Short answer: keep using youtube-transcript-api for scripts and notebooks on your own connection; it is free and good. Move to a hosted API when it runs on a server, because YouTube blocks most cloud IP addresses and the library then needs a paid residential proxy. A hosted API also covers TikTok and videos without captions.
Side by side#
| Feature | Transcript Dock | youtube-transcript-api |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Hosted API and MCP server | Open source Python library (MIT) |
| Sources | YouTube, TikTok, file uploads, direct media links | YouTube |
| Runs from the cloud | Yes, nothing to set up | Needs a rotating residential proxy |
| No captions | AI transcription on paid plans | Not supported |
| Exports | TXT, SRT, VTT, JSON | Text, JSON, SRT, WebVTT formatters |
| Translation | Pick an existing caption language | YouTube's automatic translation |
| Cost | 1 credit per transcript; 50 free every month | Free, plus proxy costs in the cloud |
The cloud IP problem#
The library's README says YouTube has started blocking most IPs known to belong to cloud providers, and calls then fail with RequestBlocked or IpBlocked. The fix it suggests is a rotating residential proxy, which is a second bill and a second thing to monitor. Transcript Dock runs that part for you, and you pay per transcript instead of per gigabyte of proxy traffic.
Switching takes a few lines#
Segments come back with start and end in seconds, close to the library's snippets.
# beforefrom youtube_transcript_api import YouTubeTranscriptApisnippets = YouTubeTranscriptApi().fetch("dQw4w9WgXcQ")# afterimport requestsAPI, H = "https://www.transcriptdock.com", {"Authorization": "Bearer td_live_YOUR_KEY"}job = requests.post(f"{API}/v1/jobs", headers={**H, "Idempotency-Key": "yt-dQw4w9WgXcQ"},json={"source": {"url": "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ"}, "mode": "captions_only"}).json()while job["status"] not in ("succeeded", "failed", "cancelled"):job = requests.get(f"{API}/v1/jobs/{job['id']}", params={"wait": 25}, headers=H).json()segments = requests.get(f"{API}/v1/transcripts/{job['result_id']}", headers=H).json()["segments"]# each segment: {"start": 0.0, "end": 2.4, "text": "..."}
Which to pick#
- Pick the library for YouTube only, small volume, from your laptop or a home server.
- Pick Transcript Dock for production on a cloud host, TikTok, videos without captions, subtitle exports, or giving Claude and Cursor access through MCP.
More options are in how to get a YouTube transcript.