Why Instagram transcripts need AI
Instagram shows auto-captions as an on-screen overlay on some Reels, but it doesn't publish them as a caption track anyone can read or download. There's no "show transcript" button, and the caption under a post is whatever the creator typed, not what they said. That's why copy-pasting the spoken words of a Reel has always meant typing them out by hand.
PullSubtitle solves this with speech-to-text. When you paste a Reel or video post, we fetch the public audio and run it through an AI transcription model. You get the full spoken script as plain text, along with the post's details. Nothing is downloaded to your device and you never need to log in to Instagram.
AI transcription is included on every plan for Reels up to two minutes long, which covers the large majority of Reels. For longer videos, Starter and Pro can switch on Long-video AI, billed at 3 credits per minute.
How to transcribe an Instagram Reel
- Open the Reel in the Instagram app or on instagram.com.
- Tap the paper-plane icon (or the ⋯ menu) and choose Copy link.
- Paste the link into the box above. The Instagram icon confirms we recognised it.
- If the Reel is longer than two minutes and you're on a paid plan, switch on Long-video AI.
- Press Get transcript. The script appears with the Reel's details on the left.
- Copy it, search it, or download it in the format you need.
Any public Reel, IGTV-style video or video post works. For carousel posts with several videos, the transcript of each clip is returned one after another.
From your phone
Copy the link in the Instagram app, open PullSubtitle in your phone's browser and tap Paste inside the box. The Copy button grabs the whole transcript in one tap so you can drop it into Notes, a caption or a message.
Six ways to use an Instagram transcript
Write better captions
The best caption often expands on what you said in the video. Start from the transcript, cut it down and add a hook. You'll also catch keywords people search for inside Instagram.
Add on-screen subtitles
Most people watch Reels with the sound off. Download SRT and import it into CapCut, Edits, Premiere or another editor to burn in captions, then fix the occasional mis-heard word instead of typing everything.
Repurpose across platforms
Turn one Reel into a TikTok description, a YouTube Shorts script, a carousel outline, a LinkedIn post and a newsletter paragraph. The transcript is the master copy.
Study competitors and creators
Collect the scripts of a creator's best-performing Reels and look at how they open, how fast they get to the point and how they ask for the follow. Paid plans show plays and likes next to each script so you know which ones actually worked.
Translate for new audiences
Paste the transcript into a translator and use it to subtitle or re-record the Reel in another language.
Make content accessible
Posting the transcript in the caption or the first comment helps viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing and anyone browsing without sound.
Reel details included with every transcript
Each Instagram result comes with the context you need to judge the content:
- Every plan: creator name and username, profile link, thumbnail, post caption, publish date, duration and play count.
- Paid plans: likes and comment count, the creator's follower count, an engagement rate, the audio track (song name and artist, or "original audio"), the hashtags used in the caption and the post format.
- Pro: the Comments tab loads up to 100 comments with like counts, exportable to CSV, for audience and sentiment research.
When you export JSON or Markdown, all of this sits alongside the transcript, so your research folder always shows where each script came from and how it performed.
Accuracy tips for AI transcripts
Speech recognition is very good on clear speech and gets less reliable as conditions get harder. You'll get the best results when:
- The speaker talks clearly and close to the microphone.
- Background music is quieter than the voice.
- There's one speaker at a time rather than lots of crosstalk.
Common slip-ups are brand names, usernames, slang and technical terms. A quick read-through fixes most of them. Because AI transcripts come back as text without line-by-line timings, SRT and VTT exports use estimated timings spread across the Reel's length. They're a solid starting point for subtitles; nudge the timing in your editor if a line needs to land on an exact cut.
If a Reel is just music or has no speech, the result will be empty and won't use any credits.
Long Reels and Instagram videos
Reels can now run well past the old 90-second cap, and video posts can be longer still. Here's how length works on PullSubtitle:
- Up to 2 minutes: included in every plan for 1 credit.
- Over 2 minutes: switch on Long-video AI (Starter or Pro). Each started minute costs 3 credits from your monthly balance: 500 credits on Starter, 1,500 on Pro.
- Free plan: videos over two minutes return a message explaining that long-video AI is a paid feature. No credits are used.
Your credit balance is shown under the input box whenever you're signed in, and in full on your balance page.
Batch-transcribing Reels
If you're auditing a creator, a hashtag or your own back catalogue, one Reel at a time is slow. With a paid plan, switch on Batch, paste up to 10 links (Starter) or 50 links (Pro), one per line, and PullSubtitle works through them in order. Each row shows the Reel title and word count when it finishes, and you can open any result to copy or export it.
Pair batch mode with the CSV export to build a spreadsheet of scripts, plays and likes, then sort by performance to see which talking points resonate.
Privacy and what we store
We only work with public posts. You never give us your Instagram password, we don't follow, like or comment on anything, and the creator isn't notified. We don't keep the video file.
If you're signed in, transcripts are saved to your private history for your plan's retention period (3 days on Free, 30 days on Starter, 90 days on Pro) and you can delete any of them at any time from the dashboard. Please respect creators' rights: use transcripts for research, accessibility, learning and your own content, and credit or ask permission before republishing someone else's script.