Introduction

Send a video link. Get a timestamped transcript back.

Video Transcript API turns a video or audio link into a transcript with millisecond timestamps.

curl "https://app.bestvideotranscriptapi.com/v1/transcript?url=https://youtu.be/jNQXAC9IVRw" \
  -H "x-api-key: $VIDEO_TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

It works with:

• YouTube videos and Shorts
• Instagram reels
• Facebook reels and videos
• Videos in public X and LinkedIn posts
• Audio and video files, from a public link or uploaded

How a request works

If the video has captions, you get them in a few seconds. If it doesn’t, we transcribe the audio with AI. The request waits up to 25 seconds. If the transcript isn’t ready by then, you get a job ID to poll.

This is the default auto mode. You can force captions or AI with mode.

Two ways in

REST API

One GET with your API key. JSON back.

MCP server

Connect Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP client.

Both use the same account, usage balance and rate limit.

Try it without code

The Playground in the dashboard runs the same request and shows you the code for it.

Getting a transcript in the Playground