# YouTube Transcript API Beta Returns the timed transcript of a public YouTube video, short or live replay: the creator's manual captions when they exist, otherwise YouTube's auto-generated track, in the language you ask for. Videos without any caption track are transcribed from their audio with speech-to-text. Accepts every YouTube URL form (watch, youtu.be, shorts, live, embed, music.) or a bare 11-character video ID. [Get 100 free credits](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/signup/?next=%2Fplayground%2F%3Fendpoint%3Dyoutube.transcript) · [API reference](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/docs/reference/youtube/transcript/index.md) · [Try it](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/playground/?endpoint=youtube.transcript) - **Price**: From **1 credit** per request, up to 122 credits$0.75–$1.45 per 1,000 requests - **Request**: `GET /v1/youtube/transcript`One API key, one JSON schema - **Input**: `url`e.g. `https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ` - **Measured**: p50 511 ms · 96.5% success Use cases ## What teams build with it. From one request. - Summarize or search video content with LLMs - Build subtitle and translation tools - Index a channel's back catalog for RAG - Repurpose videos into articles and posts What you get ## Transcripts in one schema. The same on every platform. - **`platform`string**: Platform the media is hosted on. - **`id`string**: Platform-native ID of the post (equals post.id). - **`url`string**: Canonical URL of the post. - **`language`string**: BCP-47 language of the returned transcript; null when unknown. - **`source`string**: captions = platform caption track; asr = speech-to-text on the audio. New values may be added. - **`is_auto_generated`boolean**: True when the track was machine-generated (platform auto-captions or ASR). - **`available_languages`string\[\]**: BCP-47 caption languages the platform offers for this post; \[\] if none or not listed. - **`duration_ms`integer**: Media duration in milliseconds; null when unknown. Every field, its type and when it is `null`: [the response reference](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/docs/reference/youtube/transcript/index.md#response) and the [transcript schema](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/resources/transcript/index.md). ## Example request cURL: ```shell curl -G 'https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/v1/youtube/transcript' \ --data-urlencode 'url=dQw4w9WgXcQ' \ -H "x-api-key: $SOCIALTAP_API_KEY" ``` Node.js: ```javascript const params = new URLSearchParams({ url: "dQw4w9WgXcQ", }); const res = await fetch(`https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/v1/youtube/transcript?${params}`, { headers: { "x-api-key": process.env.SOCIALTAP_API_KEY ?? "" }, }); const body = await res.json(); if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`${body.error.code}: ${body.error.message}`); const { data, meta } = body; console.log(data, meta.credits_charged); ``` Python: ```python import os import requests res = requests.get( "https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/v1/youtube/transcript", params={"url": "dQw4w9WgXcQ"}, headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["SOCIALTAP_API_KEY"]}, ) body = res.json() if not res.ok: raise RuntimeError(f"{body['error']['code']}: {body['error']['message']}") data, meta = body["data"], body["meta"] print(data, meta["credits_charged"]) ``` Go: ```go package main import ( "encoding/json" "fmt" "log" "net/http" "net/url" "os" ) func main() { q := url.Values{} q.Set("url", "dQw4w9WgXcQ") req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", "https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/v1/youtube/transcript?"+q.Encode(), nil) if err != nil { log.Fatal(err) } req.Header.Set("x-api-key", os.Getenv("SOCIALTAP_API_KEY")) res, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req) if err != nil { log.Fatal(err) } defer res.Body.Close() var body struct { Data json.RawMessage `json:"data"` Meta map[string]any `json:"meta"` Error *struct { Code string `json:"code"` Message string `json:"message"` } `json:"error"` } if err := json.NewDecoder(res.Body).Decode(&body); err != nil { log.Fatal(err) } if body.Error != nil { log.Fatalf("%s: %s", body.Error.Code, body.Error.Message) } fmt.Println(string(body.Data), body.Meta["credits_charged"]) } ``` 200 OK: ```json { "data": { "available_languages": [ "en", "de-DE", "ja" ], "duration_ms": 213000, "id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ", "is_auto_generated": false, "language": "en", "platform": "youtube", "platform_specific": {}, "segments": [ { "end_ms": 3040, "start_ms": 1360, "text": "[♪♪♪]" }, { "end_ms": 21880, "start_ms": 18640, "text": "♪ We're no strangers to love ♪" }, { "end_ms": 26960, "start_ms": 22640, "text": "♪ You know the rules and so do I ♪" } ], "source": "captions", "text": "[♪♪♪] ♪ We're no strangers to love ♪ ♪ You know the rules and so do I ♪ ♪ A full commitment's what I'm thinking of ♪ ♪ You wouldn't get this from any other guy ♪ ♪ I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling ♪ ♪ Gotta make you understand ♪ ♪ Never gonna give you up ♪ ♪ Never gonna let …", "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" }, "meta": { "request_id": "req_3f9c2a7d1e8b4c6a9f0e2d4b6a8c0e1f", "platform": "youtube", "source": "captions", "is_cached": false, "credits_charged": 1, "latency_ms": 511, "fetched_at": "2026-10-25T12:00:00Z", "input": { "kind": "video", "id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ", "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" }, "credits_remaining": 9999, "client_request_id": null, "warnings": [], "mode": "live" } } ``` Long arrays and strings are shortened for display; real responses are complete. > [!NOTE] > > **Good to know** > > - Manual captions are preferred over auto-generated ones; is_auto_generated tells you which you got. > - Private, members-only, rental and age-restricted videos return private_or_unavailable. Reliability ## Measured, not promised. Every request counts. - **p50 latency**: 511 ms - **p95 latency**: 989 ms - **Success rate**: 96.5% - **Requests measured**: 29 **Staging measurements, not production.** Measured on our staging environment, over the 7 days before 2026-10-25. [How it is measured](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/status/index.md#method). Pricing ## Pay per request. Only when it succeeds. | Source | Price per successful request | Per 1,000 requests | | --- | --- | --- | | Captions `captions` | 1 credit | $0.75–$1.45 | | Speech-to-text `asr` | 2 credits + 2 per started minute of media
up to 122 credits (60 started minutes of media) | $1.50–$2.90 + $1.50–$2.90 per started minute of media | - Failed requests are free: errors cost 0 credits. - Cache hits are free: responses served from the cache cost 0 credits. - Credits never expire. - One credit balance for every endpoint and platform. [Credit packs](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/pricing/index.md) · [How this endpoint is priced](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/docs/reference/youtube/transcript/index.md#pricing) · [How credits work](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/docs/credits/index.md) FAQ ## Questions, answered. **How much does the YouTube Transcript API cost?** 1 credit for captions results (meta.source = captions) and 2 credits + 2 per started minute of media, up to 122 credits (60 started minutes of media) for speech-to-text results (meta.source = asr), charged only for successful requests. SocialTap credits cost $0.75–$1.45 per 1,000 depending on the pack. **Am I charged for failed requests?** No. Requests that return an error cost 0 credits. Responses served from the cache are free too. Same schema, other platforms ## Transcripts everywhere. One parser. [Facebook Video Transcript APIBetaTranscript`GET /v1/facebook/transcript`From 1 credit](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/apis/facebook/transcript/index.md) · [Instagram Reels Transcript APIBetaTranscript`GET /v1/instagram/transcript`From 1 credit](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/apis/instagram/transcript/index.md) · [Rumble Transcript APIBetaTranscript`GET /v1/rumble/transcript`From 1 credit](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/apis/rumble/transcript/index.md) · [TikTok Transcript APIBetaTranscript`GET /v1/tiktok/transcript`From 1 credit](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/apis/tiktok/transcript/index.md) More YouTube ## YouTube API. 5 endpoints, one key. [YouTube Comments APIBetaComment`GET /v1/youtube/comments`1 credit / page](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/apis/youtube/comments/index.md) · [YouTube Video APIBetaPost`GET /v1/youtube/post`1 credit](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/apis/youtube/post/index.md) · [YouTube Channel Videos APIBetaPost`GET /v1/youtube/posts`1 credit / page](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/apis/youtube/posts/index.md) · [YouTube Channel APIBetaProfile`GET /v1/youtube/profile`1 credit](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/apis/youtube/profile/index.md) ## Start with 100 free credits. No card required. Test keys answer every endpoint from recorded responses, free, so you can build before you spend. Failed requests are always free. [Get your API key](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/signup/?next=%2Fplayground%2F%3Fendpoint%3Dyoutube.transcript) · [Read the API reference](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/docs/reference/youtube/transcript/index.md) --- [HTML version](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/apis/youtube/transcript/) · [Docs index for AI agents](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/llms.txt) · [All docs in one file](https://staging-fly.socialtap.dev/llms-full.txt)