Free YouTube Transcript Generator
Paste a YouTube link and get the full, timestamped transcript in seconds. It is free, needs no account, and you can download the transcript as a text file.
How it works
- 1
Copy the video link
Any youtube.com/watch or youtu.be link to a public video with captions.
- 2
Paste it into QuickTube
Press Get transcript. QuickTube fetches the captions directly from YouTube.
- 3
Read, search or download
Every line is timestamped. Search for a word, find the moment it was said, or download the whole transcript as .txt.
What you get
Timestamped lines
Each line of the transcript shows when it is spoken, so you can find a quote and the exact time it appears in the video.
Search inside the transcript
Filter the transcript to every line that mentions a word or phrase.
Download as text
Save the full transcript as a .txt file for notes, research, subtitles or quoting.
AI on top of the transcript
Turn the same transcript into a summary, highlights, a quiz or a chat about the video with one click.
What a YouTube transcript is useful for
A transcript turns a video into text you can skim, search and quote. Students use transcripts to study lectures and online courses, researchers use them to cite interviews and talks accurately, and writers use them to pull quotes from podcasts without re-watching.
Transcripts also make videos accessible to people who prefer reading, and let you take in a long video in a fraction of the time it takes to watch it.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get the transcript of a YouTube video?
Paste the video link into QuickTube and press Fetch. The full timestamped transcript appears in the Transcript tab, where you can read it, search it, or download it as a .txt file.
Is QuickTube free?
Fetching and downloading YouTube transcripts in the QuickTube web app is free and needs no account. AI features such as summaries, highlights, quizzes and chat use credits. Visitors without an account get 30 free AI generations, and new accounts receive 400 free credits. More credits are available as one-time packs, with no subscription.
Which YouTube videos work?
Any public YouTube video that has captions, whether uploaded by the creator or auto-generated by YouTube. Private videos and videos with captions turned off cannot be transcribed.
Do I need an account?
No. You can fetch transcripts and try the AI features without signing up. Creating a free account adds 400 credits, saves your analysis history, and lets you share analyses and use the API.
Can AI agents use QuickTube?
Yes. QuickTube has a REST API and an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, installable with "pip install quicktube-mcp", that let tools such as Claude Code and Claude Desktop fetch transcripts, summarize videos and generate quizzes. Fetching a transcript through the API costs 1 credit.