Transcribe YouTube, Audio, or Video from a URL
Paste a public YouTube link with captions, audio/video file URL, Google Drive file, SoundCloud track, or podcast link and create a searchable transcript.
Instant access. No credit card required.
Sign up is required before recording/transcribing.
How it works
- Copy a public YouTube link with captions, Google Drive file link, SoundCloud track link, podcast link, or direct URL to an audio or video file.
- Open your dashboard and paste the link in Paste a link.
- Import the link. YouTube captions become one transcript job; other sources are fetched for transcription.
- For audio and video files, confirm options like language and speaker labels, then start transcription.
- Download your transcript in TXT, DOCX, PDF, SRT, or VTT.
Common issues and fixes
Links that require login or cookies cannot be fetched.
YouTube imports require a public video with manual or auto-generated captions.
Streaming pages outside the explicitly supported sources still need a direct file URL.
Large files can take longer to fetch before transcription begins.
Expired or expiring links will fail to import.
Related workflows
Jump to the next step after you record or import.
FAQ
What kinds of links work for URL transcription?
Use public YouTube links with captions, Google Drive file links, SoundCloud track links, podcast links, or direct public file URLs such as .mp3, .m4a, .wav, or .mp4. Links that require login will not work.
Can I transcribe a YouTube link?
Yes. Paste a public YouTube watch, youtu.be, or Shorts link. InstantTranscriber imports an available manual or auto-generated caption track as one transcript job. Videos without captions cannot be imported.
Start free and use this feature today
Create a free account to record, transcribe, and export in minutes.
Instant access. No credit card required.
Sign up is required before recording/transcribing.
Free Plan
$0
No credit card required
- 3 transcriptions per day
- Max 35 minutes per file
- Max 50 MB per file
- First transcript summary included
- Export to TXT, DOCX, PDF, SRT, VTT
Pro Plan
$9.99
per month - or $5.99/mo billed annually (save 40%)
- Unlimited transcriptions
- Parallel transcription jobs
- Max 10 hours per file
- Max 3 GB per file
- Higher-quality speaker labels
- Transcript summaries
- Priority support
No credit card needed for trial