Finding a free YouTube transcript API that actually works can be frustrating. Many services require credit cards, have tiny free tiers that expire, or use brittle scraping that breaks constantly. YouTubeTranscripts.co offers 150 free API requests with no credit card required, and the requests never expire. This guide shows you how to get started in under two minutes.
Sign Up in 30 Seconds
Go to youtubetranscripts.co/login and create an account with your email. You will receive your API key instantly. No credit card, no payment information, no trial period. The 150 free requests are yours forever.
Make Your First Request
Test the API immediately with a simple cURL command. Replace YOUR_API_KEY with the key from your dashboard.
curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
"https://api.youtubetranscripts.co/v1/transcript?url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"What You Get with the Free Tier
The free tier includes everything the paid plans offer: timed segments, plain text format, SRT subtitles, AI fallback transcription for videos without captions, support for 30+ languages, and access to the batch API. The only difference is the number of requests. There are no feature gates or rate limits beyond the request count.
When You Need More Requests
If you run out of free requests, request packs start at $9 for 500 requests. Packs never expire, so you only pay for what you use. There are no monthly subscriptions or recurring charges. Visit youtubetranscripts.co/pricing to see all options.
Quick Start in Any Language
Here is a minimal example in Python to get you started with the free tier.
import httpx
response = httpx.get(
"https://api.youtubetranscripts.co/v1/transcript",
params={"url": "https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"},
headers={"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
)
print(response.json()["title"])Conclusion
YouTubeTranscripts.co is the easiest way to start extracting YouTube transcripts for free. Sign up, get your API key, and make your first request in under two minutes. No credit card, no expiration, no catch.
Ready to start extracting YouTube transcripts?
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