What does a transcript look like?

Running text with punctuation and capital letters, split into paragraphs. A new paragraph starts whenever the speaker changes, and after at most 30 seconds of one person talking. Every paragraph carries a timestamp you can click to jump the video to that moment, and a label for the person speaking.

Does this work on videos without captions?

Yes. We do not read the captions on YouTube at all. We take the audio of the video and listen to it, so a video with no captions, with automatic captions full of mistakes, or with captions switched off by the creator all work the same way.

How does it know who is speaking?

It separates the voices while it listens and gives each one a label, starting at Speaker 1. You can click any name and rename it to the real person, which changes it everywhere in the transcript at once. If a line was given to the wrong speaker you can move that line to the right one.

Can I keep the "um" and "uh"?

Yes. By default we clean up filler words and stutters, because that reads better. Turn the clean-up off before you start and you get everything exactly as it was said, which is what you want for a quote, an interview or anything you need on the record. You can see what would be removed before you decide.

What does the summary give me?

A short summary of the video in paragraphs, in the language that is spoken in it. It covers the topics and the main points. It is written text, not a list of bullets, and it carries no timestamps. It is there to tell you what a video is about before you read the whole transcript.

What is the difference between a transcript and subtitles?

A transcript is the text to read, search and copy. Subtitles are timed lines made to run under a video, so they are cut into short cues that appear and disappear with the speech. Pick Subtitles when you want an SRT or WebVTT for an editor or for YouTube, and Transcription when you want the text itself.

Can I get the captions burned into the video?

Yes. You get an MP4 with the captions rendered into the picture, which is what social platforms need when nobody turns the sound on. Choose 720p, 1080p or 4K. Burning in costs 3 times the video length at 720p, 4 times at 1080p and 5 times at 4K, because the video is encoded again.

Which languages can you handle?

90+ languages, and you do not have to tell us which one it is: we work it out from the audio. You can also set the language yourself when a video mixes two of them or when the detection gets it wrong. Accents and dialects are handled by the same model.

Can I translate the transcript?

Yes. Open a finished transcript, choose a language and you get the whole thing translated, with the speaker labels and the timestamps kept in place. You do one language at a time and can switch to another whenever you like. Translating a transcript you already have does not use extra minutes.

Can I get subtitles in more than one language?

Yes. Pick the extra languages before you start and you get a subtitle file for each of them, with the cue timings matching the original so they stay in sync. You can have up to 10 languages including the one in the video. Each extra language costs one more time the video length.

Can I fix mistakes in the transcript?

Yes. Click Edit and you can change any word, rename a speaker, split or join paragraphs, and find and replace a word through the whole text. Changes save by themselves and you can undo them. Play the video while you read and the transcript follows along, so you can check a word by listening to it.

How do I get the text out?

Copy it in one go, or download it as TXT, DOCX, SRT and WebVTT. Two checkboxes decide whether the speaker names and the timestamps come along, so you can take clean prose into a document or keep the timings for reference. Subtitle files keep their cue times whatever you choose.

Can I send a transcript to someone else?

Yes. Create a share link and anyone with that link can read the transcript on a page of its own, without an account and without seeing anything else from yours. They can read and copy the text; they cannot change it. Delete the transcript and the link stops working.

Our benchmark measures 98.5% on clean read speech, 97.1% on harder audio, 94.3% on accented speech and 92.7% on talks: 95.7% across the set. Audio quality, accents and background noise move the number for any one video. We measure this every month on public speech collections that come with a human transcript to compare against, and we publish what came out, including the conditions where it scores worst.

What if the transcript still has errors?

Fix them in the editor: the words we were least sure about are marked, so you can jump straight to them, listen and correct. Music, crosstalk and heavy background noise are where any tool struggles. If the result is not worth what you paid, ask us for a refund and you get it.

What do the plans cost?

Creator is $10 a month for 600 minutes, Creator+ is $20 a month for 1,800 minutes and Pro is $50 a month for 6,000 minutes every month. Pay for a year and you pay for 10 months and get 12 months of minutes. Plan minutes reset at the start of each month. If you need more in a busy month you can add credits, which sit on top of your plan.

Can I pay without a subscription?

Yes, in two ways. Credit packs are a one-off payment for a pot of minutes that never expires: The Deep Dive is $25 for 600 minutes, and there are bigger ones. Or pay for a single video: $3 for a video up to an hour, rising to $12 for the longest ones. Both work without a monthly plan.

What happens to minutes I do not use?

Minutes that come with a monthly plan reset when the new month starts, so they do not pile up. Minutes you bought as credits are yours until you use them: they never expire. Unlocking one video separately does not touch either pot.

Open the billing page in your account and cancel there, or ask us through the contact page and we do it for you. There is no notice period and nothing to negotiate. Your transcripts stay in your account after you cancel, so you can still read and download what you already made.

What happens when my minutes run out?

Transcribing stops until your minutes reset, and nothing is charged. You can wait, buy a credit pack, or move up a plan. There is also extra usage, which is off until you switch it on yourself in Billing: with it on, anything past your included minutes costs $1 an hour on Creator, billed in whole hours. Each plan has its own rate and it lands on your next invoice.

Yes, no questions asked. If the result was not what you expected or you bought the wrong thing, ask through the contact page and we refund the purchase. We would rather give the money back than have you fight with a tool that did not do the job.

Who can see my transcripts?

You, through your account. Nobody else can open them, and they are not listed or indexed anywhere. The one exception is a share link: if you create one and pass it on, whoever holds it can read that transcript. Delete the transcript and the link dies with it.

How long do you keep my videos and transcripts?

The audio and video we downloaded are deleted after 7 days. The transcript itself stays in your account until you delete it, so it is there when you come back. Delete a transcript and it goes for good, together with its subtitle files and any burned-in video.

Is my video used to train anyone's model?

No. Your audio goes to the speech-to-text engine we use to turn it into words, and the text goes to the model that writes summaries and translations when you ask for one. It is processed to give you the result and for nothing else. Payments run through Stripe, which never sees your video.

Yes. Send a video link, poll the job, read back the transcript, subtitle files or a captioned video. API and MCP are included on every plan. Your 10 free minutes work through the API too. You generate one token in your account and send it as a bearer token. The reference lists every endpoint with the request and the response you should expect.

Can I use this inside Claude or ChatGPT?

Yes, through our MCP server. Add it once as a connector in Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Cline, sign in with your account, and then ask your assistant for the transcript or the subtitles of a video in plain language. It uses the same minutes as the site.

First 10 minutes free. No credit card required

Everything you need from a YouTube video, in minutes.

Paste any YouTube link. Get a 95%+ accurate transcript, subtitle file, or translation, in 90+ languages, in minutes.

Trusted by 42,800+ creators

youtubetotext.ai · transcriptDone in 1m 42s

00:04

Sarah: So the first thing people get wrong about this is that they assume you need expensive gear to start.

00:11

Mike: Right, and that's exactly the myth we want to break down today.

00:18

Sarah: Your phone is genuinely enough

Transcription

Every word. Every speaker. No rewatching.

Drop a YouTube link. Get a full transcript in minutes: speaker labels, timestamps, and your choice of verbatim or AI-cleaned output. Ready to search, quote, or repurpose.

Start free

Raw or cleaned mode

Keep every filler word for the record, or let AI strip them for a cleaner read.

Speaker labels

Automatic multi-speaker detection. Rename speakers once, it updates everywhere.

AI summarization

The TL;DR without the DR. Key points, pull-quotes, and timestamps, done.

90+ languages

Get your text in Spanish, French, Japanese, Arabic, and 85+ more.

Subtitles

Subtitles that go wherever your video goes.

Export SRT or VTT for YouTube and Vimeo, or burn captions directly into the video for TikTok, Reels, and Shorts. No editor required.

Start free

SRT & WebVTT export

Industry-standard formats. Upload to YouTube Studio, Vimeo, or any player.

Burned-in subtitles + video download

Captions rendered into the file. Download and post anywhere, no editor needed.

Vertical or horizontal

Subtitles sized for the format: vertical for Shorts and Reels, 16:9 for long-form.

Use cases

What will you do with it?

Five ways people are using it right now.

Students
Study smarter, not longer
Paste a lecture, get searchable notes. Find that one thing your professor said without scrubbing through an hour of video.
YouTube video to notes
Content Repurposers
One video. Ten pieces of content.
Paste a podcast or interview. Walk away with a blog post, social quotes, a newsletter draft, and a speaker-labeled transcript, all in one run.
YouTube podcast transcript
International Users
Borders stop people. Not videos.
YouTube auto-captions failing you in your language? We recognize 90+ languages, and translate into them too.
Translate a YouTube video
Creators
Subtitles that work as hard as your content does
Upload SRT to YouTube Studio or burn captions straight into the file. The algorithm reads them. Your viewers appreciate them. Your reach grows.
YouTube subtitles as SRT Burned-in subtitles
Researchers
The unedited, unfiltered version
Verbatim mode keeps every “uhm”, every false start, every speaker, exactly as said. Citable, archivable, court-of-record ready.
YouTube interview transcript Accuracy benchmark
You
Your move.
10 free minutes. No credit card. Paste a link, see what comes out, then decide if it's worth paying for.
Start free

Social proof

42,800+ creators. Here's what they say.

Used the product? Write a review, it takes a minute.

“Fantastic site and accelerates learning speed. A useful tool that just works.”

Sherlock Flats

“Creates text summarise of long YouTube podcasts that I can feed into AI and get a quick summary of.”

Justin Smart

“I actively use AI agents for learning and development. This tool is a great addition because I can transcribe material, upload it to my agents, and retrieve or edit parts of it for quotes in my own work.”

Henrik Sørensen

“Other tools can take a long time to process a transcript. This can save me hours when im on a deadline.”

Mike

“The improvements to the transcription and subtitle features have made the whole process much easier, smoother, and more efficient. It has really helped simplify the work and save time, especially when working on transcriptions, translations, and subtitles.”

Ameera

Compare

Every plan, side by side.

Start free. Unlock share links and long videos the moment you need them.

Feature	Free	Credits	SubscriberMost popular
High-accuracy transcription	Included	Included	Included
Multi-speaker identification (speaker labels)	Included	Included	Included
AI cleanup (filler words)	Included	Included	Included
AI summarization	Included	Included	Included
Export (TXT, DOCX)	Included	Included	Included
Rename speakers	Included	Included	Included
Web-hosted share link	Not included	Included	Included
Process long videos (up to 12 hours)	Not included	Included	Included
Playlists and channelsPick videos from a playlist or channel, one job each	Included	Included	Included
MCP accessClaude, ChatGPT, Cursor and Cline	Included	Included	Included
API accessREST API, same minutes as the site	Included	Included	Included
Priority support	Not included	Not included	Included

Free

High-accuracy transcription
Included
Multi-speaker identification (speaker labels)
Included
AI cleanup (filler words)
Included
AI summarization
Included
Export (TXT, DOCX)
Included
Rename speakers
Included
Web-hosted share link
Not included
Process long videos (up to 12 hours)
Not included
Playlists and channelsPick videos from a playlist or channel, one job each
Included
MCP accessClaude, ChatGPT, Cursor and Cline
Included
API accessREST API, same minutes as the site
Included
Priority support
Not included

Credits

High-accuracy transcription
Included
Multi-speaker identification (speaker labels)
Included
AI cleanup (filler words)
Included
AI summarization
Included
Export (TXT, DOCX)
Included
Rename speakers
Included
Web-hosted share link
Included
Process long videos (up to 12 hours)
Included
Playlists and channelsPick videos from a playlist or channel, one job each
Included
MCP accessClaude, ChatGPT, Cursor and Cline
Included
API accessREST API, same minutes as the site
Included
Priority support
Not included

SubscriberMost popular

High-accuracy transcription
Included
Multi-speaker identification (speaker labels)
Included
AI cleanup (filler words)
Included
AI summarization
Included
Export (TXT, DOCX)
Included
Rename speakers
Included
Web-hosted share link
Included
Process long videos (up to 12 hours)
Included
Playlists and channelsPick videos from a playlist or channel, one job each
Included
MCP accessClaude, ChatGPT, Cursor and Cline
Included
API accessREST API, same minutes as the site
Included
Priority support
Included

FAQ

Questions.
Answered.

Can't find what you're looking for?
Contact us.

Can I transcribe a whole playlist or channel?

Yes. Paste the playlist or channel link instead of a single video and you get a list to pick from, up to 25 videos at a time. Each one runs as its own job, so a video that fails does not hold up the rest, and one page follows all of them. They spend the same minutes as anything else you transcribe.

How do I get a transcript of a YouTube video?

Copy the link of the video, paste it in the box at the top of this page and start. You sign in first, then pick what you want: a transcript, a subtitle file, or captions burned into the video. When it is ready you get the text with punctuation, a label for each speaker and a timestamp on every paragraph.

Do I need an account?

Yes, and it is free. You sign in with Google, Apple or email, no card needed. The account is what keeps your videos, your corrections and your downloads together, so you can come back to a transcript later. Every account starts with 10 free minutes to try the quality on your own videos.

What can I do with the 10 free minutes?

Your account starts with 10 free minutes, once, so you can try the product before paying anything. They work on the site and through the API. If your video is longer than the minutes you have left, we transcribe the first part and show it to you, and the rest stays locked until you unlock that video, buy a credit pack or take a plan.

Which YouTube videos can I use?

Public and unlisted videos work. Private videos, members-only videos, age-restricted videos, live streams and videos that were removed or blocked in your country cannot be opened by us, and you get a message that says which of those it is. You paste one video link at a time.

How long can the video be?

Up to 12 hours. Anything over 10 minutes is split into parts, worked on in parallel and put back together, so you still get one transcript with the timings running through it. A long video uses more of your minutes, but it is not treated differently in any other way.

How do I reach you if something goes wrong?

Reach us through the contact page. Tell us the link of the video and what went wrong, and we can look the job up. Billing questions, refunds, a transcript that came out badly and feature ideas all go through the same form, so nothing gets lost in a mailbox.

Ready when you are

Your words are worth
more than a video.

Paste your link nowFirst 10 minutes free. No credit card required.

Everything you need from a YouTube video, in minutes.

Every word. Every speaker. No rewatching.

Raw or cleaned mode

Speaker labels

AI summarization

90+ languages

Subtitles that go wherever your video goes.

SRT & WebVTT export

Burned-in subtitles + video download

Vertical or horizontal

What will you do with it?

Study smarter, not longer

One video. Ten pieces of content.

Borders stop people. Not videos.

Subtitles that work as hard as your content does

The unedited, unfiltered version

Your move.

42,800+ creators. Here's what they say.

Start free. Pay when you need more.

Creator

Creator+

Pro

Every plan, side by side.

Questions.Answered.

Your words are worth more than a video.

Questions.
Answered.

Your words are worth
more than a video.