Is YouTube to text conversion free?

Yes, to try. Without an account you get 1 free video every 30 days, and signing in free gives you 1 more. Free results show the first minute of the transcript — clips under a minute come back in full. For full-length transcripts and up to 10 videos at once, upgrade to Pro ($13.50/month).

Does it work with YouTube Shorts?

Yes. Paste any YouTube Shorts URL and get a full text transcript instantly.

How accurate is YouTube to text?

Uses the video's YouTube caption track (creator-uploaded or auto-generated), so it is as accurate as those captions: creator-uploaded captions are usually close to exact, while automatic captions can miss names, slang and heavy accents. A video with no caption track returns an error.

Can I convert multiple YouTube videos to text at once?

Yes, with Pro (the free plan takes 1 video per request). Paste multiple YouTube URLs to get individual transcripts plus a combined AI summary.

Free · No signup required

YouTube to Text Converter

YouTube's built-in auto-captions can't be exported, copied, or pasted. This tool converts any YouTube video or Short to plain copyable text in under 30 seconds — no account, no browser extension, no YouTube API needed.

Convert YouTube to Text →

Why YouTube's Built-In Captions Aren't Enough

YouTube generates auto-captions for most videos, but they come with a critical limitation: you can only read them inside YouTube's player. There's no 'copy transcript' or 'download as text' button. To get the text out of a YouTube video, you either have to use a third-party tool, manually watch the video and type notes, or use YouTube's Data API (which requires developer setup). This tool provides the simplest path: paste any YouTube URL and get back the full text transcript — copyable, downloadable, and usable anywhere. It works on standard YouTube videos (the free tier shows the first minute; Pro returns the full length) and on YouTube Shorts, which have their own URL format (/shorts/[id]) and are handled automatically. The tool reads the video's caption track — manually uploaded captions or YouTube's auto-generated ones — and returns it as clean text. It does not run its own speech recognition, so a video with no caption track at all returns an error. Either way, the output is plain text that works with any destination: blog editors, note-taking apps, AI tools, spreadsheets, or search databases.

How It Works

1.Copy any YouTube URL from the address bar — standard videos and Shorts work; for a playlist, paste each video's link.
2.Paste into TranscribeVideo.ai and click Transcribe. No YouTube account or API key needed.
3.The tool reads the video's caption track — manually uploaded or auto-generated. If the video has no caption track at all, it returns an error rather than transcribing the audio.
4.Copy the plain text output directly to your destination — blog post, notes app, AI prompt, or spreadsheet.

Why Use This Tool?

Exports YouTube transcripts as copyable plain text — the one thing YouTube's own interface won't let you do
Works on YouTube Shorts as well as standard videos without any URL format adjustment
Prefers manually-uploaded captions when available for maximum accuracy
No browser extension, no YouTube API setup, no OAuth — paste and go
Free to try: 1 video without an account (+1 when you sign in), first minute of each; Pro handles 10 at once for bulk channel research

Use Cases

—Researchers extracting quotes from academic lectures and TED-style YouTube talks for citation
—Content creators converting their own YouTube videos into blog posts or email newsletters
—Journalists fact-checking YouTube interview clips without rewatching the full video
—Students making searchable notes from YouTube tutorial series for exam revision
—SEO teams building blog content from their company's YouTube video library

Frequently Asked Questions

Why can't I just copy YouTube's auto-captions directly?

YouTube shows auto-captions in the player, but there's no copy, download, or export button in YouTube's interface. The only native option is viewing them inside the YouTube player. This tool extracts them into copyable plain text.

Does it work on YouTube Shorts?

Yes. Paste any YouTube Shorts URL (format: youtube.com/shorts/[id]) and the tool handles it the same as a standard video. Most Shorts are under 60 seconds and transcribe in about 5 seconds.

What's the difference between YouTube's auto-captions and AI transcription?

YouTube's auto-captions are generated by Google's speech model when the video is uploaded — on clear speech they are often good, but they can miss names, slang and heavy accents. Captions a channel uploaded itself are usually close to exact. This tool does not run its own AI transcription on YouTube: it fetches whichever captions are available, preferring the uploaded ones.

Can I use this on YouTube playlists?

The tool processes one video at a time on the free tier. For a playlist, copy individual video URLs and process them one at a time, or upgrade to Pro to paste up to 10 URLs simultaneously and process them in parallel.

YouTube transcript generator

Ready to get started?