# YouTube Transcript Scraper — Captions, Timestamps & Bulk Text (`intelscrape/youtube-transcript-scraper-pro`) Actor

Extract YouTube transcripts and captions at scale — timestamps, SRT/VTT, language select, channel URL expansion, Shorts. Bulk video URLs. Research, SEO, and AI pipelines. Pay per result.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/intelscrape/youtube-transcript-scraper-pro.md
- **Developed by:** [IntelScrape](https://apify.com/intelscrape) (community)
- **Categories:** Videos, AI, Developer tools
- **Features:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 1 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.00 / 1,000 video base extractions

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## YouTube Transcript Scraper

![Actor Banner](https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/PyvJzfQg02FD3RYhd/records/youtube-transcript-scraper-pro-banner.png)

Extract YouTube captions and transcripts at scale — with **timestamps**, **language selection**, **SRT/VTT**, and **video metadata**.

### Features

- Bulk video URLs (Shorts supported)
- Preferred caption language + optional auto-translate
- Timed segments (`offset`, `duration`) plus plain text
- Optional SRT and WebVTT fields
- Title, channel, views, publish date, thumbnail
- Empty/missing-caption videos are skipped (not charged)

### Input

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| `urls` | YouTube video URLs |
| `preferredLanguage` | e.g. `en`, `es`, `fr` |
| `translateTo` | Optional YouTube `tlang` target |
| `includeTimestamps` | Keep timing on segments (default true) |
| `includeMetadata` | Title/channel/views (default true) |
| `includeSrt` | Add SRT string (default true) |
| `includeVtt` | Add WebVTT string (default false) |

### Output

One dataset item per successful video: `plainText`, `transcript[]`, optional `srt`/`vtt`, language info, metadata.

### Pricing (PPE)

- Video Base Extraction (dataset item)
- Transcript by Minute
- Transcript Data Segments
- **transcript-insights** — $0.01 per video when `includeTranscriptInsights` (default ON) and a transcript is delivered (themes + top terms; no LLM)

No charge when a video has no captions. Opt out of insights with `includeTranscriptInsights: false`.

### SoftCTA (dataset)

Each successful run also pushes a **`transcripts-batch-summary`** row with a `softCta` funnel to **[Watson](https://apify.com/intelscrape/watson)**, **[Contact Info Scraper](https://apify.com/intelscrape/contact-info-scraper)**, **[Website Leads](https://apify.com/intelscrape/website-Leads)**, **[Google News Scraper](https://apify.com/intelscrape/google-news-scraper)**, and **[Skip Trace PRO](https://apify.com/intelscrape/skip-trace-pro)** (SoftCTA-only / FROZEN). Continue your journey →

### Channel URLs

Pass `channelUrls` (or `channelUrl`) plus optional `maxVideos` (default 5, max 25) to expand a channel/@handle into newest videos, then transcribe — rival parity with starvibe/johnvc.

# Actor input Schema

## `urls` (type: `array`):

YouTube video or Shorts URLs to transcribe. Optional when channelUrls is set.

## `channelUrls` (type: `array`):

Channel URLs, @handles, or channel IDs. Expands to newest videos (starvibe/johnvc parity), then transcribes up to maxVideos per channel.

## `channelUrl` (type: `string`):

Singular alias for channelUrls. Accepts @handle, /channel/UC…, /c/, /user/.

## `maxVideos` (type: `integer`):

Newest videos to pull per channel URL (default 5, max 25).

## `preferredLanguage` (type: `string`):

Language code to prefer (e.g. en, es, fr, de). Falls back to best available.

## `translateTo` (type: `string`):

Optional YouTube auto-translate target language code (e.g. en, es). Leave empty for original captions.

## `includeTimestamps` (type: `boolean`):

Keep offset/duration on each transcript segment.

## `includeMetadata` (type: `boolean`):

Add title, channel, views, publish date, thumbnail.

## `includeSrt` (type: `boolean`):

Add an SRT subtitle string field per video.

## `includeVtt` (type: `boolean`):

Add a WebVTT string field per video.

## `includeTranscriptInsights` (type: `boolean`):

Push a deterministic transcript-insights digest per video (themes + top terms) and charge transcript-insights $0.01 when ≥1 transcript. Default ON; set false to skip.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw"
  ],
  "channelUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/@GoogleDevelopers"
  ],
  "maxVideos": 5,
  "preferredLanguage": "en",
  "includeTimestamps": true,
  "includeMetadata": true,
  "includeSrt": true,
  "includeVtt": false,
  "includeTranscriptInsights": true
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "urls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw"
    ],
    "channelUrls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/@GoogleDevelopers"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("intelscrape/youtube-transcript-scraper-pro").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "urls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw"],
    "channelUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/@GoogleDevelopers"],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("intelscrape/youtube-transcript-scraper-pro").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "urls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw"
  ],
  "channelUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/@GoogleDevelopers"
  ]
}' |
apify call intelscrape/youtube-transcript-scraper-pro --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,intelscrape/youtube-transcript-scraper-pro"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/ndwnjRvtMP1u3U8M0/builds/Ab5d6w3AJzxfeCFRW/openapi.json