Paste a channel URL or @handle into Scriptube instead of a single video link, and it becomes a channel batch: the channel's videos get transcribed, newest first, up to 5,000 per channel, on any plan. Before you run one against a channel with hundreds of uploads, it's worth understanding what it includes and what it will cost.
How a channel batch works
Submit a channel URL or @handle the same way you'd submit a video link. You can include up to 10 channels in a single request, mixed with individual videos or playlists if you want â see mixing videos, playlists, and channels in one batch. Channel batches are available on every plan, and a channel batch includes regular uploads, Shorts and past live streams.
The only limit: credits
There are no plan caps on batch size, videos per day, or parallel batches, for any plan. Credits are the only limit, and the dashboard estimate includes channels (video count and credits) before you confirm.
If your credits run out mid-batch, you keep every transcript already finished and the rest is cancelled and not charged. Top up and resubmit to continue. Full pricing is at /ui/pricing.
URL or @handle, either works
Scriptube resolves either a full channel URL or a bare @handle the same way â there's no need to look up the underlying channel ID yourself. Paste whichever one you have; both point to the same channel batch.
Running channel batches alongside other work
There is no cap on parallel batches, so a large channel can run in the background while you submit other work.
What doesn't produce a transcript
A channel batch processes every video it can, but a few things won't come back with usable text:
- Videos with captions disabled or no captions at all (auto-generated or otherwise) â see why some videos have no transcript for the full list of reasons an item fails.
- Duplicate videos â if the same video shows up across the channels or playlists you've submitted, it's only counted and charged once.
Anything that fails isn't a dead end: you can retry failed items individually without resubmitting the whole channel. See retrying failed transcripts.
Estimate before you run it
Because a channel can mean anywhere from a dozen videos to several thousand, check the cost first rather than find out after the fact. The dashboard shows a cost estimate before you confirm a batch, and the API has a dedicated endpoint for the same check:
curl -X POST https://scriptube.me/api/v1/transcripts/estimate \
-H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"urls": ["https://www.youtube.com/@somechannel"]}'
At 1 credit per video, a 400-video channel costs 400 credits whether you're on a credit allowance from your plan or topping up with a credit pack. Estimating first tells you that before you commit to it.
A worked example
Say you want every video from a smaller creator's channel to build a searchable archive. You paste https://www.youtube.com/@somechannel into Scriptube, check the estimate, and see it's 85 videos. You only need 85 credits' worth of balance, and it goes out as one batch on any plan.
How to do it in Scriptube
- Paste the channel URL or @handle into the batch field on your dashboard.
- Review the cost estimate it shows before confirming.
- Submit â videos already in the system return instantly, the rest get queued.
- Browse the results afterward in your library, filterable by channel.
Via the API, a channel URL goes into the same urls array as video and playlist links:
curl -X POST https://scriptube.me/api/v1/transcripts \
-H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"urls": ["https://www.youtube.com/@somechannel"]}'
Quick answers to common questions
Can I submit several channels at once? Yes â up to 10 channels per request, mixed with playlists and individual videos if you want.
Does a channel batch dedupe against videos I've already processed elsewhere? Duplicates within the same submission are removed automatically. Checking your library first is still the way to see what you already have from earlier submissions before you resubmit a channel.
What if the channel is bigger than my credit balance? It isn't an error â everything already transcribed is kept, the rest is cancelled and not charged, and you can top up and resubmit.
Related reading
If you're new to channel batches, downloading an entire channel's transcripts walks through the basics. For keeping a channel's playlists current over time rather than running one-off exports, see keeping a playlist up to date.
Checking in on a long-running channel batch
A channel with a few hundred videos won't finish in the time it takes to refresh the page. Check status with GET /api/v1/transcripts/{batch_id}, or set a callback_url on the submission, or register for the batch.completed webhook event, so you're not stuck refreshing a status page while it works through the queue.
Want to try it on a channel you follow? Sign up free and estimate the cost before you commit.