POST /v1/youtube/transcriptYouTube Transcript API
Transcript of a YouTube video from its captions: timed segments, joined plain text, chosen language and the list of available caption languages.
- Cost
- 1 credit
- Failed requests
- Refunded
- Cache hits
- Free
- Response fields
- 8
- Limits
- Videos with captions only
What the YouTube Transcript API does
The YouTube Transcript API returns the transcript of a public YouTube video from its captions: timed segments, the whole text joined into one string, the language used, whether the track is auto-generated and every other caption language available on the video. Send any common link (watch, youtu.be, Shorts, live or embed) or the 11-character video ID, and optionally a language code such as en, de or pt-BR. There is no OAuth, no Google Cloud project and no quota units: you pay 1 credit per successful request, whatever the length of the video. Transcripts of published videos rarely change, so caching them with cache_days makes repeat requests free.
What you get
Top-level fields of the response. Every field is typed and documented; nullable fields are null when the platform does not show them.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
video_id | string | 11-char video ID |
language | string | Language code of the returned track |
language_name | string | Track name, e.g. 'English' or 'English (auto-generated)' |
is_auto_generated | boolean | Track is YouTube's automatic captions |
available_languages | array<object> (3 fields each) | All caption tracks of the video |
segment_count | integer | Number of segments |
text | string | All segments joined as plain text |
segments | array<object> (3 fields each) | Timed caption segments |
Request example
Send the API key as a Bearer token. The body is a small JSON object.
curl -X POST https://api.scrapeeverything.com/v1/youtube/transcript \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"}'| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
url | No | YouTube video URL (watch, youtu.be, shorts, live or embed link; a bare ID also works). |
id | No | 11-character video ID. |
lang | No | Caption language code such as en, de, pt-BR or es-419. Default: the video's original language. |
What it costs
Each successful request costs 1 credit. Your first 100 credits are free. With credit packs, 1,000 requests to this endpoint cost:
Builder pack
$1.56
25,000 credits for $39.00
Growth pack
$1.19
100,000 credits for $119.00
Scale pack
$0.90
500,000 credits for $449.00
See pricing for all packs and rate limits.
Use cases
- Feed transcripts to an LLM to summarize, translate or answer questions about videos.
- Build RAG pipelines and searchable video archives with timestamps for citations.
- Run topic and brand-mention analysis across a whole channel's uploads.
Limitations: Unofficial API: not affiliated with or endorsed by the platform. Public data only, as a logged-out visitor sees it. Counts can be YouTube's rounded figures; comments are top-level only; transcripts exist only for videos with captions.
- Without lang, the hand-written track in the video's spoken language is preferred, then YouTube's default track, then automatic captions.
- lang matches the exact code first, then the same base language (pt matches pt-BR). Machine-translated transcripts are not offered.
- Returns 404 with code NO_TRANSCRIPT when the video has no captions or none in the requested language (the message lists the available codes).
Questions
Can I get transcripts of videos I do not own?
Yes, for public videos that have a caption track. The official YouTube Data API generally only lets you download captions for videos you can edit.
How do I pick a language?
Pass lang (for example en, de, pt-BR or es-419). The response lists available_languages so you can choose an existing track.
What if a video has no captions?
There is nothing to return and you get an error instead of data. Some new uploads get automatic captions later, so trying again a day later can help.
How much does the YouTube Transcript API cost?
1 credit per successful request. Credits are bought in one-time packs and never expire. New accounts get 100 free credits. No payment details needed.
Am I charged for failed requests?
No. If the platform blocks the request, it times out or something fails on our side, the credits are refunded automatically. A definitive answer such as "this account does not exist" is billed because the lookup completed.
Can I re-read a result without paying again?
Yes. Send cache_days (1 to 14) and a repeat request for the same target within that window is served from your cache for free.
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