YouTube Transcript ScraperExport transcripts now

YouTube Transcript Scraper

Name: YouTube Transcript Scraper
Rating: 5.0 (33 reviews)
Author: lobstr.io

Give it a YouTube URL or video ID, get the transcripts: title, category, description, like count, URL and 29 more fields, in a spreadsheet, in your tools, through the API or from your AI agent.

1 creditper resultWorks todayNew

Export transcripts now

1Input

URL*LanguageInclude Auto-Generated CaptionsMax Results Per Task

1 credit per result

2Results

[
  {
    "id": "723bea5047a356d10607aeafe4d8de6e",
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTKS8SAwUzE",
    "title": "I Survived The Most Extreme Places On Earth",
    "object": "result",
    "status": "ok",
    "tracks": "[{\"language\": \"en\", \"segments\": [{\"end\": 2.834, \"text\": \" We're in the middle of    the world's DEADLIEST jungle. \", \"start\": 0.267, \"duration\": 2.567}, {\"end\": 2.834, \"text\": \" We're in the middle of    the world's DEADLIEST jungle. \", \"start\": 0.267, \"duration\": 2.567}, {\"end\": 3.968, \"text\": \" And we're in the desert! \", \"start\": 2.901, \"duration\": 1.067}, {\"end\": 3.968, \"text\": \" And we're in the desert! \", \"start\": 2.901, \"duration\": 1.067}, {\"end\": 4.0, \"text\": \" And we're in the DESERT!! \", \"start\": 2.934, \"duration\": 1.066}, {\"end\": 4.0, \"text\": \" And we're in the DESERT!! \", \"start\": 2.934, \"duration\": 1.066}, {\"end\": 5.801, \"text\": \" And WE'RE in the Antarctic! \", \"start\": 4.033, \"duration\": 1.768}, {\"end\": 5.801, \"text\": \" And WE'RE in the Antarctic! \", \"start\": 4.033, \"duration\": 1.768}, {\"end\": 5.933, \"text\": \" And WE'RE in the Antarctic! \", \"start\": 4.067, \"duration\": 1.866}, {\"end\": 5.933, \"text\"…",
    "task_id": "8b261a77fff3a104dd57d5103489fdaa",
    "category": "Entertainment",
    "keywords": "",
    "language": "en",
    "segments": "[{\"end\": 2.834, \"text\": \" We're in the middle of    the world's DEADLIEST jungle. \", \"start\": 0.267, \"duration\": 2.567}, {\"end\": 2.834, \"text\": \" We're in the middle of    the world's DEADLIEST jungle. \", \"start\": 0.267, \"duration\": 2.567}, {\"end\": 3.968, \"text\": \" And we're in the desert! \", \"start\": 2.901, \"duration\": 1.067}, {\"end\": 3.968, \"text\": \" And we're in the desert! \", \"start\": 2.901, \"duration\": 1.067}, {\"end\": 4.0, \"text\": \" And we're in the DESERT!! \", \"start\": 2.934, \"duration\": 1.066}, {\"end\": 4.0, \"text\": \" And we're in the DESERT!! \", \"start\": 2.934, \"duration\": 1.066}, {\"end\": 5.801, \"text\": \" And WE'RE in the Antarctic! \", \"start\": 4.033, \"duration\": 1.768}, {\"end\": 5.801, \"text\": \" And WE'RE in the Antarctic! \", \"start\": 4.033, \"duration\": 1.768}, {\"end\": 5.933, \"text\": \" And WE'RE in the Antarctic! \", \"start\": 4.067, \"duration\": 1.866}, {\"end\": 5.933, \"text\": \" And WE'RE in the Antarct…",
    "video_id": "gTKS8SAwUzE",
    "full_text": " We're in the middle of    the world's DEADLIEST jungle.   We're in the middle of    the world's DEADLIEST jungle.   And we're in the desert!   And we're in the desert!   And we're in the DESERT!!   And we're in the DESERT!!   And WE'RE in the Antarctic!   And WE'RE in the Antarctic!   And WE'RE in the Antarctic!   And WE'RE in the Antarctic!   And we're gonna be racing each other    in these completely different environments.   And we're gonna be racing each other    in these completely different environments.   Each of us have to travel to    our rescue helicopters,   Each of us have to travel to    our rescue helicopters,   and whichever team gets there first    wins 100,000 dollars for their moms.   and whichever team gets there first    wins 100,000 dollars for their moms.   You guys literally stand nooo chance.  …",
    "input_url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTKS8SAwUzE",
    "channel_id": "UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA",
    "like_count": "1205745",
    "view_count": "77743385",
    "word_count": "15492",
    "channel_url": "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast",
    "description": "We raced through some of the most extreme places on Earth to see who could make it to the finish line first!\n\nGemini helped us plan, problem-solve, and take on challenges along the way. Try Gemini here: https://gemini.google.com/app/download/mobile?android-min-version=301356232&ios-min-version=322.0&is_sa=1&pt=9008&mt=8&utm_medium=paid&utm_source=partnership&utm_campaign=MrBeast_Sep_Ext_Places&campaign_id=MrBeast_Sep_Ext_Places&ct=MrBeast_Sep_Ext_Places GooglePartner\n\nPedialyte always comes in clutch when you need to rehydrate and feel better fast. Grab your favorite Pedialyte flavors on Amazon here https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/795E1A4C-4A12-42DD-AC74-D8C3FBD9C30E?channel=Video-QR and use code BEAST40 for 40% off right now. PedialytlePartner\n\nFor anyone wondering about the backpacks we dropped at the end, don't worry! We only ditched them for a second so we could full-send it to the finish line! Our team went right back out and recovered every single piece of gear immediately af…",
    "is_unlisted": "FALSE",
    "channel_name": "MrBeast",
    "collected_at": "2026-09-11 15:01:21.779+00",
    "published_at": "2026-09-05T16:00:01Z",
    "tracks_count": "2",
    "language_name": "English",
    "thumbnail_url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gTKS8SAwUzE/sddefault.jpg",
    "channel_handle": "@MrBeast",
    "is_family_safe": "TRUE",
    "param_language": "original",
    "is_live_content": "FALSE",
    "result_position": "1",
    "duration_seconds": "1407",
    "transcript_found": "TRUE",
    "is_auto_generated": "FALSE",
    "param_max_results": "100",
    "channel_avatar_url": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/nxYrc_1_2f77DoBadyxMTmv7ZpRZapHR5jbuYe7PlPd5cIRJxtNNEYyOC0ZsxaDyJJzXrnJiuDE=s176-c-k-cffffff-no-rj",
    "comment_count_text": "56K",
    "requested_language": "original",
    "available_languages": "[{\"name\": \"Arabic\", \"language\": \"ar\", \"is_auto_generated\": false}, {\"name\": \"Bangla\", \"language\": \"bn\", \"is_auto_generated\": false}, {\"name\": \"Chinese (Simplified)\", \"language\": \"zh-Hans\", \"is_auto_generated\": false}, {\"name\": \"Chinese (Traditional)\", \"language\": \"zh-Hant\", \"is_auto_generated\": false}, {\"name\": \"English\", \"language\": \"en\", \"is_auto_generated\": false}, {\"name\": \"English (auto-generated)\", \"language\": \"en\", \"is_auto_generated\": true}, {\"name\": \"French\", \"language\": \"fr\", \"is_auto_generated\": false}, {\"name\": \"German\", \"language\": \"de\", \"is_auto_generated\": false}, {\"name\": \"Hindi\", \"language\": \"hi\", \"is_auto_generated\": false}, {\"name\": \"Indonesian\", \"language\": \"id\", \"is_auto_generated\": false}, {\"name\": \"Italian\", \"language\": \"it\", \"is_auto_generated\": false}, {\"name\": \"Japanese\", \"language\": \"ja\", \"is_auto_generated\": false}, {\"name\": \"Korean\", \"language\": \"ko\", \"is_auto_generated\": false}, {\"name\": \"Malayalam\", \"language\": \"ml\", \"is_auto_generated\": false}, {\"name\":…",
    "published_time_text": "5 days ago",
    "param_include_auto_generated": "TRUE",
    "channel_subscriber_count_text": "516M subscribers"
  },
  {
    "id": "3cc4e699614bf1350759b664e1185378",
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3qlbHrB7KI",
    "title": "How to Fix Africa’s Learning Crisis | Rapelang Rabana | TED",
    "object": "result",
    "status": "ok",
    "tracks": "[{\"language\": \"en\", \"segments\": [{\"end\": 6.637, \"text\": \"By the year 2030,\", \"start\": 4.135, \"duration\": 2.502}, {\"end\": 12.877, \"text\": \"nearly half of all the young people walking this earth will be African.\", \"start\": 6.637, \"duration\": 6.24}, {\"end\": 17.948, \"text\": \"And being able to read is the scale upon which so many other skills depend.\", \"start\": 12.877, \"duration\": 5.071}, {\"end\": 21.685, \"text\": \"Yet, more than 80 percent\", \"start\": 18.716, \"duration\": 2.969}, {\"end\": 24.121, \"text\": \"of 10-year-old children in sub-Saharan Africa\", \"start\": 21.719, \"duration\": 2.402}, {\"end\": 26.957, \"text\": \"cannot read a simple text with understanding.\", \"start\": 24.121, \"duration\": 2.836}, {\"end\": 28.459, \"text\": \"Not because they're not smart,\", \"start\": 26.991, \"duration\": 1.468}, {\"end\": 30.561, \"text\": \"not because they didn't pitch up for school,\", \"start\": 28.459, \"duration\": 2.102}, {\"end\": 33.631, \"text\": \"but because the system is failing them.\", \"start\": 30.561, \"duration\": 3.…",
    "task_id": null,
    "category": "People & Blogs",
    "keywords": "[\"TEDTalk\", \"TEDTalks\", \"TED Talk\", \"TED Talks\", \"TED\"]",
    "language": "en",
    "segments": "[{\"end\": 6.637, \"text\": \"By the year 2030,\", \"start\": 4.135, \"duration\": 2.502}, {\"end\": 12.877, \"text\": \"nearly half of all the young people walking this earth will be African.\", \"start\": 6.637, \"duration\": 6.24}, {\"end\": 17.948, \"text\": \"And being able to read is the scale upon which so many other skills depend.\", \"start\": 12.877, \"duration\": 5.071}, {\"end\": 21.685, \"text\": \"Yet, more than 80 percent\", \"start\": 18.716, \"duration\": 2.969}, {\"end\": 24.121, \"text\": \"of 10-year-old children in sub-Saharan Africa\", \"start\": 21.719, \"duration\": 2.402}, {\"end\": 26.957, \"text\": \"cannot read a simple text with understanding.\", \"start\": 24.121, \"duration\": 2.836}, {\"end\": 28.459, \"text\": \"Not because they're not smart,\", \"start\": 26.991, \"duration\": 1.468}, {\"end\": 30.561, \"text\": \"not because they didn't pitch up for school,\", \"start\": 28.459, \"duration\": 2.102}, {\"end\": 33.631, \"text\": \"but because the system is failing them.\", \"start\": 30.561, \"duration\": 3.07}, {\"end\": 37.368, \"text\": \"Th…",
    "video_id": "u3qlbHrB7KI",
    "full_text": "By the year 2030, nearly half of all the young people walking this earth will be African. And being able to read is the scale upon which so many other skills depend. Yet, more than 80 percent of 10-year-old children in sub-Saharan Africa cannot read a simple text with understanding. Not because they're not smart, not because they didn't pitch up for school, but because the system is failing them. The go-to solution for this learning crisis has always been the same: build more schools, build more classrooms, hire more teachers, train more teachers. Sounds reasonable. But here’s the uncomfortable truth no one really wants to say out loud: It's actually never going to work. To meet ideal student-to-teacher ratios, sub-Saharan Africa needs 15 million more teachers at a staggering cost of almost $40 billion a year. It's just nuts. So why are we still holding on to a playbook that cannot possibly deliver at the cost and urgency and scale required? Well, it's because we have a weird bias. No…",
    "input_url": null,
    "channel_id": "UCAuUUnT6oDeKwE6v1NGQxug",
    "like_count": "205",
    "view_count": "44688",
    "word_count": "1347",
    "channel_url": "https://www.youtube.com/@TED",
    "description": "By 2030, nearly half the world's young people will be African. Yet for decades, the continent's learning crisis was treated with systems unfit for reality on the ground. Social entrepreneur Rapelang Rabana shows how homegrown leadership and technology designed for African classrooms can deliver foundational skills to millions of children — and shape a new future of education across the continent. (This ambitious idea is part of The Audacious Project, TED's initiative to inspire and fund global change.) (Recorded at TED2026 on April 14, 2026)\n\nJoin us in person at a TED conference: https://tedtalks.social/events\nBecome a TED Member to support our mission: https://ted.com/membership\nSubscribe to a TED newsletter: https://ted.com/newsletters\n\nFollow TED! \nInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ted\nLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ted-conferences\nTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tedtoks\nFacebook: https://facebook.com/TED\nX: https://www.twitter.com/TEDTalks\n\nThe TED Talks channel fe…",
    "is_unlisted": "FALSE",
    "channel_name": "TED",
    "collected_at": "2026-09-11 14:31:27.629+00",
    "published_at": "2026-09-10T15:00:25Z",
    "tracks_count": "1",
    "language_name": "English",
    "thumbnail_url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/u3qlbHrB7KI/sddefault.jpg",
    "channel_handle": "@TED",
    "is_family_safe": "TRUE",
    "param_language": "original",
    "is_live_content": "FALSE",
    "result_position": "1",
    "duration_seconds": "621",
    "transcript_found": "TRUE",
    "is_auto_generated": "FALSE",
    "param_max_results": "100",
    "channel_avatar_url": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/ytc/AIdro_koIFcCOrvh0KThLNOiazAIDu6hcs8bjkGNwe1f6A_OYm8=s176-c-k-cffffff-no-rj",
    "comment_count_text": "28",
    "requested_language": "original",
    "available_languages": "[{\"name\": \"Arabic\", \"language\": \"ar\", \"is_auto_generated\": false}, {\"name\": \"English\", \"language\": \"en\", \"is_auto_generated\": false}, {\"name\": \"Spanish\", \"language\": \"es\", \"is_auto_generated\": false}]",
    "published_time_text": "23 hours ago",
    "param_include_auto_generated": "TRUE",
    "channel_subscriber_count_text": "27.8M subscribers"
  }
]

A real result this scraper collected.Download it (CSV)

34 fields per transcript

Every run returns them, as CSV, JSON, JSONL, Excel, or through the API.

Export Transcripts

included34 fields

video_id: id; YouTube video identifier; iG9CE55wbtY
url: link; Canonical URL of the video; youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY
title: text; Video title; Do schools kill creativity? | Sir Ken Robinson | TED
description: text; Full video description; Visit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks...
keywords: list; Keywords (tags) set by the creator; [ 4 items ]
duration_seconds: number; Video length in seconds; 1,203
view_count: text; Exact view count at collection time; 24949463
like_count: text; Exact like count at collection time (null when likes are hidden); 306922
comment_count_text: text; Approximate comment count as displayed by YouTube (YouTube exposes no exact number); 13K
published_at: date; Publish date and time (UTC); Jan 7, 2007
published_time_text: text; Relative publish time as displayed by YouTube; 19 years ago
category: text; YouTube category of the video; Education
is_unlisted: yes / no; Whether the video is unlisted; No
is_family_safe: yes / no; Whether YouTube flags the video as family safe; Yes
is_live_content: yes / no; Whether the video is or was a live broadcast; No
thumbnail_url: link; Highest resolution thumbnail URL; i.ytimg.com/vi/iG9CE55wbtY/sddefault.jpg
channel_id: id; YouTube identifier of the channel that published the video; UCAuUUnT6oDeKwE6v1NGQxug
channel_name: text; Name of the channel; TED
channel_url: link; URL of the channel; youtube.com/@TED
channel_handle: text; Handle of the channel; @TED
channel_avatar_url: link; Channel avatar image URL; yt3.ggpht.com/ytc/AIdro_koIFcCOrvh0KThLNOiazAIDu6hcs8bjkGNwe1f6A_OYm8=s176-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj
channel_subscriber_count_text: text; Subscriber count as displayed by YouTube; 27.8M subscribers
requested_language: text; The Language setting the row was collected with, verbatim: original, all or the requested language code; original
language: text; Language code of the primary transcript; en
language_name: text; Display name of the primary transcript track, e.g. 'English (auto-generated)'; English
is_auto_generated: yes / no; Whether the primary transcript is auto-generated by YouTube; No
segments: list; Primary transcript as timestamped segments: start, duration and end in seconds, text; [ 2 items ]
full_text: text; Primary transcript as one plain text, segments joined by a space; Good morning. How are you? (Audience) Good. It's been great, hasn't it?
word_count: number; Number of words in full_text; 3,170
tracks: list; Every downloaded caption track (the primary one included): language, language_name, is_auto_generated, segments, full_text, word_count; [ 1 item ]
tracks_count: number; Number of downloaded tracks; 2
available_languages: list; Every caption track the video offers, downloaded or not; [ 3 items ]
status: text; ok when at least one track was downloaded, no_captions when the video has no captions at all, language_not_available when none of the offered tracks matched the Language / Include Auto-Generated settings; ok
transcript_found: yes / no; Whether a transcript was downloaded (status is ok); Yes

What it costs

Switch on the options you need and pick a volume.

Every plan

1 credit per transcript with these options

Transcripts a month

10,000

Per 1,000 transcripts

$2.00

On Starter, $20 a month for up to 10,000 transcripts.

Start with Starter

Live

Built to run

Most scrapers break in silence. This one doesn't, and we show it, openly.

Incident-free runs, 90 days: 99.91%
Fixing rate: 100%
Median time to fix: 16min

90 days agoToday

OperationalDegradedDownFixed incidentOpen incidentHow we measure

Frequently asked questions

What people ask before running the YouTube Transcript Scraper.

YouTube Transcript

Is it legal to scrape YouTube transcripts?

Yes — public captions are public data. A transcript is text YouTube already serves to anyone who taps the caption button, and nothing private or unlisted is touched. The detail is in our guide to the legality of web scraping.

Do I need a YouTube account or login?

No login required. No account, no cookie, no Chrome extension and no API key of your own to look after. Paste a video, playlist or channel URL and the text starts landing in your spreadsheet.

What data do I get for each video?

The full transcript plus 34 data points. Every caption line with its start and end time, the word count, the language used and the ones on offer — then title, description, keywords, duration, views, likes, comments, publish date and the channel behind it.

How fast is it?

About 12 transcripts a minute. One video is back in seconds, and a hundred-video channel is done in roughly the time it takes to watch one of them. Each transcript costs 1 credit, however long the video runs.

Can I scrape a whole channel or playlist at once?

Yes — paste a playlist or channel URL and it opens out into the videos. One row per video, @handles and channel links alike. Max Results decides how many you take: 50 by default, or leave it empty and take the lot.

Which caption languages can I download?

Any language the video offers. Stay on the original track, ask for every track at once, or name a single language and get only that one — a video without it comes back flagged, never silently empty. Each row lists what was available.

Are auto-generated captions included?

Yes, switched on by default. YouTube's own speech-to-text tracks come along with the captions creators uploaded, which is how you get usable text out of videos nobody ever subtitled. Turn it off for hand-written captions only.

Where does the data land once the run is done?

Pretty much anywhere you already work. Google Sheets, Make, n8n, Amazon S3, email, webhooks — plus our MCP server, so Claude or ChatGPT can launch a run and read the transcripts itself. CSV, Excel and JSON downloads too. See all integrations.

Inputs and data

What do I give the YouTube Transcript Scraper?

URL, such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTKS8SAwUzE. Paste thousands at once or upload a CSV; duplicate inputs are skipped. 3 settings shape the run: see them in the playground.

What data does it return?

34 data attributes per transcript, each with its description and an example: see the full list.

Do I get duplicates?

No. Duplicates are removed, and you only pay for unique results.

How fresh is the data?

As fresh as your run: each run collects the data from the site at the moment it runs, nothing comes from a stored database.

In what formats do I get the results?

CSV, Excel or JSON from the dashboard, through the API, or sent after every run to Google Sheets, Amazon S3, an SFTP server, a webhook or by email.

How long are my results kept?

7 days on the free plan, 28 days on paid plans. Then they are deleted. Download or deliver what you want to keep.

Speed and reliability

How fast is the YouTube Transcript Scraper?

Around 12 transcripts a minute for one squid. Your plan's slots run several squids at the same time.

How reliable is it?

99.91% of its runs had no incident over the last 90 days (1 incident, 100% fixed). Every day is on this page.

What happens when the site changes?

Our team fixes the scraper: every scraper on lobstr.io is built and maintained by us. Over the last 90 days, the median time to fix this one was 16min. How we measure.

Can runs repeat on their own?

Yes, on paid plans: every hour, every day, every weekday or on a custom schedule, in your time zone.

Can I cap a run?

Yes: set the most results per task and per run in the settings. The run stops there and so does the bill.

Pricing

How much does the YouTube Transcript Scraper cost?

1 credit per result. The playground shows the price as you pick them.

Can I use it on the free plan?

Yes. The free plan gives 100 credits every month, 100 results with this scraper, with exports capped at 30 rows.

How do the plans work?

Every month a plan gives credits, which pay for results, and slots, which set how many squids run at the same time. Starter: $20 for 10,000 credits; Pro: $100 for 100,000 credits; Team: $500 for 1,000,000 credits. Upgrades start right away and are prorated; downgrades and cancellations take effect at the end of the cycle.

Do unused credits roll over?

No. Your credits refresh every month with your plan.

What if I run out of credits?

You choose, per squid: pause and pick up where it stopped, or end the run. To keep going, upgrade or reset your billing cycle: your plan renews right away and your credits come back. Auto Billing Reset does it for you when your usage crosses a threshold you set.

Is there a yearly discount?

Yes: paying yearly takes 20% off every plan.

Can I get a refund?

A monthly plan: within 10 days of the charge, if no credit was used in that period. A yearly plan: within 30 days, in full if no credit was used, otherwise minus one month. Cancel from your billing page, then write to contact@lobstr.io. The details are in the terms of use.

Legal and privacy

Is scraping YouTube legal?

Collecting publicly available data is generally allowed, but you choose what you collect and you are responsible for how you use it. Our terms of use (article 6) ask every user to respect the rights of the sites, not to extract substantial parts of a database, not to access confidential data and to follow personal data law such as the GDPR. This is not legal advice.

How does the GDPR apply?

When results contain personal data, you are the data controller and lobstr.io, a French company, processes them on your behalf, under our personal data agreement. You need a lawful basis for what you collect, must inform the people concerned and honor their requests.

How long does lobstr.io keep the data?

Results: 7 days on the free plan, 28 days on paid plans, then they are deleted; you can delete them sooner. Your account data: see the privacy notice.

API and agents

Can I run it from my code?

Yes, through the REST API at https://api.lobstr.io/v1, with your key from the dashboard. The playground’s Code tab writes the calls for your settings, in cURL and Python. The documentation has the full reference.

Can my AI agent run it?

Yes. Add our MCP server, https://mcp.lobstr.io/mcp, to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP client and sign in with lobstr.io. Your agent shows the cost and asks you before a run spends credits. The playground’s Agent tab gives you a prompt.

Do API calls cost credits?

No. Credits pay for results, not for requests.

Can I know when a run ends?

Yes. Point a webhook at your server and lobstr.io calls it when a run succeeds or fails.

Are there rate limits?

Yes, per endpoint: 120 requests a minute on squids and runs, 90 on tasks, 2 a second on results. Above that the API answers 429 with a Retry-After header.

Ready to start?

Your first transcripts in a few minutes, free.

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