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There are two kinds of YouTube transcript generator. Caption copiers read the captions YouTube already has, which is fast and often free, but returns nothing when a video has no captions. Audio transcribers listen to the video and write down what is said, so they work on any video. YouTube’s own “Show transcript” button is a caption copier. Every price and limit below is taken from the vendor’s own page, with the date we read it.
| Tool | Best for | Longest file | Pay for one file | Price from | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WhoScribe | Best for any video, with or without captions, paid once | 10 hours | Yes, $5 per file | $5 per file, or $20 a month for Unlimited | First 5 minutes without an account; first 15 minutes of each file with a free account, 3 files a day |
| Recall | Best for a searchable knowledge base of videos | 10 hours source · checked Nov 4, 2026 | No, subscription only source · checked Nov 4, 2026 | $10 a month, billed yearly source · checked Nov 4, 2026 | Free YouTube transcript generator, no signup; Free plan: 10 AI summaries a month source · checked Nov 4, 2026 |
| NoteGPT | Best for notes, summaries and mind maps | 2 hours source · checked Nov 4, 2026 | No, subscription only source · checked Nov 4, 2026 | $9 a month, billed yearly source · checked Nov 4, 2026 | Basic features free online; no account needed to start source · checked Nov 4, 2026 |
| Tactiq | Best for meeting transcripts, with a free YouTube tool | Not stated on their page source · checked Nov 4, 2026 | No, subscription only source · checked Nov 4, 2026 | $8 a month, billed yearly source · checked Nov 4, 2026 | Free YouTube tool: paste a URL, view, copy or download the transcript without an email. Free plan: 10 meeting transcripts and 5 AI credits a month source · checked Nov 4, 2026 |
| TranscribeYT | Best for reading a video’s captions with AI summaries | Not stated on their page source · checked Nov 7, 2026 | No, subscription only source · checked Nov 7, 2026 | $5.99 a month source · checked Nov 7, 2026 | Free preview of the first 25% of a transcript; the full transcript needs a paid plan source · checked Nov 7, 2026 |
| YouTubeTranscript.dev | Best for developers and bulk jobs | Not stated on their page source · checked Nov 7, 2026 | Yes source · checked Nov 7, 2026 | $9 a month source · checked Nov 7, 2026 | 10 credits a month, no credit card (1 credit per captioned video; audio transcription 1 credit per 2 minutes) source · checked Nov 7, 2026 |
| MediaScribe | Best for free captions plus pay-per-minute transcription | Not stated on their page source · checked Nov 4, 2026 | Yes source · checked Nov 4, 2026 | $2.99 per audio hour source · checked Nov 4, 2026 | Transcripts of captioned YouTube videos free forever, no sign-in; first AI transcription free source · checked Nov 4, 2026 |
| TurboScribe | Best for many videos at a flat monthly price | 10 hours source · checked Nov 4, 2026 | No, subscription only source · checked Nov 4, 2026 | $10 a month, billed yearly source · checked Nov 4, 2026 | 3 transcriptions a day, each file up to 30 minutes, one file at a time, lower priority source · checked Nov 4, 2026 |
| YTtoTranscript | Best free tool for YouTube, TikTok and Instagram links | Not stated on their page source · checked Nov 4, 2026 | Not needed: free source · checked Nov 4, 2026 | Free (no paid plan on their page) source · checked Nov 4, 2026 | Free, no sign-up, no usage cap source · checked Nov 4, 2026 |
| QuickTranscript | Best free caption copier, no sign-up | Not stated on their page source · checked Nov 4, 2026 | Not needed: free source · checked Nov 4, 2026 | Free (no paid plan on their page) source · checked Nov 4, 2026 | Free YouTube transcripts, no signup; TXT, SRT or VTT download source · checked Nov 4, 2026 |
Rival prices and limits are as published on each vendor’s own page, read on the date next to each number. Page checked Nov 7, 2026.
We compared each tool on the prices, plans and limits published on its own website, read on the date shown next to every number, and on whether its page says it transcribes the audio or only reads existing captions. We did not run the same video through every tool, so this is not an accuracy ranking. WhoScribe is our own product; we list it first for the job it was built for, long videos and videos without captions paid once, and we say where another tool is the better choice.
Paste a YouTube link and WhoScribe transcribes the audio itself, so the video does not need captions. One video can run up to 10 hours and costs $5 at any length, paid once with no subscription; the first minutes are free, so you read the transcript before you pay. Transcripts come with speaker labels and timestamps and download as TXT, SRT, VTT, DOCX and PDF. TikTok, Instagram and Facebook links and uploaded files work the same way.
Recall is a knowledge-base app: you save videos, articles and podcasts, get summaries and chat with them. Its free YouTube transcript generator transcribes the audio when a video has no captions, with lower length limits in that case.
NoteGPT turns YouTube videos into summaries, notes, mind maps and quizzes for study. It also transcribes videos without subtitles, with a shorter length limit than for videos that have them.
Tactiq is mainly a meeting transcription extension for Google Meet, Zoom and Teams; its free YouTube tool lets you paste a link and copy or download the transcript. Its page does not say whether it works on videos without captions.
TranscribeYT reads the captions a YouTube video already has, previews part of the transcript free and unlocks the rest on a paid plan, with summaries, translation and exports. When a video has no captions, its page says to upload the source file instead.
YouTubeTranscript.dev is a transcript API with a website on top. It charges in credits: a captioned video costs little, and videos without captions are transcribed from the audio at a per-minute credit rate, on every plan including the free one. Exports include TXT, SRT, VTT and JSON.
MediaScribe gives transcripts of captioned YouTube videos free, without signing in, and sells one-time minute packs to transcribe videos without captions or your own files.
TurboScribe sells unlimited transcription on a monthly or yearly plan and accepts YouTube links among its inputs, with a small free allowance each day. It suits people who transcribe every week; there is no option to pay for a single video.
YTtoTranscript is free with no sign-up: it uses a video’s captions or runs the audio through speech recognition, for YouTube, TikTok and Instagram links, and exports TXT, SRT and VTT.
QuickTranscript reads a video’s existing captions, including YouTube’s automatic ones, and lets you search and download them as TXT, SRT or VTT. It only works on videos that have captions.
FAQ
For a video with captions, a free caption copier such as YouTube’s own “Show transcript” is enough. For any video, including ones without captions, an audio transcriber: WhoScribe does one video up to 10 hours for $5, paid once.
Use a tool that transcribes the audio. In WhoScribe you paste the link; the first 5 minutes are free without an account and $5 unlocks the whole video.
Yes, for videos with captions: YouTube’s “Show transcript”, YTtoTranscript and QuickTranscript are free. Transcribing the audio usually costs something; WhoScribe’s first 15 minutes of each video are free with a free account, 3 videos a day.
Most tools in this list export subtitles. WhoScribe downloads TXT, SRT, VTT, DOCX and PDF.
Paste the link. The first 5 minutes are free without an account, 15 with a free account. The whole file is $5, a one-time payment.
Paste a YouTube linkFacts about other services come from each vendor's own page, checked on Nov 7, 2026. Prices change, so follow the source link to see their current page.
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