YouTube has over 800 million videos. Educators, journalists, students, and content creators all need to extract the spoken words from videos regularly. Whether you want to quote a speaker, repurpose content, create subtitles, or study a lecture — getting a YouTube transcript used to be painful. Today, it takes about 20 seconds.
Two Ways to Get a YouTube Transcript
Option 1 — YouTube's built-in captions (limited)
YouTube offers auto-generated captions on some videos. You can access them by clicking the three dots below the video → Open transcript. The problem: they're often inaccurate, not available for all videos, and can't be exported cleanly.
Option 2 — AI transcription with Dokitscript (recommended)
Dokitscript uses OpenAI Whisper to transcribe YouTube videos with much higher accuracy, in 90+ languages, directly from the URL. No download, no extension needed.
Works on YouTube Shorts too. Dokitscript supports both regular YouTube videos and YouTube Shorts — same URL paste workflow.
How to Transcribe a YouTube Video — Step by Step
Copy the YouTube URL
Go to the YouTube video. Copy the URL from your browser's address bar, or tap Share → Copy link on mobile.
Paste into Dokitscript
Go to dokitscript.com, paste the URL, and choose your language (or keep Auto-detect).
Read, copy or save your transcript
Click Transcribe. Your full transcript appears in 15–45 seconds depending on video length. Copy it or find it later in your history.
YouTube Auto-Captions vs Dokitscript
| Feature | YouTube captions | Dokitscript |
|---|---|---|
| Accuracy | Medium | High (Whisper AI) |
| Languages | ~20 auto | 90+ |
| Always available | No | Yes |
| Clean export | No | Yes |
| Works on Shorts | No | Yes |
| Free | Yes | Yes (10/mo) |
Common Use Cases
- Students — Transcribe lectures, interviews, or documentaries for notes.
- Journalists — Quote speakers accurately without replaying the video.
- Content creators — Repurpose your YouTube video into blog posts, newsletters, or social media content.
- Researchers — Analyze spoken content at scale across multiple videos.
- Language learners — Read along while listening to improve comprehension.
Plans & Limits
| Plan | Videos/month | Price |
|---|---|---|
| No account | 2 tries | Free |
| Free account | 10/month | $0 |
| Starter | 200/month | $4.99/mo |
| Pro | Unlimited | $9.99/mo |
Frequently Asked Questions
Transcribe YouTube Videos for Free
10 transcriptions per month — no credit card required.
Try It Now →Also available: TikTok to Text · Instagram to Text · Audio to Text · How to Transcribe a Podcast