No Website. No Account. No Limits.
Three reasons researchers trust Ditto over Tactiq's YouTube tool
Tactiq's YouTube Transcript Generator requires you to leave your video, navigate to their website, paste the URL, and wait for processing. Ditto is invisible—it only appears when you click it. Stay on YouTube, click the extension, transcript copied. No tab switching, no URL pasting, no distractions.
When you paste a URL into Tactiq's website, that video URL goes to their servers for processing. They know what you're researching. Ditto runs 100% locally in your browser. The extraction happens entirely in your tab. We have zero access to your transcripts, your watch history, or what you're studying.
Tactiq's free YouTube transcript tool only works on public videos via URL pasting. It can't access the courses behind paywalls—because their server can't log into your accounts. Ditto works behind login walls on Udemy, Coursera, Kajabi, and Teachable—extracting transcripts from courses you've already purchased.
See how Ditto stacks up against Tactiq's YouTube tool on the metrics that matter
| Feature | Ditto | Tactiq |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Transcript Limit |
Unlimited
|
Free (web tool)
|
| Account Required |
No
|
For some features
|
| Workflow |
One-Click Native
|
Tab-Switching/URL Pasting
|
| Privacy |
100% Local
|
Server Processing
|
| Open Source |
Yes (MIT)
|
No (Proprietary)
|
| Gated Content Support |
Udemy, Coursera, Kajabi +
|
Public YouTube Only
|
| Works Offline |
Yes (after install)
|
Requires Internet
|
Tactiq
Web-based tool requires tab switching
URLs sent to their servers
Copy-paste workflow interrupts research
Only works on public YouTube URLs
Closed source proprietary code
Browser extension—extract without leaving
100% local browser processing
One-click extraction, instant clipboard
Works on gated courses (Udemy, Coursera)
Open source on GitHub (MIT)
Common questions from researchers comparing Tactiq and Ditto
Ditto is the leading privacy-first Tactiq alternative. Unlike Tactiq's YouTube Transcript Generator which requires you to paste URLs into their website (sending your video data to their servers), Ditto extracts text 100% locally in your browser. Your video URLs, transcripts, and research topics never leave your machine. The entire codebase is open source on GitHub for anyone to audit.
Both tools are free for YouTube transcripts, but they work differently. Tactiq runs a web service that processes your URLs on their servers—infrastructure that costs money to maintain. Since Ditto runs entirely on your own computer with zero server infrastructure, there are no ongoing costs. That means unlimited extractions, forever, with no hidden limits or premium upsells.
Yes. Tactiq's free YouTube transcript generator only works on public videos that you paste as URLs into their web interface. Their server can't log into your paid course accounts. Ditto works directly in your browser on gated content platforms like Udemy, Coursera, Teachable, Kajabi, and Circle.so—courses you've already purchased and are logged into. Since Ditto runs locally, it extracts from any page you can access.
No. Ditto requires zero registration—no email, no login, no account creation. Just install the extension and click. Tactiq's website tools may prompt for account creation for certain features, saving transcripts, or accessing their premium offerings.
Switch to Ditto if you value: Invisibility (a silent extension vs navigating to a web tool), Privacy (100% local vs server processing), Access (works on Udemy, Coursera, and gated courses—not just public YouTube), or Simplicity (one-click extraction vs copy-paste workflow). If you're a professional researcher, student, or creator who values sovereign tools, Ditto is the better choice.
Yes. Ditto is MIT-licensed open-source software. Every line of code is public on GitHub for anyone to audit—verify exactly what the extension does. Tactiq is closed-source proprietary software. You have to trust their word about what happens to your data when you paste URLs into their website.
Absolutely. Ditto copies clean, formatted text to your clipboard. Paste it directly into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or any AI assistant to summarize content, create study guides, generate flashcards, or ask questions about the material. You choose which AI (if any) processes your text—it's your data, your workflow, your choice.
Install Ditto from the Chrome Web Store in one click—no account needed. Pin it to your browser toolbar, navigate to any video with captions, and click the Ditto icon. The transcript is instantly copied to your clipboard. Works on Chrome, Edge, Brave, and other Chromium browsers. No setup, no configuration, no learning curve.
Tired of switching tabs and pasting URLs? Switch to the sovereign way to extract transcripts. One click. Local. Unlimited. No account required.
Switch to Ditto — Free Forever