Is YouTubeForge free to use?

Yes. No account, no sign-up. Public YouTube captions are extracted as-is. Ads may appear around the tool.

How do I access the transcript after generating it?

Every result lives on the home URL with v= and mode=text. Optional query params: lang, tlang, and mode (audio, translate, summary, srt).

Can I download the transcript?

Yes. Download TXT, SRT, VTT, Markdown with timestamp links, or JSON. Copy and Copy Markdown are also available.

Is there a limit to the length of the video?

Captions have no extra length cap. Video: about 3 hours at 360p/480p, 90 min at 720p, 60 min at 1080p+. Audio: about 3 hours.

API

YouTubeForge for developers

Same caption engine as the website. Authenticate with x-api-key (or Authorization: Bearer …). Billing via Lemon Squeezy.

See pricing Plans

Auth

curl -sS 'https://forgeyt.com/api/transcript?v=VIDEO_ID&fmt=json' \
  -H 'x-api-key: forge_sk_live_…' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json'

Endpoints

GET /api/transcript — v or url, optional lang, tlang, fmt=json|txt|srt|vtt|md|timed. Counts as one transcript credit.
POST /api/translate — JSON body with cues + tlang. Counts as one translate credit.
GET /api/audio — v + fmt=mp3|m4a|opus|wav. Basic/Pro monthly audio caps.
GET /api/video — Pro only (SD / 720). Pass q=480|720. HD not sold on the API.
GET /api/v1/me — plan + usage counters for the calling key.

Limits

Monthly quotas reset with your Lemon billing period. Burst rate is per key (Basic 120/min, Pro 300/min). Free website traffic still uses network limits and proof-of-work for downloads — paid keys skip the bot gate.

Errors

JSON {"error":"…"} with 429 when a monthly meter is exhausted, 401 on /api/v1/me without a key, and 404 for anonymous cross-site scrapers (same-site UI still works).