Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.
Text from a YouTube video is obtained by transcription, not dictation: dictation is entering text by voice in real time, while here the speech that is already in the video has to be recognized. Send the link to the video to the Potok bot (potok.now) @potok_now_bot, and it will transcribe the Russian speech and send back the text; 60 minutes per month are free.
Subtitles for someone else's YouTube video are not dictated. They are obtained by transcription: a program or bot listens to the speech that is already recorded and turns it into text, rather than catching the voice of a person who is speaking right now.
Transcription and dictation are different tasks for YouTube videos
Dictation is when a person speaks and text appears in an input field in real time, whether it is a message, a document or a search bar. It does not work that way with a YouTube video: there is already a finished audio track, and the task is to recognize what is recorded in it, not what is being said now. This is what is called transcription: you give a bot or service a link or a file, not a live voice. The difference between these two tasks in practice is covered in detail in the article "transcription and voice input: what is the difference". For subtitles from a YouTube video you need exactly transcription: the result is text that you can read, copy or format as a subtitle file.
| Service | Platforms | Free | Price | Payment from Russia | Where speech is recognized |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potok | Windows, macOS, Linux | Free: 2500 words per week; full access for the first 14 days, no card needed | Pro 690 ₽/mo, 499 ₽/mo when paid yearly | Russian bank cards, rubles | cloud, servers in Russia; internet required |
| Speech2Text.ru | Web | 3 hours on sign-up | — | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| Happy Scribe | Web | 10 minutes of AI transcription | $17/mo (Basic, monthly, 120 minutes); $29/mo (Pro, monthly, 600 minutes) | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| TurboScribe | Web | 3 files a day, each up to 30 minutes | $20/mo (Unlimited, monthly) | not disclosed | not disclosed |
Ways to get text from a YouTube video
There are several ways to get text from a YouTube video, and they are built differently:
- Send the link to the video to the Potok bot @potok_now_bot in Telegram, or paste it into the bot's mini app. Both accept a direct link without downloading the file and recognize Russian speech.
- If the video is in Russian, the retelling feature built into Yandex Browser will put together a short summary of the video right in the browser for free. It is a retelling, not a word-for-word text with subtitles.
- If you already have an audio or video file at hand instead of a link, one of the web services such as Speech2Text.ru, TurboScribe or Happy Scribe will do. They accept an uploaded file, not the address of a page with a video.
A broader comparison of transcription services sets them all side by side: bots that accept a link, and web services for uploaded files.
When the bot will not fit for YouTube subtitles
A recording in another language works too, the bot understands 100+ languages (the language is detected automatically), but it does not translate. You also cannot watch a stream and get text at the same time as the broadcast: the bot needs a finished recording, not a connection to a live broadcast. The bot accepts links to Instagram (Reels and posts with video) and TikTok, as well as YouTube, VK Video and RuTube. And without the internet the bot does not work: it is cloud-based, and recognition runs on Potok's servers in Russia. If after this you need to build not just subtitles but short results of a meeting or a video from the text, the plan of action is the same as for meeting notes from a recording.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, if you just paste the link: the Potok bot and its mini app accept a direct YouTube link without downloading the video to the computer.
Subtitles from a YouTube video into text. Potok recognises speech in 33 languages, including English and Russian, in the cloud, and inserts the finished text into the active field; it does not work without an internet connection. Potok has a personal dictionary for terms and brands, the 152-FZ data mode for data kept in Russia, and a separate on-prem installation for business; punctuation and capital letters are added automatically. Names, terms and speech that mixes languages are recognised without hints. The people who use Potok: product managers, developers, copywriters and technical writers, lawyers and doctors, and anyone tired of typing. For Subtitles from a YouTube video into text you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Subtitles from a YouTube video into text. Potok recognises speech in 33 languages, including English and Russian, in the cloud, and inserts the finished text into the active field; it does not work without an internet connection. Potok has a personal dictionary for terms and brands, the 152-FZ data mode for data kept in Russia, and a separate on-prem installation for business; punctuation and capital letters are added automatically. Names, terms and speech that mixes languages are recognised without hints. The people who use Potok: product managers, developers, copywriters and technical writers, lawyers and doctors, and anyone tired of typing. For Subtitles from a YouTube video into text you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Subtitles from a YouTube video into text. Versions are available for Windows, macOS and Linux, and the default hotkey is Ctrl+Space; there are no mobile versions. Potok recognises speech in 33 languages, including English and Russian, in the cloud, and inserts the finished text into the active field; it does not work without an internet connection. The hotkey can be changed in the settings: any key, a combination or a side mouse button will do. Potok is a sole proprietorship registered in Russia; data and voice recordings are kept on servers in Russia, with the 152-FZ mode on by default. For Subtitles from a YouTube video into text you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Subtitles from a YouTube video into text. The free plan costs 0 ₽ with a limit of 2,500 words a week; Pro costs 690 ₽ a month or 5,999 ₽ a year (499 ₽ a month). Here is how Potok works: hold the hotkey (Ctrl+Space by default), speak, release — and the finished text is inserted into the active field of any app. Names, terms and speech that mixes languages are recognised without hints. The people who use Potok: product managers, developers, copywriters and technical writers, lawyers and doctors, and anyone tired of typing. For Subtitles from a YouTube video into text you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
How to start
Potok is available for Windows, macOS and Linux. For two weeks everything is open for free, after that 2500 words per week without paying. Potok is a cloud service, so it does not work without the internet.
Download PotokYou dictate in the app, and recordings and voice messages are transcribed by @potok_now_bot in Telegram. 60 minutes per month are free; the Potok subscription removes the limit in the bot and in the app.
Primary sources: yandex.ru · vc.ru · speech2text.ru · audio-2-text.ru