What you get with every transcript
- Readable paragraphs instead of one-line caption fragments, with timestamps you can switch off.
- A player beside the text: click any line to jump there; the line being spoken is highlighted.
- Search inside the transcript with every match highlighted and counted.
- Every caption track the video has — creator-written and auto-generated — plus translation into 24 languages (free for videos up to 20 minutes).
- Downloads as plain text, SRT or VTT subtitles, or a Word document with the title and link at the top.
Which videos work
Any public YouTube video, Short or live replay that has captions — about nine in ten talks, lectures and podcasts do, because YouTube generates captions automatically for most spoken-word videos in major languages.
Private, members-only and age-restricted videos don't expose captions, and music videos often have none. For those, upload your own copy of the audio or video and we transcribe the sound itself.
ScribeCue vs other transcript tools
Checked on 18 October 2026 against the free tier of each tool, logged out.
| ScribeCue | YouTubeToTranscript | TurboScribe | NoteGPT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube transcript without sign-up | Yes, unlimited | Yes, with ads | No YouTube caption tool | Limited, then login |
| Paragraphs + click-to-seek + search | Yes | Line by line | — | Yes |
| Export TXT / SRT / VTT / DOCX without login | All four | Copy only | After sign-up | After login |
| AI summary + chapters | Yes, 3/day free | Prompt list only | No | Yes, after login |
| Upload audio/video, speaker labels | Yes, 120 free min/month | No | Yes, after sign-up | Members |
| Pay per minute (no subscription) | Yes | — | Subscription only | Subscription only |
| Ads on the page | None | Many | None | Some |
Privacy and how it works
ScribeCue only reads the captions YouTube already publishes for a video. We don't download or store the video, and we are not affiliated with YouTube or Google.
Files you upload for transcription are stored privately, deleted as soon as the transcript is ready (7 days at the latest), and never used to train AI models.
Frequently asked questions
Is ScribeCue free?
Yes. YouTube transcripts, timestamps, search, translation of videos up to 20 minutes and all four export formats are free with no account. You also get 3 AI summaries a day and 120 minutes of upload transcription a month. Pro is $12/month (or $96/year) for 1,500 minutes; minute packs start at $6 for 120 minutes and never renew.
How do I get the transcript of a YouTube video?
Copy the video's link from the address bar or the Share button, paste it into the box at the top of this page and press Get transcript. The full text appears in a few seconds.
Why does it say the video has no captions?
The creator turned captions off, or YouTube hasn't generated them (common for music and very new uploads). Upload your own copy on the Video to text page and we transcribe the audio instead.
Can I download the transcript?
Yes — choose TXT, SRT, VTT or DOCX from the Download menu. SRT and VTT keep the timing, so they work as subtitle files in editors like Premiere, DaVinci Resolve and CapCut.
Does it work on phones?
Yes. The page works in any mobile browser; on a phone, use Share → Copy link in the YouTube app and paste it here.
How accurate are YouTube transcripts?
Creator-written captions are usually exact. Auto-generated captions are good for clear speech but miss names and jargon; we label which kind you are looking at. For an accurate transcript with speaker labels, upload the file.