A lot of "free" transcript APIs want a credit card, cap you at 10 requests a month, or ship an npm package that breaks when YouTube changes something. Here is how the main options stack up in 2026.
Free tier comparison
| Service | Free limit | Signup required |
|---|---|---|
| FreeTranscriptAPI (no key) | 20 req/hr per IP | No |
| FreeTranscriptAPI (free account) | 1,000 credits on signup | Yes (no credit card) |
| Supadata | Limited credits | Yes |
| RapidAPI listings | 50-100/month typical | Yes + marketplace account |
| youtube-transcript npm | Unlimited (your IP risk) | No (local only) |
| DIY scraping | Unlimited (maintenance cost) | No |
Our pick: FreeTranscriptAPI
For most developers, FreeTranscriptAPI has the least friction: try without an account, no credit card at any tier, and pay $1.29 per 1,000 credits when your signup credits run out. See the API documentation to get started.
Why the free tier is hard to beat
- Only option here that works with zero signup
- 1,000 signup credits with no credit card
- No credit card at any tier
- JSON with per-line timestamps
- 100+ languages with automatic fallback
Example request
curl "https://api.freetranscriptapi.com/v1/transcript?video_url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"When to pick something else
Supadata: You already bill through them for scraping and want one vendor.
youtube-transcript npm: Local scripts and one-off pulls where downtime is fine.
AssemblyAI: The video has no captions and you need transcription from audio.
DIY scraping: You have someone to fix parsers when YouTube ships a DOM change.
What to check before you commit
- Can you test without signing up?
- Is the free tier enough for your MVP?
- Does it return timestamps in structured JSON?
- Is pricing published and predictable?
- Does it support your target languages?
- Is there a health/uptime endpoint?
- Can you reach support directly?
FreeTranscriptAPI ticks those for us. Start with 20 free requests per hour, no signup.