the transcript of a single video for free in its own player (under the description, “Show transcript”). ChannelText is for the next step: files you can keep, and many videos at once. It is paid per delivered transcript, with no subscription.

YouTube transcript download

Every run gives you a ZIP:

transcripts/ one file per video in each format you chose: Text (.txt), Subtitles (.srt), WebVTT (.vtt) and timestamps (.json)
all-transcripts.txt every transcript in one text file
report.csv one line per video, including the ones without a transcript and the reason

YouTube transcript extractor

For each video ChannelText takes the captions uploaded by the creator first and YouTube's automatic captions otherwise, in the language the video was recorded in unless you choose another one. Each file says which captions it came from. Every video gets a result or a plain reason: no captions, private, unavailable or blocked.

YouTube transcript generator with timestamp

SRT and WebVTT subtitles and the JSON file keep the start and end time of every line. The Text file is clean text without timestamps.

Pricing

$0.008 per delivered transcript ($8 per 1,000). No subscription.

Prepaid balance: add $25 (3,125 transcripts) when your balance is short. You only pay at that point, after you have seen how many videos your link has and the most it can cost.
Videos without captions, private or removed videos and videos YouTube blocked are free. You pay only for transcripts you get. “Update this channel” skips the videos of that channel you already received.
No free sample. Transcripts come from the captions YouTube publishes (the creator's or YouTube's automatic ones); there is no speech-to-text, so a video with no captions has no transcript.

Questions

How can I get the entire transcript of a YouTube video?

Paste the video link above, choose Text or Subtitles, and download the file. The file holds the whole transcript, not only the part visible on screen.

Why is there no transcript for a YouTube video?

The video has no captions: the creator did not upload any and YouTube did not create automatic ones (common for music, very new or very short videos). Private and removed videos have none either. ChannelText tells you the reason for each video and does not charge for it.

Can I get a YouTube transcript without paying?

Yes, for one video at a time: open the video on YouTube and use “Show transcript” below the description, then copy the text. ChannelText is paid; use it when you want files or the transcripts of a whole playlist or channel.

Can I reuse a YouTube transcript?

For your own reading, notes, research and analysis, yes. The words belong to whoever made the video, so check the creator's rights before you republish a transcript.

Does YouTube transcript live stream video?

Finished live streams that have captions work like any other video, and a channel link includes its Live tab. A stream that is upcoming or has no published recording has no transcript; it is reported and free.