Fetch YouTube transcripts in a single call
POST any YouTube URL — Shorts, long-form, live replays, or youtu.be links —
and get back a clean JSON transcript with timestamps. 1 credit per call, 60 requests per minute.
Three steps to a transcript
watch?v=, youtu.be, or /shorts/. title, full transcript, and timed segments. POST /api/youtube/transcript
Base URL: https://api.transcriptmagic.com. Authenticate with a Bearer token in the Authorization header.
curl -X POST https://api.transcriptmagic.com/api/youtube/transcript \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"}'import requests
response = requests.post(
"https://api.transcriptmagic.com/api/youtube/transcript",
headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"},
json={"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"},
)
data = response.json()
print(data["title"])
print(data["transcript"])const response = await fetch("https://api.transcriptmagic.com/api/youtube/transcript", {
method: "POST",
headers: {
"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY",
"Content-Type": "application/json",
},
body: JSON.stringify({ url: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" }),
});
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data.title, data.transcript);What you get back
A clean JSON object with the full transcript, timed segments, video title, and your remaining credit balance.
{
"title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video)",
"transcript": "We're no strangers to love. You know the rules and so do I...",
"segments": [
{
"text": "We're no strangers to love",
"startMs": "18500",
"endMs": "21120",
"startTimeText": "0:18"
},
{
"text": "You know the rules and so do I",
"startMs": "21120",
"endMs": "24440",
"startTimeText": "0:21"
}
],
"credits": 997
}title The YouTube video titletranscript Full transcript joined as a single stringsegments Line-level array with startMs, endMs, startTimeTextcredits Your remaining credit balance after this callWhat the API handles
Standard videos
Any public video on youtube.com/watch?v=… — from 30-second clips to multi-hour lectures.
YouTube Shorts
Vertical short-form content at youtube.com/shorts/…. Great for viral hook analysis and cross-posting to TikTok or Reels.
youtu.be short links
Share-URL format works out of the box — no need to expand it before calling the API.
Live replays
Completed live streams with captions available. Ideal for podcast archives and recorded webinars.
One credit per call
Every successful API request uses 1 credit. Monthly credits roll over, cancel anytime.
- SRT exports
- All platforms supported
No credit card required
- Download HD videos
- SRT, TXT, PDF exports
- AI summaries
- Talk to transcripts
- Repurpose content
- 40+ language translations
Credits rollover. Cancel anytime
- All Plus features
- Batch processing
Credits rollover. Cancel anytime
Need higher volume? Email [email protected] for custom pricing.
What developers build with it
SEO content pipelines
Turn YouTube videos into blog posts, structured summaries, and schema-rich articles that rank.
AI chatbots & RAG
Ingest channel archives into a vector DB and build Q&A bots grounded in video content.
Chaptered summaries
Use timestamps to auto-generate chapters, jump-to-moment UI, and digest views for long videos.
Course & lecture indexing
Make educational content searchable — learners type a concept, land at the exact second it's taught.
Creator research tools
Analyze what competitors say, extract viral hooks from Shorts, and track topic trends across channels.
Subtitle & dubbing workflows
Build SRT/VTT files straight from the segments array, then feed to translation for multilingual dubbing.
Questions developers ask
Does the YouTube Transcript API work on YouTube Shorts?
Yes. Any public YouTube URL works — Shorts (youtube.com/shorts/…), long-form videos, live replays, and youtu.be short links are all accepted. Just POST the full URL to /api/youtube/transcript.
What about age-restricted or unlisted videos?
Unlisted videos work as long as you provide the full URL. Age-restricted videos that require sign-in are not supported — the API can only fetch publicly viewable captions.
Which languages does the API support?
The API returns whichever caption track YouTube exposes for the video. That covers 100+ languages for auto-generated captions and every language creators manually publish. Translation is a separate step you run after fetching.
Do I get timestamps I can use for subtitles?
Yes. The segments array includes startMs, endMs, and startTimeText for each line, so you can build SRT/VTT files, chaptered summaries, or jump-to-moment UI directly from the response.
How accurate is the transcript?
When the creator has uploaded manual captions, accuracy is essentially 100%. When only YouTube auto-captions exist, accuracy matches YouTube's own ASR — very good for clear speech, weaker on heavy music or overlapping dialogue.
What are the rate limits?
60 requests per minute per API key. X-RateLimit-Remaining and Retry-After headers are returned on every response. Need more throughput? Email [email protected].