How to Get a Transcript of a HackerTube Video
HackerTube collects the YouTube videos that Hacker News keeps recommending. Paste a hackertube.org/watch link into SubGrab and you get that talk's transcript, read from YouTube's own captions.
Short answer
Paste the hackertube.org/watch/… link into SubGrab. HackerTube plays YouTube videos, and the ID at the end of its link is the YouTube video's own ID, so SubGrab reads that video's captions and gives you a timestamped transcript to copy or download as text, SRT or VTT. A captioned video costs 1 credit.
If you found a talk on HackerTube and want its words, paste the HackerTube link into SubGrab. You get a timestamped transcript of the talk, which you can copy, search or download.
What HackerTube is
HackerTube describes itself as "The YouTube videos that Hacker News keeps telling each other to watch." It collects the videos that people recommend to each other in Hacker News threads and sorts them into 16 topic areas (as of 2 November 2026), from Software Engineering & Languages and Computing History & Culture to AI, Machine Learning & Data.
Its About page says the site is "an independent project. It is not affiliated with YouTube, Google, Hacker News or Y Combinator," and that its video data comes from the YouTube Data API.
Why a HackerTube link works
Every HackerTube video is a YouTube video. The site plays it with YouTube's own embedded player, and the ID at the end of a HackerTube link is the YouTube video's ID. For example, hackertube.org/watch/R9ITLdmfdLI, Paul Graham's PyCon 2012 keynote, is the YouTube video R9ITLdmfdLI.
So when you paste a HackerTube link, SubGrab reads it as that YouTube video. It then does what it does with any YouTube link: it reads the video's captions. That keynote runs 47 minutes and has English captions, so SubGrab reads those rather than transcribing the audio.
How to do it
1. Open the video on HackerTube.
2. Copy the address from your browser's address bar. It looks like hackertube.org/watch/R9ITLdmfdLI.
3. Paste it into SubGrab and press Get Transcript.
4. Read the transcript on the page, or download it as plain text with timestamps, SubRip (SRT) or WebVTT (VTT).
Which HackerTube links work
| Link you have | Works? | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| hackertube.org/watch/VIDEO_ID | Yes | Paste it as it is |
| www.hackertube.org/watch/VIDEO_ID | Yes | Paste it as it is |
| A playlist (hackertube.org/p/…) | No | Open one video and copy its link |
| A category, area or search page | No | Open one video and copy its link |
A playlist, category or search page is a list of videos, not one video, so SubGrab says so instead of charging you for something it can't transcribe. Paste each video's own link instead.
What it costs
- A video with captions: 1 credit, the same as pasting the YouTube link.
- Already fetched: if anyone has pulled that video's captions before, from HackerTube or YouTube, you get them straight away at no charge.
- No captions: SubGrab offers AI transcription of the audio at 1 credit per 60 minutes of video, and shows the price before it charges.
Every new account gets 2 free credits, so your first two captioned talks cost nothing. The rest is on the pricing page.
The same transcript, wherever you found the video
A HackerTube link and a YouTube link to the same video give you the same transcript, because they are the same video. Use whichever link you have. If you're curious which other link shapes work, from youtu.be to embed links, see every video link format that works. For YouTube in general, see how to get a YouTube transcript.
SubGrab is not affiliated with HackerTube.
Frequently asked
Is a HackerTube transcript different from the YouTube one?
No. HackerTube plays the YouTube video itself and adds no audio of its own, so pasting the HackerTube link or the YouTube link gives you the same transcript, at the same price. If that video's captions were already fetched, by you or anyone, you get them straight away at no charge.
What if the HackerTube video has no captions?
Then SubGrab offers AI transcription of the audio instead, at 1 credit per 60 minutes of video, and shows you the price before it charges anything. Most of the long talks HackerTube collects have captions, so this is the exception.
Can I transcribe a whole HackerTube playlist at once?
No. SubGrab transcribes one video per link. A HackerTube playlist, category or search page is a list, so SubGrab tells you to open the video you want and paste the link from its page, which looks like hackertube.org/watch/ followed by an ID.
Is SubGrab part of HackerTube?
No. They are separate projects. HackerTube says on its About page that it is an independent project, not affiliated with YouTube, Google, Hacker News or Y Combinator, and SubGrab is not affiliated with HackerTube.