API Documentation

Extract YouTube transcripts programmatically with our simple REST API

Getting Started

Authentication
All API requests require an API key in the Authorization header

To use the API, you need an API key. Get your API key from your Account Settings page after signing in.

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

Base URL

https://api.youtubetranscript.com/v1

Create Transcription

POST/transcriptions
Get transcripts for one or more YouTube videos

Request Body

video_idsrequired

Array of YouTube video IDs (e.g., ["dQw4w9WgXcQ"])

languageoptional

Language code (default: "en")

Response

{
  "results": [
    {
      "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
      "status": "success",
      "transcript": {
        "text": "Welcome to this tutorial...",
        "segments": [
          {
            "text": "Welcome to this tutorial.",
            "start": 0,
            "duration": 2.5
          },
          ...
        ],
        "source_kind": "auto"
      }
    }
  ],
  "credits_used": 1
}

Code Examples

curl -X POST https://api.youtubetranscript.com/v1/transcriptions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "video_ids": ["dQw4w9WgXcQ"],
    "language": "en"
  }'

Try It Out

Interactive API Tester
Test the API directly from your browser

Rate Limits

Free Plan

10 requests per month

10/month

Plus Plan

1,000 requests per month

1k/month

Pro Plan

3,000 requests per month

3k/month