The best YouTube transcript extractor gives you accurate text from any video in under 30 seconds. It handles auto-generated captions, supports multiple languages, and exports in a format you can actually use. After testing 8 tools across 50 videos in 4 languages, here's how the top options compare in early 2026.
The tools tested
We evaluated these transcript extraction tools:
- YouTube's built-in transcript viewer
- Jellypod
- Tactiq
- Otter.ai
- Descript
- Rev
- Notta
- YouTube Transcript API (open-source Python library)
Each tool was tested against the same set of 50 YouTube videos, including:
- English interviews
- Spanish lectures
- Japanese tech reviews
- French cooking tutorials
We measured accuracy against human-verified transcripts.
Accuracy results
For English-language videos with clear audio, most tools scored between 90% and 97% word-level accuracy. The gap widens with background noise, multiple speakers, and non-English content.
- Jellypod: ~96% average accuracy across all test videos. Handled speaker transitions and technical jargon well. The AI cleanup step fixes punctuation and filler words automatically.
- Descript: ~95% accuracy for English, 88% for other languages. Strong editor integration but requires a desktop app.
- Otter.ai: ~94% accuracy for English meetings and interviews. Weaker on music-heavy content.
- Rev: ~93% for AI transcription, 99% for human transcription (at $1.50 per minute). The human option is the most accurate but slowest.
- Tactiq: ~92% accuracy. Works as a Chrome extension during live viewing.
- Notta: ~91% accuracy. Good mobile app for on-the-go transcription.
- YouTube built-in: ~89% accuracy. Free but no punctuation, no speaker labels, and no export options beyond copy–paste.
- YouTube Transcript API: Pulls whatever YouTube has, so accuracy matches YouTube's auto-captions (85–89%).
Language support
Language coverage varies widely:
- Jellypod supports 30+ languages with translation between them.
- Descript supports 23 languages.
- Otter.ai focuses on English, with limited Spanish and French.
- Rev offers human transcription in 17 languages.
- YouTube's built-in viewer supports whatever auto-captions exist for the video, which covers 100+ languages but at lower accuracy.
If you work with multilingual content, Jellypod and Descript offer the broadest coverage with the highest accuracy.
Pricing comparison
| Tool | Free tier | Paid starting at | Best for |
|---------------------|---------------------|------------------|--------------------------|
| YouTube built-in | Unlimited | N/A | Quick copy-paste |
| Jellypod | Yes | $9/month | Repurposing to audio |
| Tactiq | 5 transcripts/month | $12/month | Live viewing |
| Otter.ai | 300 min/month | $17/month | Meeting notes |
| Descript | 1 hour/month | $24/month | Video editing |
| Rev | None for AI | $1.50/min (human)| Maximum accuracy |
| Notta | 120 min/month | $14/month | Mobile use |
| YT Transcript API | Unlimited | Free (open source)| Developers |
Export formats
Plain text is the minimum. More useful formats include:
- SRT/VTT (subtitle files with timestamps)
- Word documents with speaker labels
- JSON for developer integrations
- Direct podcast audio conversion
Jellypod is the only tool in this comparison that converts transcripts directly into podcast episodes. If your goal is content repurposing rather than just reading the text, this saves an extra step.
How Jellypod helps
Jellypod stands out for creators who want to do more than read a transcript. Paste a YouTube URL and you get the text plus the option to generate a full podcast episode from it.
Key advantages:
- Top-tier accuracy in our tests (~96% across 50 videos).
- 30+ language support with translation.
- Automatic cleanup of punctuation and filler words.
- Direct conversion from YouTube video → transcript → podcast episode.
The free tier lets you test accuracy on your own content before committing to a paid plan.
Final thoughts
Accuracy numbers only tell part of the story. The right tool depends on what you plan to do with the transcript:
- A developer building a search index needs the YouTube Transcript API or similar open-source tooling.
- A podcaster repurposing YouTube talks benefits most from Jellypod.
- A team that runs lots of meetings is better served by Otter.ai.
Match the tool to the workflow, not just to the feature list.
