Video to Text — Transcribe Any Video
Upload a video and get everything that is said in it as text. Your browser extracts the audio track first, so a 500 MB screen recording or phone video uploads as a couple of megabytes; ParseJet then transcribes it with speech recognition running on our own servers. Dozens of languages, punctuation, timed segments — free to try, and the same result is one API call for developers.
Drop a file here or browse
Accepts MP4,MOV,MKV,WEBM,AVI,WMV,M4V,FLV,3GP files
Free — 3 requests/day, no signup. for 300 credits/month free.
How it works
Upload your video
Drop an MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI, WMV or M4V. The audio is extracted in your browser, so the video itself never has to be uploaded.
Speech recognition
The language is detected and the speech transcribed on ParseJet’s servers, with punctuation and paragraph breaks at pauses.
Copy the transcript
Copy the text for notes, captions or a summary, or fetch it as JSON with timestamps through the API.
Key features
What makes this video to text stand out.
Every common video format
MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI, WMV, M4V, FLV and 3GP — phone videos, screen recordings, Zoom exports, camera files.
No huge uploads
Only a compact mono audio track leaves your machine: about 360 KB per minute, whatever the video’s resolution.
Dozens of languages
Auto-detected; English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Russian and more.
Timestamps included
Timed segments come back with every transcript — the raw material for subtitles and chapter markers.
Private by design
Recognition runs on servers ParseJet operates with open-source models; audio is discarded once the transcript is returned.
API for scale
POST a video file to /v1/parse/video and get the transcript as JSON. Python and JavaScript SDKs available.
Use cases
Common scenarios where this tool saves you time.
Lectures and webinars
Turn a recorded class or webinar into notes you can search, quote and summarise.
Meeting recordings
Zoom, Teams and Meet exports become minutes and action items — paste the transcript into your AI assistant.
Subtitles and captions
Use the timed segments to caption a video for social media or accessibility.
Content repurposing
Draft the blog post, newsletter or thread from what was actually said in the video.
Automate with the API
Use the same tool programmatically. Works with any language — just HTTP.
# Transcribe a video file (MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI ...) curl -X POST https://api.parsejet.com/v1/parse/video \ -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \ -F "[email protected]" \ -F "language=en" # Response: text + metadata.segments [{start, end, text}], duration, language
import httpx
resp = httpx.post(
"https://api.parsejet.com/v1/parse/video",
headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"},
files={"file": open("lecture.mp4", "rb")},
timeout=600,
)
data = resp.json()
print(data["text"])
print(data["metadata"]["duration"], "seconds,", data["metadata"]["language"]) const formData = new FormData();
formData.append("file", videoFile); // MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI ...
const res = await fetch("https://api.parsejet.com/v1/parse/video", {
method: "POST",
headers: { Authorization: "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" },
body: formData,
});
const { text, metadata } = await res.json();
console.log(text, metadata.segments); Want to automate this?
ParseJet API gives you the same parsing power via a single HTTP endpoint. No ffmpeg, no poppler, no tesseract — just one API call.
Frequently asked questions
How do I transcribe a video to text?
Drop the video above. Your browser pulls out the audio track, uploads that small file, and the transcript appears below the box — copy it from there. Three transcriptions a day are free without an account.
Do I have to upload the whole video?
No. The audio is extracted in your browser and only that is sent — roughly 360 KB per minute. A 2 GB recording still works; the first run downloads the in-browser converter (about 30 MB) once.
How long can the video be?
Up to 5 minutes of audio per request. For longer videos, trim or split the file, or send the parts through the API — timestamps make it easy to stitch the transcripts back together.
Which languages are supported?
Dozens, auto-detected: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and more. Add language=xx for short clips.
Can I transcribe a YouTube video?
Use the YouTube Transcript tool: it fetches the captions when they exist and otherwise transcribes the audio. This page is for video files on your device.
Is it free?
Yes. Three free transcriptions a day with no signup. A video transcription costs 5 credits (up to 5 minutes of audio); the free account includes 300 credits per month. Paid plans start at $19/month.
Related tools
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YouTube Transcript Extractor
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Extract Audio from Video
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