Best YouTube transcript APIs compared: sum.video, Supadata, Transcribr and the Python library
Four ways to get YouTube transcripts in code, compared on price, limits and reliability: sum.video, Supadata, Transcribr and youtube-transcript-api.
The best YouTube transcript API depends on your volume and your tolerance for maintenance. The free Python library youtube-transcript-api is fine for small scripts on your own machine. For a server or a product, a hosted API such as sum.video, Supadata or Transcribr saves you from handling YouTube blocks yourself. Here is how they compare, based on each vendor's own pages as opened in October 2026.
The short answer
- Hobby script or one-off research, from a home connection: the Python library.
- Pay as you go, credits that never expire, no subscription: sum.video or Transcribr.
- Monthly plan with a free tier and an audio fallback: Supadata.
- Your own videos only: the official YouTube Data API.
Comparison table
| sum.video | Supadata | Transcribr | youtube-transcript-api | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Hosted REST API | Hosted API | Hosted tool with API | Open source Python library |
| Pricing model | One-time credit packs, never expire | Monthly plans | One-time credit packs, never expire | Free (MIT license) |
| Price per transcript | $0.090 to $0.030 | About $0.017 (Basic) to $0.0009 (Supa) | $0.05 to $0.016 | $0, plus proxy costs |
| Free tier | 10 credits (5 transcripts) with the first key | 100 credits a month | 25 free transcripts (API not listed on the free plan) | Everything |
| Audio transcription fallback | No | Yes, 2 credits per minute | Not stated | No |
| Rate limit | 60 requests a minute per key | 1 to 100 requests a second by plan | Not stated | Your own connection |
| Spend controls | Auto top-up, monthly budget, monthly credit limit, email alerts | Auto recharge on Pro and above | Not stated | Not applicable |
sum.video Transcript API
The sum.video Transcript API is a REST endpoint that takes a video URL or ID and returns existing captions as json segments with timestamps, plain text or srt. A transcript costs 2 credits. Packs are one-time and never expire: 100 credits for $4.49, 500 for $13.99, 2,000 for $37.99 and 5,000 for $74.99. Requests that return no transcript or fail on sum.video's side cost nothing.
What stands out is the spend control: auto top-up below a chosen balance, a monthly top-up budget, a monthly credit limit that returns 402 budget_exceeded, and email alerts. That suits a product that must not surprise its owner with a bill. See the scenario YouTube transcripts for a RAG app at scale for a worked example.
Limits: it returns captions only, with no audio transcription, so uncaptioned videos return 404 no_transcript. The rate limit is 60 requests a minute per key, with up to 5 active keys. Code examples are in how to get a YouTube transcript with an API.
Supadata
Supadata sells monthly plans. The free plan has 100 credits a month at 1 request a second. Basic is $5 a month for 300 credits, Pro is $17 for 3,000, Mega is $47 for 30,000, and larger plans reach 1,000,000 credits. One transcript is 1 credit, so the effective price falls to roughly a tenth of a cent at the top. Credits do not roll over to the next month.
Its distinguishing feature is an optional AI transcription fallback: if a video has no transcript, you can have one generated, at 2 credits per minute of video. If your catalog includes uncaptioned videos, that matters. Higher rate limits (up to 100 requests a second) and auto recharge are available on bigger plans, and some advanced endpoints need Pro or higher.
The trade-off is the subscription: unused credits expire monthly, so a spiky workload can waste some.
Transcribr
Transcribr started as a transcript extractor for channels and playlists and also offers a Chrome extension, an MCP server and an API. Its pricing is one-time credit packs that never expire: $4.99 for 100 credits, $14.99 for 500, $39.99 for 2,000 and $79.99 for 5,000, which the page prices at $0.05 down to $0.016 per transcript. The free plan gives 25 transcripts, but API access is listed on paid plans only.
It is strongest if you want bulk downloads of whole channels with export presets (TXT, JSON, CSV, SRT, VTT and more) rather than only code. Its homepage does not state API rate limits, so check them with the vendor before you plan a large job.
youtube-transcript-api (Python library)
youtube-transcript-api is an MIT-licensed library with about 8.5k GitHub stars. Install it with pip install youtube-transcript-api, pass a video ID, and iterate over the snippets. It needs no API key, handles manual and auto-generated captions, can list and translate transcripts, and has formatters and a CLI.
The catch is in its README: it uses an undocumented part of YouTube's web client, so there is no guarantee it keeps working. YouTube has begun blocking many cloud provider IPs, which raises RequestBlocked or IpBlocked exceptions, and the author recommends rotating residential proxies (Webshare is supported out of the box), while warning that a proxy does not guarantee you will not be blocked. Age-restricted videos currently cannot be fetched with cookies.
So the library costs nothing in licence fees but can cost you time and proxy bills once you run it from a server.
What about the official YouTube Data API?
Google's captions download method requires authorization and permission to edit the video, and each call costs 200 quota units. That makes it right for tools that manage your own channel, and wrong for fetching transcripts of videos you do not own.
How to choose
- Do you need audio fallback? If yes, Supadata is the one in this list that states it.
- Is your volume steady or spiky? Steady volume suits a monthly plan. Spiky or occasional volume suits credits that never expire.
- Will it run from a server? Then a hosted API usually beats the library, which is most exposed to IP blocking from cloud providers.
- Do you need hard spend limits? sum.video lists auto top-up, budgets and alerts.
- Do you just want one video's transcript or summary? Skip the API: use the YouTube transcript tool or the summarizer.
Prices and limits change, so confirm them on each vendor's page before you commit.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest way to get YouTube transcripts?
The open source Python library has no licence fee, but running it from a server may need proxies. Among hosted APIs, Supadata's large monthly plans have the lowest per-transcript price (about $0.0009 on the biggest plan), while sum.video packs go from $0.090 to $0.030 and Transcribr from $0.05 to $0.016, both with credits that never expire.
Why does youtube-transcript-api stop working on a server?
Its README says YouTube has begun blocking many IPs from cloud providers, which raises RequestBlocked or IpBlocked errors. The author suggests rotating residential proxies, with no guarantee against blocks.
Which API transcribes videos that have no captions?
Among the tools compared here, Supadata states an AI transcription fallback at 2 credits per minute of video. The sum.video Transcript API returns existing captions only, so uncaptioned videos return 404 no_transcript at no cost.
Can I use the official YouTube Data API for transcripts?
Only for your own videos in practice. The captions download method requires permission to edit the video and costs 200 quota units per call.
Which option has spend controls?
sum.video offers auto top-up, a monthly top-up budget, a monthly credit limit and email alerts. Supadata offers auto recharge on Pro and above. Transcribr's page does not state spend controls.
Related reading
How to get a YouTube transcript with an API (curl, Python, JavaScript)Fetch any public YouTube transcript with one HTTP request. Working curl, Python and JavaScript examples, output formats, error codes and costs.
YouTube transcripts for a RAG app at scale: credits, auto top-up and budgetsA developer ingests 10,000 YouTube videos into a RAG app. See the cost, the rate limit math, and how auto top-up and budgets keep the spend predictable.
Build a personal knowledge base from YouTube videosTurn the YouTube videos you learn from into a searchable library of summaries and saved points, with a weekly recap, so you can find an idea again months later.
Latest posts
- How to get a YouTube transcript with an API (curl, Python, JavaScript)Fetch any public YouTube transcript with one HTTP request. Working curl, Python and JavaScript examples, output formats, error codes and costs.
- YouTube transcripts for a RAG app at scale: credits, auto top-up and budgetsA developer ingests 10,000 YouTube videos into a RAG app. See the cost, the rate limit math, and how auto top-up and budgets keep the spend predictable.
- Build a personal knowledge base from YouTube videosTurn the YouTube videos you learn from into a searchable library of summaries and saved points, with a weekly recap, so you can find an idea again months later.