FreeTranscriptAPI reference

FreeTranscriptAPI provides a REST API for fetching YouTube video transcripts. All requests are made to the base URL below and return JSON responses.

The API supports standard HTTP methods. Requests without an API key are limited to 20 requests per hour per IP address. With a free API key, you receive 200 requests per day. No credit card required.

Get your first transcript in two steps. No account, API key, or credit card required:

1. Send a GET request to the transcript endpoint with your video URL or video ID.
2. Parse the JSON response in your application.

Need higher limits? Create a free account and generate an API key from the dashboard. Still no credit card required.

curl "https://api.freetranscriptapi.com/v1/transcript?video_url=dQw4w9WgXcQ"

const response = await fetch(
  "https://api.freetranscriptapi.com/v1/transcript?video_url=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
);

const data = await response.json();
console.log(data.transcript);

import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://api.freetranscriptapi.com/v1/transcript",
    params={"video_url": "dQw4w9WgXcQ"},
)

data = response.json()
print(data["transcript"])

API keys are optional. Without one, you can make up to 20 requests per hour per IP address. Include an API key in the Authorization header to unlock 200 requests per day on the free plan:

API keys are created in your dashboard. The full key is shown only once at creation. Store it securely and never expose it in client-side code.

Returns the full transcript for a YouTube video. Accepts a video URL or 11-character video ID.

{
  "language": "en",
  "title": "Example Video Title",
  "transcript": [
    {
      "text": "Hello world.",
      "start": 0.0,
      "duration": 2.1
    }
  ]
}

Returns all available caption languages for a video before fetching the transcript.

{
  "languages": [
    {
      "code": "en",
      "name": "English",
      "auto_generated": false
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "name": "Spanish",
      "auto_generated": true
    }
  ]
}

Returns the API status. No authentication required. Use this endpoint for uptime monitoring.

{
  "status": "ok",
  "version": "1.0.0"
}

Transcript responses include the detected language, video title, and an array of caption lines.

Errors return a JSON object with an error field containing a machine-readable code and human-readable message.

{
  "error": {
    "code": "video_not_found",
    "message": "No transcript available for this video."
  }
}

Rate limits depend on how you authenticate. Unauthenticated requests are tracked by IP address:

Every response includes rate limit headers so you can track remaining quota:

When you exceed your limit, the API returns a 429 status. Upgrade your plan on the pricing page or contact us for enterprise volume.