Comparison guide
Choose the right way to work with YouTube captions.
Similar names can hide very different permission models. Start with the workflow your customers actually need, then choose the appropriate technical path.
Public transcript API
Products that need caption data from a public YouTube URL or video ID.
- Public-video workflows
- JSON, text, SRT, and VTT
- Timestamped segments and language data
Keep in mind: Only works when YouTube exposes a public caption track.
Read the API comparisonYouTube Data API
Creator tools that manage captions for videos the signed-in user owns or administers.
- Official caption management
- OAuth-based permissions
- Upload and update workflows
Keep in mind: Caption downloads require the user to have permission to edit the video.
Understand permissionsSpeech-to-text
Media you are permitted to process when no usable caption track exists.
- Can create new text from audio
- Useful for owned media
- Custom model workflows
Keep in mind: Requires lawful media access, processing, and quality review.
Compare captions and ASRThe practical decision tree
Does the user manage the YouTube video? Use the official YouTube Data API for caption management and authorized downloads.
Does the user provide a public video link? Use TranscriptYT to retrieve its publicly available caption track in an application-ready format.
Is there no usable caption track and do you have rights to process the media? Consider a transparent speech-to-text workflow.
Head-to-head comparisons
See how TranscriptYT stacks up against specific tools.