5 ways to get a TikTok transcript in 2026

A TikTok transcript is what the video says, as text. TikTok shows captions on the video but gives you no way to copy them, so you need another route. Here are five, from a free tool you can use in ten seconds to an API that handles a thousand videos.

The short version

I ran the first three on the same 52 second cooking video, and the output below is what came back. The last two I describe from how TikTok works today.

What is a TikTok transcript?

A TikTok transcript is the spoken words of a video written out as text. A good one also has timestamps, so you know when each line is said.

Tools get that text in one of two ways. Some read the captions TikTok already made for the video. Others listen to the audio and run speech recognition on it.

Reading captions is fast and costs little, but it only works when the video has captions. Speech recognition works on any video with speech, takes longer and costs more. The better tools try captions first and fall back to the audio.

1. A free TikTok transcript generator

For one video, use a web tool. Ours is the free TikTok transcript generator.

• Copy the link of a public TikTok video. In the app, tap Share and then Copy link.
• Paste it into the tool.
• Read the transcript. You get one line per caption with its start time.
• Copy the text, or download a .txt file that keeps the timestamps.

You need no account, no card and no API key. A daily limit applies.

Honest take. The free tool reads captions only. A video without them returns a message that says so, and you need the API with a key to transcribe the audio. It also stops at videos 3 minutes long.

2. The TikTok transcript API

For a list of videos, or a transcript feature inside your own product, call the API. It is one POST request. Send the video link and set includeTimestamps to true if you want the start and end of each line.

1curl -X POST https://api.stophy.dev/v1/tiktok/transcript \
2  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STOPHY_API_KEY" \
3  -H "content-type: application/json" \
4  -d '{
5    "videoUrl": "https://www.tiktok.com/@bellobysandro/video/7686303660954963230",
6    "includeTimestamps": true
7  }'

The same call with the TypeScript SDK.

1import { Stophy } from "stophy";
2
3const stophy = new Stophy({ apiKey: process.env.STOPHY_API_KEY });
4
5const transcript = await stophy.tiktok.transcript({
6  videoUrl: "https://www.tiktok.com/@bellobysandro/video/7686303660954963230",
7  includeTimestamps: true,
8});
9
10console.log(transcript.data.text);

And with the Python SDK.

1import os
2from stophy import Stophy
3
4stophy = Stophy(api_key=os.environ["STOPHY_API_KEY"])
5
6transcript = stophy.tiktok.transcript(
7    video_url="https://www.tiktok.com/@bellobysandro/video/7686303660954963230",
8    include_timestamps=True,
9)
10
11print(transcript["data"]["text"])

Or from a terminal with the CLI.

1stophy tiktok transcript --videoUrl https://www.tiktok.com/@bellobysandro/video/7686303660954963230 --includeTimestamps

This is the response for that video, with the segments list cut to two lines.

1{
2  "success": true,
3  "data": {
4    "videoId": "7686303660954963230",
5    "language": "en",
6    "isAutoGenerated": true,
7    "durationSeconds": 52,
8    "text": "Guys, I will teach you one forever. The right way to cook pasta. ...",
9    "segments": [
10      { "startSeconds": 0.06, "endSeconds": 2.1, "text": "Guys, I will teach you one forever." },
11      { "startSeconds": 2.101, "endSeconds": 3.901, "text": "The right way to cook pasta." }
12    ]
13  },
14  "creditsUsed": 1
15}

text is the whole transcript in one string. segments has each line with startSeconds and endSeconds. isAutoGenerated is true when a machine made the captions.

Look at the first line. The caption reads I will teach you one forever, which is not quite what a person would say. Machine captions make small mistakes like that. Read a transcript before you quote it.

Honest take. The API needs a key and a few lines of code, so it is the wrong pick for one video. It is the right pick the moment you have ten.

3. An AI agent with MCP

If you already work in Claude Code, Cursor or Codex, let the agent get the transcript. Add the Stophy MCP server once.

1claude mcp add --transport http stophy https://mcp.stophy.dev/mcp

In Claude Code, run /mcp, select stophy and select Authenticate. You sign in with your browser and the setup has no API key.

Then paste a TikTok link and ask a question about it. Ask for the steps the cook gives in the video, or for the words of the first five seconds. The agent finds the transcript endpoint, calls it and answers from the text.

Honest take. This is the fastest way to ask about a video, and the slowest way to export a hundred transcripts. For bulk work, use the API. See the setup for each agent.

4. TikTok's own captions

TikTok makes captions for many videos. In the mobile app, press and hold a video and turn captions on from the menu that opens. The words then appear over the video while it plays.

That is all you get. TikTok has no transcript button like the one on YouTube, and you cannot select or copy the caption text. It works for reading along. It does not work for quoting, searching or saving.

TikTok also has a Research API with a voice_to_text field on each video. Access is by application, and TikTok grants it to researchers at non-profit institutions. If you are building a product, that route is closed to you.

5. Your own speech to text

You can also do the whole job yourself. Download the video, pull out the audio track and run it through a speech recognition model. Open source models that run on your own machine handle clear speech well.

This gives you full control. You choose the model, the language handling and the output format, and the audio never leaves your machine.

Honest take. It is three tools and a script for something the other ways do in one step, and downloading the video is the fragile part. Pick this way when you need a specific model or you must keep the audio in house.

What a transcript costs

The free tool costs nothing. The API and the agent charge credits, and a new account has 1,000 of them.

A video without captions costs 2 credits plus 1 credit for every 10 seconds of audio. I ran an 11 second clip with no captions and it cost 4 credits. You pay only when a transcript comes back.

What does not work

• Photo posts. They have no speech, so they have no transcript. Send the link of a video post.
• Videos longer than 3 minutes.
• Private videos. The tool and the API read public videos only.
• Videos with no captions, on the free tool. The API with a key reads the audio instead.

Which way to pick

For one video, use the free tool. For a list of videos or a feature in your product, use the API. For a question about a video while you work, ask your agent.

Turn on TikTok's captions when you only want to read along. Build your own pipeline only when you need a particular model.

Frequently asked questions

Does TikTok have a transcript button?

No. TikTok shows captions over the video in the mobile app, but it has no transcript panel and you cannot copy the caption text. To get the words as text you need a transcript tool or an API.

Is there a free TikTok transcript generator?

Yes. The free TikTok transcript generator needs no account, no card and no API key. Paste a link and you get the text with a start time for each line. A daily limit applies.

Can I get a TikTok transcript with timestamps?

Yes. The free tool shows the start time of each line and keeps it in the download. The API returns a segments list with startSeconds and endSeconds when you set includeTimestamps to true.

Can I transcribe a TikTok that has no captions?

Yes, with an API key. The endpoint reads the audio when TikTok has no captions for the video. That costs 2 credits plus 1 credit for every 10 seconds of audio. Without a key, the call reads captions only.

How long can the video be?

Up to 3 minutes. The free tool and the API both stop there.

Is there a TikTok transcript API?

Yes. Send a POST request to the TikTok transcript endpoint with videoUrl or videoId. The response has the full text, the language and a list of timed segments.

Can Claude or Cursor read a TikTok video?

Yes, through MCP. Add the Stophy server to Claude Code, Cursor or Codex and paste a TikTok link. The agent calls the transcript endpoint and answers from what the video says.

Can I turn a TikTok into a script?

Yes. The transcript is the script as spoken. Paste it into a document, or give it to a model and ask for the structure of the video, such as the hook, the steps and the closing line.

Which languages work?

The transcript comes back in the language of the video, and the response names it in the language field. Send language with a tag such as es or pt-BR to ask for a specific one.

How accurate is a TikTok transcript?

It depends on the audio. Machine captions get clear speech right and get names, slang and overlapping voices wrong. The response marks them with isAutoGenerated, so you know when to read with care.