ChannelScout

Your YouTube research. Collected and searchable. Track how topics trend, peak, and evolve across hundreds of videos.

Researching what someone said on YouTube means watching hours of footage and hoping you find it. ChannelScout collects available channel transcripts, makes your saved text searchable, and tracks how topics trend over time without watching a single video manually.

Search a channel
Transcript Search

Find quotes in your saved YouTube transcripts.

channelscout.app/analyze

Paste a YouTube URL to collect an available timestamped transcript. Search by keyword, boolean, or regex. Every result jumps directly to that moment. Works across an entire channel, not just one video.

  • Collect available captions from public videos, channels, and playlists
  • Search by keyword, boolean, or regex, then click a result to jump to that exact second
  • Choose Whisper AI for accessible videos without captions, within your plan budget
Try it free with no signup
Clip Builder

From research to clip without switching tools.

channelscout.app/clip

Found what you need in the transcript? Cut the clip right there. Read the transcript alongside the player, set your in and out points with a single click, and request the download. No scrubbing, no editing software, no context switching.

  • The transcript loads alongside the player. Click any line to seek
  • Set A/B in-out points from the current playhead position
  • Download in 720p to 4K for commentary, citation, or reporting
Try the Clip Builder
Research Intelligence

See how any topic trends across your entire library.

channelscout.app/search

Once you've built a transcript library, search across all of it at once. Find every mention across hundreds of videos, see which creators lead the conversation, and track how topics peak and fade month by month.

  • Search your saved library by keyword, boolean, or regex
  • Trend View charts monthly and quarterly activity so you can spot when topics peaked
  • Top videos by match count shows which content drives each conversation
  • Export matching video summaries to CSV for offline analysis
Start building your library
Keyword alerts

Get an email when a channel mentions your keyword.

Sample keyword alert email: three sentences from a news channel video with the word election highlighted, each with a link to the moment

Illustrative example with fictional content.

Follow the channels you care about and add a keyword. When a new video says it, ChannelScout emails you the sentences around it. It is a researcher tool I built for my own work, now open to everyone.

The lowest-priced spoken-keyword alerts for YouTube channels: free to start, and from $9/month. Get an email with the exact sentences and a link to the moment when your keyword is spoken in a new video.

  • ✓The email quotes the matching sentences with your keyword highlighted.
  • ✓Each match links to read or watch that exact moment.
  • ✓Free includes 1 keyword alert with a daily summary email. Pro and Studio can also choose instant emails.
See plans

Why ChannelScout

Extract, search, and analyze in one workspace.

Build a saved transcript library from YouTube channels, find timestamped quotes, and track topics across videos. Large channel jobs run in the background, with progress, cooldowns, and missing-video details available in Library > Jobs.

01

Extract

Collect available channel captions in a background job. Choose whether to use Whisper for videos without captions.

02

Search

Keyword, boolean, or regex across your entire saved library. Every match shows the exact timestamp.

03

Analyze

See how a topic trends month by month across your saved library.

Build a transcript collection for your study workflow.

Collect available captions or choose Whisper for accessible audio without captions. Export the resulting text for use in your notes and research tools.

For students

Practical research guides

Features

Channel & Playlist Research

Channel Auto-Collection

Quote Finder

Competitor Strategy

Citable Timestamps

Multi-Format Export

AI Analysis

Works Without Captions

Any URL, Not Just YouTube

Upload Your Own Files

Perfect For

Researchers & Academics

Cite video sources with precise timestamps. Build a permanent transcript corpus that stays searchable.

See how →

Journalists & Reporters

Find and verify exact quotes for news coverage. Export with clickable YouTube timestamp links.

See how →

Content Creators

Explore competitor topics, hooks, and CTAs, then clip the moments you found.

See how →

Commentators & Critics

Extract clips for commentary and critique without leaving the research flow.

OSINT Analysts

Search names, claims, and locations across an entire channel. Build a permanent intelligence archive.

See how →

Students & Self-Learners

Collect lecture captions or transcribe accessible audio. Build a searchable study library, clip key moments, and export to NotebookLM.

See how →

ChannelScout is designed for fair use purposes including research, commentary, criticism, education, and news reporting.

Recent transcripts