URL to Text Converter Online Free
Paste a link to an article, video, podcast, public Google Doc or PDF and get editable text
URL to text conversion takes 3 steps: paste a public link, let us detect the source and pull its text, captions or audio, then review the result. Audio and video links get their first 30 minutes free with no account. Articles, public Google Docs and PDFs have no audio length, so no minutes are counted.
Only use links you have the right to use, and follow the source site's terms.
No account? The first 30 minutes of any file are free. Create a free account for premium on your first file.
- 99%
- Accuracy
- 99+
- Languages
- Anytime
- Cancel, no contract
- Free
- 30 min, no signup
Why use URL to Text Converter?
Articles and Blog Posts
Paste a news article, blog post or other web page. We render it in a real browser and extract the readable text, without the menus and ads.
Video and Podcast Pages
YouTube, Vimeo, Loom, TikTok, X, Facebook, Twitch, Dailymotion, Spotify and Apple Podcasts episode pages, Anchor and more. We use existing captions where they exist and transcribe the audio when they do not.
Google Docs and PDF Links
Public Google Doc links and PDF URLs convert straight to clean text. No download step and no sign-in flow for public documents.
Premium Engine Accuracy
Audio transcription reaches 99% accuracy on clear recordings, across 99+ languages.
How it works
Paste Your URL
Any public URL you have the right to read: an article, a video, a podcast episode page, a public Google Doc, a PDF or a direct media file.
We Detect and Extract
We identify the source type and fetch it the right way: a browser render for articles, captions or audio for video, and direct conversion for documents.
Review Your Text
Read, search and copy the result. Audio sources get timestamps and speaker labels; articles and documents come back as clean text.
URL to text: how it works and what to expect
What is a URL to text converter?
A URL to text converter turns the content at a web address into editable text.
You paste a link to an article, video, podcast page, public Google Doc or PDF, and the converter handles each source the way it needs: it renders articles, reads existing captions, transcribes audio, or converts the document directly.
My take: use a link whenever the content is public and you are allowed to use it. It saves you downloading the file, finding the right tool and copying the text across by hand.
What can I convert to text?
- Articles and blog posts
- YouTube, Vimeo, Loom, Twitch, Dailymotion, TikTok, Instagram, X and Facebook video pages
- SoundCloud tracks and Google Drive files shared by link
- Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Anchor episode pages
- Public Google Docs
- PDF URLs
- Direct MP3, MP4, WAV and M4A files
To remember: paste a public URL that you have the right to access. Pages behind a login or a hard paywall cannot be read.
Link to transcript: one page per platform
Every platform below has its own page with the same link box, plus the exact link format and the cases that fail.
| Platform | Link to paste | What works |
|---|---|---|
| Spotify | open.spotify.com/episode/... | Episodes of shows with a public podcast feed |
| Apple Podcasts | podcasts.apple.com/...?i=... | Episodes of shows with a public podcast feed |
| YouTube | youtube.com/watch?v=... or youtu.be/... | Public and unlisted videos |
| TikTok | tiktok.com/@user/video/... or vt.tiktok.com/... | Public videos |
| instagram.com/reel/... | Public Reels and video posts | |
| facebook.com/share/r/... or a video URL | Public videos and Reels | |
| X (Twitter) | x.com/user/status/... or x.com/i/spaces/... | Public posts with a video; recorded Spaces, though long ones may need an upload |
| Vimeo | vimeo.com/123456789 | Public videos |
| Loom | loom.com/share/... | Shared Loom videos |
| SoundCloud | soundcloud.com/artist/track | Public tracks |
| Google Drive | drive.google.com/file/d/... | Files shared as Anyone with the link, not folders |
| Podcast RSS | The episode's MP3 link from the feed | Direct audio links; a whole feed URL may not work, so paste the episode's MP3 link |
Spotify podcast transcript generatorApple Podcasts transcript generatorYouTube transcript generatorTikTok transcriptsInstagram Reel transcriptsFacebook video transcript generatorX video and Space transcriptsVimeo transcriptsLoom transcriptsSoundCloud transcript generatorGoogle Drive transcripts
How each source is handled
| Source | What we do | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Article or blog post | Render the page in a browser and keep the readable content | Clean text, no minutes counted |
| Public Google Doc or PDF | Convert the document directly | Clean text, no minutes counted |
| Video page | Use existing captions first, otherwise transcribe the audio | Transcript with timestamps |
| Podcast episode page | Find the episode audio in the show's public feed | Transcript with timestamps |
| Direct media file | Download and transcribe the audio | Transcript with timestamps |
Free limits, in numbers
- No account: the first 30 minutes of an audio or video link, up to 3 files a day.
- Free account: up to 30 files a day, up to 30 minutes each, and your first file on the premium engine for up to an hour, with speaker labels.
- Paid plans and the Weekly Pass: full-length recordings on the premium engine and every download format.
- Articles, public Google Docs and PDFs: no audio, so no minutes are counted.
How accurate is the transcription?
On the premium engine, audio transcription reaches up to 99% accuracy on clean recordings. Background noise, people talking over each other, strong accents and poor microphones all lower it.
Any automatic transcript can miss words. Review important passages before you use a transcript for legal, academic, medical or published work.
When to convert a link, and when to upload
I recommend a link for public content that is ready to use: a news story, a lecture on YouTube, a podcast episode with a public feed. Upload the file instead when the source is private, needs a login, or the link stops working.
Transcribe an uploaded fileVideo to textYouTube transcript generator
URL to Text Converter vs typing it out by hand
Why upload-and-go beats manual transcription every time.
| Capability | CATT | Manual transcription |
|---|---|---|
| Time to first draft | Minutes per file | 8 to 10 hours per audio hour |
| Accuracy | 99% on clear audio | Depends on the typist |
| Speaker detection | Automatic | Tagged by hand |
| Languages | 99+ supported | Whatever you speak |
| Exports | TXT, DOCX, PDF, SRT, VTT | Whatever you build by hand |
| Cost | Free for the first 30 minutes | Your time, every time |
Weighing transcription services instead? Read the full CATT vs Otter.ai comparison
Simple pricing
Free for files up to 30 minutes, no card needed. Paid plans start at $14.99.
Free
- 30 free transcriptions every day, each up to 30 minutes
- Your first file on our premium engine, up to an hour, with speaker detection and top accuracy
- Free TXT download, plus copy and edit every transcript
Cancel anytime. Try the free plan before you upgrade. See all plans
Frequently asked questions
Articles and blog posts, YouTube and other video platforms (Vimeo, Loom, Twitch, Dailymotion, TikTok, X, Facebook), podcast pages (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Anchor), public Google Docs, PDF URLs and direct media files such as MP3, MP4, WAV and M4A.
Yes. Audio and video links get their first 30 minutes transcribed free without an account, and no card is needed. Any automatic transcript can miss words, so check important passages against the source.
No. We fetch articles, captions, audio, PDFs and public Google Docs automatically from the link you paste.
Yes. We check for the transcript YouTube already provides first. If there is none, we extract the audio and transcribe it.
We cannot read a page that needs a login or sits behind a hard paywall. Save a copy you are allowed to use and upload the file instead.
Audio and video links get a 30-minute free preview without an account. A free account transcribes files up to 30 minutes each, and its first file runs on the premium engine for up to an hour. Articles, Google Docs and PDFs have no audio length, so no minutes are counted for them.
A free account can copy the text and download it as TXT. SRT, VTT, DOCX, PDF and JSON downloads come with a free account's first file, the Weekly Pass, a minutes top-up or a paid plan. Without an account you can read the transcript.
99 languages with automatic detection, including English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Arabic and Hindi. You can also pick the spoken language yourself when detection gets it wrong.
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