capslane

YouTube Transcript API with reliable fallback.

Retrieve captions from public YouTube videos or generate a transcript when captions are missing. One API with timestamped results, explicit jobs and workspace quotas.

Get 50 free requests Try a video without an account
No credit card required. Read the documentation
Capslane dashboard showing usage, latency and request activity

Built and used at Webba

GemsWebbaMurphyVICE

What’s in the box?

Native transcripts

  • Manual and automatic captions
  • Language selection
  • Millisecond timestamps
  • Plain text or structured segments

AI fallback

  • Automatic fallback when captions are missing
  • Asynchronous jobs for longer videos
  • Monotone progress reporting
  • The same response contract

Production controls

  • Workspace API keys
  • Request history
  • Monthly usage limits
  • Shared transcript cache

In production with Gems

Gems, our video product at Webba, uses Capslane for transcript analysis and footage search. Its migration kept timestamped segments and added generated fallback for videos without captions.

Read the Gems implementation or inspect the dated 200-video benchmark and its limits.

One request. One stable response.

Create an API key in the dashboard, send a video URL and receive the transcript as text or timestamped segments.

Read the transcript guide
RequestGET /v1/transcript
curl 'https://capslane.com/v1/transcript?url=VIDEO_ID' \
  -H 'x-api-key: vxl_live_...'
200 OK
{
  "lang": "en",
  "content": [
    { "text": "...", "offset": 18800, "duration": 1000, "lang": "en" }
  ],
  "source": "native",
  "cached": true
}

Everything needed to operate the API.

Fast to integrate

A REST endpoint, familiar JSON and a complete OpenAPI schema.

Visible in production

Inspect request status, latency, cache use and recent failures.

Safe by default

Server-side keys, isolated workspaces and enforced monthly limits.

YouTube transcript API Gems migration case Documentation API reference Playground

Start free and scale when you need to.

Every plan includes native extraction, AI fallback and the shared transcript cache.

Free

For testing an integration or a small personal project.

€0/ month

No payment required

50 requests per month

  • 15 generated minutes
  • Native captions
  • Timestamped JSON
  • 1 active API key
Start free

Launch

For products moving from prototype to regular usage.

€12/ month

Billed monthly

3,000 requests per month

  • Native captions
  • AI fallback
  • Shared transcript cache
  • Multiple API keys
Get started

Scale

Recommended

For production workloads with steady monthly volume.

€39/ month

Billed monthly

30,000 requests per month

  • Native captions
  • AI fallback
  • Multiple API keys
Get started

Business

For teams processing video at higher volume.

€249/ month

Billed monthly

300,000 requests per month

  • Native captions
  • AI fallback
  • Request logs
  • Multiple API keys
Get started

Prices exclude VAT. Usage limits reset monthly. Annual billing includes two months free.

Common questions.

What happens when a video has no captions?

Auto mode starts a transcription job and returns a job ID. Poll the job endpoint until the transcript is ready.

Can I request a specific language?

Yes. Pass an ISO language code. If that track is unavailable, Capslane returns the first available transcript and lists the other languages.

Are cached requests returned in the same format?

Yes. Native, generated and cached transcripts use the same response structure. The cached field tells you when no extraction was needed.

Where should I store my API key?

Keep it on your server and send it through the x-api-key header. Never expose a production key in browser code.

Start with your first transcript.

Create a workspace and get 50 requests each month.

Start building
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