YouTube transcript generator, free within daily limits
YouTube transcript generator with clickable timestamps
Paste a YouTube link and VideoNote's YouTube transcript generator gives you the full transcript with timestamps, next to the video. Click any timestamp to play that moment, search the text, download it as .srt or Markdown, then turn it into notes, flashcards and a quiz in the same view.
In short
VideoNote is a web tool that makes a timestamped transcript from a YouTube link. It uses the video's captions when YouTube has them, and transcribes the audio with Whisper large v3 turbo when it does not. You can search and copy the transcript, download it as an .srt subtitle file or as Markdown, and click a timestamp to play that point in the embedded video.
The same link also gives you study notes, a chapter timeline, flashcards, a quiz and an Ask chat. Free use covers 2 videos a day without an account and 5 a day signed in with Google, for public videos up to 30 minutes. Pro passes start at ₹79 for 7 days and allow videos up to 4 hours.
How it works
How to get the transcript of a YouTube video
01
Copy the video link
Take the link from the address bar or the Share button. Watch page links, youtu.be links and Shorts links all work. Use one video, not a playlist, and make sure the video is public.
02
Paste it and press Make notes
Paste the link in the box above. VideoNote fetches the caption track, or transcribes the audio when there are no captions, and opens the video with its transcript beside it.
03
Open the Transcript tab
Read, search or copy the text, click a timestamp to jump the video to that line, or use Subtitles .srt and Export .md beside the video to download it.
The notes open first because most people who want a transcript end up wanting the short version too. The transcript is always one tab away, and it is ready before the notes are, so you can start reading while the rest is written.
What you get
What this YouTube transcript generator gives you
A transcript is only useful if you can find things in it and get back to the moment it came from. Every part below exists for that.
The full transcript with timestamps
Every word the captions or the audio transcription produced, in order, grouped into readable blocks of about 20 seconds. Each block starts with its timestamp.
Clickable timestamps
On YouTube the video plays in an embedded player next to the text. Click a timestamp and the player jumps to that line and plays, so you can hear exactly how something was said.
Search inside the video
Type a word in the search box and the transcript narrows to the blocks that contain it, with each match highlighted and a count of how many times it appears.
Word count and source
Next to the video you see the duration, the word count, the transcript language code and where the text came from: YouTube captions or a Whisper transcript.
Subtitles .srt download
A standard numbered subtitle file with a start and end time for every line, ready for a video player, an editor or a subtitle tool.
Copy text and Markdown
Copy text puts the transcript on your clipboard with a [m:ss] timestamp before each block. Export .md saves it in a Markdown file under the notes.
Downloads
Download a YouTube transcript as SRT or Markdown
There are three ways to take the transcript out of VideoNote. Pick the one that matches where the text is going next.
| Button | What you get | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Subtitles .srt | A subtitle file: line number, start and end time, then the text, for every line of the transcript | Adding subtitles to a video, editing, reusing timings |
| Copy text | The transcript in blocks of about 20 seconds, each starting with its timestamp in square brackets | Pasting into a document, an email or a plain text file |
| Export .md | A Markdown file with the title, video link, TL;DR, summary, key points, timeline, key terms, your flashcards once made, and the full timestamped transcript | Notion, Obsidian and other note apps that read Markdown |
Caption tags such as [Music], [Applause] and [Laughter] are removed from YouTube captions so the text reads cleanly. There is no TXT, VTT, DOCX or PDF button.
Where the text comes from
Captions first, audio transcription when there are none
For a YouTube link, VideoNote first looks for a caption track. It prefers a track in the language the video is spoken in, because uploaded tracks in other languages are often translations. Both uploaded and automatic captions count. Captions are fast and do not use any of your audio transcription allowance.
When a video has no captions, VideoNote downloads the audio, transcribes it with Whisper large v3 turbo, detects the spoken language, and deletes the audio as soon as the transcript is made. This takes longer and counts toward a daily audio limit: 10 minutes a day without an account and 20 minutes a day when signed in. Pro passes include from 36 minutes on the weekly pass to 30 hours on the yearly pass.
Automatic captions are machine made, so names and technical terms can come out wrong. If a line looks odd, click its timestamp and listen. That check takes seconds here, and it is the main reason the transcript sits next to the video instead of in a separate file.
Beyond the transcript
Turn the YouTube transcript into notes
Most transcript tools stop at the text. A 30 minute lecture is thousands of words, and reading all of it is slower than rewatching. VideoNote reads the transcript for you and builds the study material from it, in the same view, with no second paste.
Notes and timeline
A TL;DR, a one paragraph summary, key points, key terms with definitions, and a timeline of timestamped chapters (usually 3 to 12, more on long videos), written in the same language as the transcript.
Flashcards and quiz
6 to 10 flashcards, each tied to a timestamp, and a 5 question multiple choice quiz with 4 options and a one sentence explanation of each answer.
Ask the video
Ask a question and get an answer under 150 words that cites moments as [m:ss]. If the video does not cover it, the answer says so before adding any general answer.
Your library
Your last 12 videos stay in your own browser. Paste the same link again and the transcript and notes reload instead of starting over.
For a guide focused on the notes themselves, see YouTube to notes.
Limits in plain words
What the free plan covers, and what it does not
Free use resets every day at midnight India time. Pro is a prepaid pass for 7, 30 or 365 days that never renews on its own.
| Plan | Videos | Longest video | Audio transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free, no account | 2 a day | 30 minutes | 10 minutes a day |
| Free, signed in with Google | 5 a day | 30 minutes | 20 minutes a day |
| Pro weekly, ₹79 for 7 days | 10 | 4 hours | 36 minutes |
| Pro monthly, ₹249 for 30 days | 40 | 4 hours | 150 minutes |
| Pro yearly, ₹1,999 for 365 days | 480 | 4 hours | 30 hours |
Free figures are per day; Pro figures are totals for the whole pass, with a daily ceiling of 10 videos. The longest video on Pro is 4 hours or the video time left on your pass, whichever is less. Free use can pause on very busy days when the day's AI capacity runs out. See full pricing and the refund policy.
What VideoNote does not do, so you can pick the right tool: it takes one video at a time, with no bulk, playlist or channel extraction. There is no API. There is no TXT or VTT download button and no translation. Live streams are not supported, so wait for the recording. Private and login only videos do not work. And because YouTube often blocks cloud servers, a public video can occasionally fail; if it does, try again later or try another video.
A common question
Can ChatGPT transcribe YouTube videos?
Not dependably from a link alone. Whether a chat assistant can open a YouTube video depends on the product, the plan and whether its browsing tools can reach the page, and an assistant that cannot reach the video has nothing reliable to transcribe. A general chat assistant also does not give you a line by line transcript with timings you can check.
The reliable route is to get the transcript first, from the video's own captions or from a speech to text model, and then work with that text. That is what VideoNote does: it makes the timestamped transcript, keeps it next to the video so every line can be checked, and then answers questions from that transcript with cited moments. If you still want to use another assistant, Copy text gives you the whole transcript to paste into it.
Who it is for
Who uses a YouTube transcript with timestamps
Students
Search a recorded lecture for the one term you missed, click its timestamp, and rewatch only that minute before an exam.
Self learners
Keep a Markdown file for every tutorial in a course, with the transcript and notes together and a link back to the video.
Quoting and research
Find the exact words a speaker used and the moment they said it, then check the line against the audio before you quote it.
Subtitles
Download the .srt file as a starting point for subtitles, then correct names and terms in your subtitle editor.
Privacy
Videos are never stored
The audio, or a small copy of the video, is deleted as soon as the transcript is made. Transcripts, notes and questions are sent to our AI processing providers to do the work and are not stored on our server. Your transcripts live in your browser. The Privacy Policy lists exactly what is kept and for how long.
Questions
YouTube transcripts, answered
How do I get the transcript of a YouTube video?
Copy the link of a public YouTube video, paste it into the box on VideoNote and press Make notes. Open the Transcript tab to see the full text in short blocks, each with its timestamp. Copy text puts the timestamped transcript on your clipboard, Subtitles .srt downloads a subtitle file, and Export .md saves the transcript in a Markdown file together with the notes.
Is the YouTube transcript generator free?
Yes, within daily limits. Without an account you get 2 videos a day, and signing in free with Google raises that to 5. Free videos can be up to 30 minutes, and each one includes the transcript, notes, timeline, flashcards, quiz and exports. Limits reset at midnight India time. On very busy days free use can pause once the day's AI capacity runs out.
Can I download the transcript as SRT?
Yes. The Subtitles .srt button saves the transcript as a numbered subtitle file with a start and end time for every line, which video players and editors can load. Export .md saves the timestamped transcript in a Markdown file along with the notes. There is no TXT or VTT button, but Copy text puts the timestamped transcript on your clipboard for any text editor.
Does the transcript have timestamps?
Yes. The transcript is split into blocks of about 20 seconds, each starting with its timestamp. On YouTube, clicking a timestamp plays the embedded video from that moment. Copied text puts each timestamp in square brackets, and the .srt file keeps the finer start and end time of every line.
What if the video has no captions?
VideoNote downloads the audio, transcribes it with Whisper large v3 turbo and then deletes it. This uses audio transcription minutes: 10 a day without an account, 20 a day when signed in, and from 36 minutes to 30 hours on a Pro pass. YouTube often blocks cloud servers, so the audio download can fail even for a public video.
Which languages are supported?
The transcript comes out in the language the video is spoken in. For YouTube, VideoNote prefers a caption track in the spoken language over a translated one when YouTube has it. When the audio is transcribed instead, the language is detected from the speech. VideoNote does not publish a fixed list of languages and does not translate, so a Hindi lecture normally gives a Hindi transcript and Hindi notes.
Why did my video fail?
The most common reason is that YouTube blocked our cloud server for that request, which can happen even with a public video, so try again later or try another video. Other reasons: the video is private or needs a login, the link is a playlist or a live stream, the video is longer than your plan allows (30 minutes on Free, up to 4 hours on Pro), the video has no audio track, or the work took longer than the server's 5 minute limit. Long videos without captions take the longest to process.
Get your next YouTube transcript, with timestamps
2 free videos a day without an account. Sign in free for 5 a day.
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