Comparison
YouTube Transcript vs youtube-transcript-api: a hosted API or a Python library
youtube-transcript-api is a free, open-source Python library that fetches YouTube transcripts from your own machine. YouTube Transcript is a hosted API on Apify that fetches them through Apify’s proxies, for $0.01 per transcript.
Short version. Use youtube-transcript-api if your code is Python and runs from an IP address YouTube does not block, or if you need SRT or WebVTT files, or to translate a transcript into a language you choose. Use YouTube Transcript if your code runs on a cloud server or a CI runner, in any language, and you would rather pay per transcript than run proxies.
Side by side
| youtube-transcript-api | YouTube Transcript | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A Python library with a CLI, MIT license (version 1.2.5 on PyPI). No API key and no headless browser. | An actor on Apify, called over the Apify API from any language, or as a tool over MCP. Needs an Apify API token. |
| Where it runs | On your machine or server, from its IP address. | On Apify, through Apify’s datacenter and residential proxies, not your IP address. |
| From a cloud server | YouTube blocks many cloud provider IPs (RequestBlocked, IpBlocked). The README suggests rotating residential proxies, with Webshare built in, or any proxy of yours. | The same call as from a laptop. A video YouTube still blocks comes back with error and is not charged. |
| Output | The transcript with its timestamps, and formatters for JSON, plain text, WebVTT and SRT. | JSON, one item per video: segments with start and end in seconds, the full text and the title. |
| Languages | Lists a video’s transcripts and translates them with YouTube’s auto-translate. | lang (default en), falling back to the original language. Without a manual track in that language, YouTube’s automatic translation may come back instead; each item’s lang says which. |
| Captions | Manual and auto-generated subtitles. | The video needs captions: it does not transcribe audio. |
| Cost | Free and open source. Proxies, if you need them, are billed by their provider. | $0.01 per transcript delivered, up to 100 videos per run. Failed videos are not charged. |
The cost math
For 1,000 transcripts a month, the library is free and YouTube Transcript costs $10.00. What the library may add is the proxy, if YouTube blocks your server.
youtube-transcript-api: free, plus your proxy
| Item | 1,000 transcripts |
|---|---|
| Library (MIT) | $0 |
| Server or laptop | yours |
| Proxy, if YouTube blocks your IP | its provider’s price |
The README recommends rotating residential proxies over static ones.
YouTube Transcript: $0.01 per transcript
| Event | Count | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Transcript delivered | 1,000 | $10.00 |
| Total | $10.00 |
Pay per event on Apify, never above the spending limit you set. See the real output and the calls in curl, Python and Node.
Who should use which
Use youtube-transcript-api if
- Your code is Python and runs from an IP address YouTube does not block, such as your own computer.
- You need SRT or WebVTT files, or to translate a transcript into a language you choose.
- You want it free and open source, and can run a proxy if you get blocked.
Use YouTube Transcript if
- Your code runs on a cloud server, a serverless function or a CI runner.
- You call it from Node, Go, any HTTP client or an agent over MCP, not only from Python.
- You would rather pay $0.01 per transcript than manage proxies: failed videos cost nothing.
Pay per event on Apify. No subscription. More about YouTube Transcript.