How to Get English Transcripts from Bilibili Videos
Bilibili doesn't provide downloadable transcripts. Learn how to extract and translate Chinese Bilibili videos into English text transcripts with SubGrab.
Bilibili is China's largest video platform with over 300 million monthly active users. It hosts everything from anime commentary and gaming content to tech tutorials and educational lectures. For international researchers, students, and fans, getting an English transcript from a Bilibili video can be incredibly valuable — but Bilibili makes it nearly impossible.
The Challenge with Bilibili
Bilibili has several features that make transcript extraction difficult:
- No built-in transcript download for viewers
- Danmaku (scrolling comments) overlay — these are NOT captions and contain viewer comments, not spoken content
- Most content is in Chinese — even when captions exist, they're rarely in English
- Geographic restrictions — some videos are region-locked to China
How SubGrab Handles Bilibili
SubGrab supports both Bilibili URL formats:
bilibili.com/video/BVxxxxxxxxxx(BV format — most common)bilibili.com/video/avXXXXXX(legacy AV format)b23.tv/XXXXX(short links — automatically resolved)
### The Process
1. Copy the Bilibili video URL
2. Paste into SubGrab at subgrab.com
3. AI transcribes the audio — SubGrab's Whisper-based AI supports Chinese, Japanese, English, and 90+ other languages
4. Download the transcript as TXT, SRT, or VTT
The AI transcription produces text in the language that was spoken in the video. For Chinese-language videos, you'll get a Chinese transcript. You can then use any translation tool to convert it to English.
Use Cases
### Anime and Entertainment Fans
Fan translators can use SubGrab to get the raw Chinese transcript, then translate and time it into English subtitles. This is far faster than transcribing by ear.
### Academic Researchers
Chinese universities and institutions frequently post lectures, seminars, and research presentations on Bilibili. Researchers outside China can now access these as text for analysis and citation.
### Language Learners
Mandarin learners can use Bilibili transcripts as study material — reading along with the audio to improve listening comprehension and vocabulary.
### Tech and Gaming Content
Bilibili hosts significant Chinese tech review and gaming content that doesn't appear on YouTube. Product managers and analysts tracking the Chinese market can transcribe these for competitive intelligence.
### Content Translators
Professional translators working on Chinese-to-English projects can use the raw transcript as a starting point, significantly reducing turnaround time.
Pricing
Bilibili is an AI-only platform (no extractable captions), so each transcription costs 1 credit. Every new SubGrab account gets 2 free credits. Credit packs start at $1.99 for 3 credits.
Tips for Best Results
- Videos with clear speech produce the best transcripts. Music videos or heavily edited content with rapid cuts may have lower accuracy.
- Educational content (lectures, tutorials) typically produces excellent results due to clear, deliberate speech.
- Short links (b23.tv) are automatically resolved — just paste them in.
- For best results with Chinese content, the AI generally handles Mandarin very well. Cantonese and other Chinese dialects may have lower accuracy.