Two kinds of tool exist: caption copiers, which are free and instant but need captions, and audio transcribers, which work on any public video. Here is what each one allows, checked on each vendor's own page.
They read the captions a video already has. YouTube's own "Show transcript" button does this, and so do many free websites. The result is instant and costs nothing. If the video has no captions, there is nothing to copy.
They listen to the sound and write it down with a speech model such as Whisper. This works whether or not the video has captions. It takes a few minutes, and long videos usually cost money because the computing is real work.
Quick test: open the video on YouTube, open the description and look for "Show transcript". If it is there, a caption copier is enough. If it is not, you need an audio transcriber.
Eight ways to get the text of a YouTube video. Every cell about another service comes from that service's own page, and each row links to the page we read. Where a page does not say something, the cell says so.
| Tool | Needs captions? | Longest video | Free part | Price | Source · checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube "Show transcript" caption copier | Yes Shows the full transcript of any video that has captions. | Not stated on their page | Built into YouTube: open the description and click "Show transcript". | Free | support.google.com/youtube/answer/15930243 checked Oct 7, 2026 |
| Tactiq free YouTube tool | Not stated on their page Says "instantly, without uploading video files"; does not say what happens without captions. | Not stated on their page | Paste a URL, then view, copy or download the transcript; no email asked. | Free | tactiq.io/tools/youtube-transcript checked Oct 7, 2026 |
| NoteGPT YouTube to Text audio transcriber | No Says "even videos with no captions can be converted". | No number stated ("almost any length") | Basic features free; no account needed to start. | Not stated on their page | notegpt.io/youtube-to-text checked Oct 7, 2026 |
| TurboScribe audio transcriber | No Transcribes the audio ("Powered by Whisper"); YouTube is listed among accepted inputs. | 30 minutes per file on Free; 10 hours (5 GB) on Unlimited | 3 transcriptions a day, each file up to 30 minutes, one file at a time, low priority | Unlimited $20 a month, or $120 a year ($10 a month) | turboscribe.ai/pricing turboscribe.ai checked Oct 7, 2026 |
| LongScribe audio transcriber | No Uses the captions when a video has them, otherwise transcribes the audio. | No fixed limit stated; for a 10-hour video their page says "often yes" | 3 recordings and 180 minutes a month | From $4.99 a month (5,000 minutes and 500 recordings a month; Premium Pro is $14.99 a month) | longscribe.com/transcription-software-pricing longscribe.com/youtube-transcription checked Oct 7, 2026 |
| MacWhisper audio transcriber | No Runs Whisper models on your Mac; "YouTube and online videos" is a Pro feature. | Not stated on their page | Free version (€0), without YouTube links. | Pro €64, one-time licence; Mac only | macwhisper.com checked Oct 7, 2026 |
| Do it yourself: yt-dlp + Whisper audio transcriber | No yt-dlp downloads the audio; Whisper transcribes it on your computer. | No limit stated; your computer sets the pace (the turbo model needs about 6 GB of VRAM) | Free and open source (Whisper: MIT licence; yt-dlp: Unlicense). | Free; needs Python and ffmpeg | github.com/openai/whisper github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp checked Oct 7, 2026 |
| WhoScribe audio transcriber | No The audio is transcribed, so videos without captions work. | 10 hours per video, after one payment or on Unlimited; files up to 1 GB (5 GB on Unlimited) | Without an account: the first 5 minutes of 1 video a day. Free account: the first 15 minutes of each video, 3 videos a day, 90 minutes a month. | $5 for one whole video, a one-time payment. Unlimited: $15 a month or $90 a year. Campaign price until October 31; normally $20 a month or $120 a year. Single video: $5 in the US, EU, UK and other high-income countries; $3 in most other countries; R$16.90 in Brazil. | Our pricing page checked Oct 7, 2026 |
Prices are in US dollars unless the vendor states another currency. Vendors change prices and limits; follow the source link to see their current page.
Pick by two questions: does the video have captions, and how many videos do you have?
Use YouTube's own "Show transcript" or a free caption copier such as Tactiq's tool. It is free and instant. YouTube's help page says the transcript is there for any video that has captions. Copy the text and you are done.
A subscription costs less per video. TurboScribe Unlimited is $20 a month or $120 a year, for files up to 10 hours. LongScribe Premium is $4.99 a month (5,000 minutes and 500 recordings a month; Premium Pro is $14.99 a month). Our own Unlimited is $15 a month or $90 a year, for videos up to 10 hours.
Run Whisper on your own computer. MacWhisper does it in an app on a Mac (Pro €64, one-time licence; Mac only; YouTube links need Pro). Or do it yourself with yt-dlp and Whisper: free and open source, but you install Python and ffmpeg and use the command line. Nothing leaves your computer.
Paste the link into WhoScribe and pay once. $5 unlocks the whole video, up to 10 hours, with no subscription to cancel. The first 5 minutes are free without an account and the first 15 with a free account, so you see the quality before you pay.
For comparison, a free plan alone does not cover a long video: TurboScribe Free stops at 30 minutes per file, and LongScribe Free gives 3 recordings and 180 minutes a month.
We sell a transcriber, so here is where we are not the best answer.
On Oct 7, 2026 we opened each vendor's own page in a real browser and copied what it states: whether it needs captions, the longest file, the free part and the price. We did not test their output quality, and we list no ratings or reviews. Our own row is read from the same settings our pricing page uses.
FAQ
Yes, with an audio transcriber. Caption copiers, including YouTube's own "Show transcript", need captions. Audio transcribers such as WhoScribe, TurboScribe, LongScribe, NoteGPT or Whisper on your own computer write down what is said. In WhoScribe you paste the link; the first 5 minutes are free without an account, and $5 unlocks the whole video, up to 10 hours.
If the video has captions, YouTube's own "Show transcript" is free. Without captions, none of the free hosted tools we checked states a free plan with no cap: TurboScribe Free takes files up to 30 minutes, LongScribe Free gives 3 recordings and 180 minutes a month, NoteGPT says "almost any length" but gives no number, and a free WhoScribe account shows the first 15 minutes of each video. The only option with no cap at all is yt-dlp with Whisper on your own computer, which is free but needs Python and some setup.
Use a tool whose limit is at least that long. WhoScribe takes videos up to 10 hours from a pasted link, for $5 per video or on Unlimited. TurboScribe Unlimited also takes files up to 10 hours. LongScribe states no fixed limit and says a 10-hour video "often" works.
Some do and some do not. YouTube's help page says its transcript is there for videos that have captions. Tactiq's page does not say what happens without captions. NoteGPT's page says videos with no captions can be converted. Check each tool's own page, or try a short video first.
At WhoScribe, $5 for the whole video up to 10 hours, paid once. FileToText charges $3 per started audio hour (a 1 hour 2 minute file counts as 2 hours), $3 minimum and $12 maximum per file, for uploaded files rather than YouTube links (filetotext.ai, checked Oct 7, 2026). TurboScribe has no single-file option; its Unlimited plan is $20 a month. MacWhisper Pro is a one-time licence for Macs.
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 Oct 7, 2026. Prices change, so follow the source link to see their current page.
You have used today's free guest transcriptions. Create an account or try again tomorrow.
Free $0
Already have an account? Log in
Your request is open
We sent a confirmation to your email. You will get our reply by email and can read it on the request page.
Open the request