Chrome & Edge · free to start
Press play.
Walk away with notes.
NoteAlong turns any YouTube video into structured study notes. Paste the link, or share the tab and let it follow along. Timestamped, editable, and finished before the outro.
Updated
How do I turn a YouTube video into notes?
Paste the link into NoteAlong, or share the tab while the video plays. NoteAlong transcribes the audio and writes structured, timestamped study notes: sections, key points, verbatim quotes. It works even when the video has no captions at all. Share the tab and the slides go into the note too, ready by the time the video ends. Free for 120 minutes and 5 notes a month.
From link to note
Paste it, or play it.
01
Paste the link, or share the tab
A YouTube URL works in any browser. Sharing the tab needs Chrome or Edge. Nothing to install either way.
02
The audio becomes a transcript
From a link, NoteAlong uses the captions or transcribes the audio itself. From a tab, it transcribes as the video plays and deletes each piece of audio once it's text.
03
A note, filed
The note arrives titled and sectioned, with the full transcript under it. NoteAlong suggests a folder; one click files it.
Link or tab
Paste a link or share the tab: the difference
| What changes | Paste the link | Share the tab |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | No need to play the video | Ready the moment the video ends |
| Works without captions | Yes, it makes its own transcript with AI | Yes |
| Live streams | No | Yes |
| Slides in the note | Add the deck afterwards | Yes, picked for you, plus Snap |
| Browser | Any | Chrome or Edge on a computer |
| Counts against | 1 note, no minutes | Minutes of audio and 1 note |
Free: 120 minutes and 5 notes a month, 3 Snaps per note. Pro: 3,000 minutes, 500 notes, unlimited Snaps. As of October 2026.
Inside the note
What a YouTube note can do.
Two ways in
Paste the link and NoteAlong writes notes from most public YouTube videos, captions or not. When there's no good transcript, it makes one with AI. Or share the tab and it follows along in real time while you watch. Either way the note looks the same: structured, timestamped, yours.
Where caption tools stop
Caption tools stop where captions stop: videos with none, auto-captions that turn “eigenvalues” into “iguana values”. NoteAlong doesn't. The link path makes its own transcript with AI when captions fail, and the tab never needed them. Live streams need the tab, because there's no finished video to fetch yet.
The slides come too, from the tab
Share the tab and NoteAlong watches the video as well as hearing it. Slides, diagrams and code on screen go into the note next to what was said about them. Press Snap to keep any frame you want. A pasted link gives the same notes without the slides, unless you add the deck afterwards.
Get notes in another language
Watch in English, read the notes in Spanish. Notes can be written in 20 languages: set a default, or open any note and choose Get notes in. Free makes 3 language versions a month; Pro has no cap. The video itself can be in about 100 languages.
Notes are the beginning
Every note can become quizzes, flashcards and a spaced-review schedule. Ask your notes a question and the answer cites the note it came from. Anki and Obsidian exports are free.
Actually editable, transcript kept
Notes open in a real editor: add your own thoughts between the bullets, drop in code blocks, move sections around. Every word of the transcript stays, timestamped, so any line jumps back to its moment in the video.
The limits
Sharing a tab needs Chrome or Edge. The tab must keep playing while you share it; pause the video and there's nothing to hear. YouTube Movies rentals and other DRM-protected playback are out of scope. And if all you want is the raw transcript text, YouTube's own Show transcript button is free and quicker.
YouTube questions
Before you paste your first link.
Does it work on YouTube videos without captions?
Yes, both ways in. Paste the link and NoteAlong makes its own transcript with AI when captions are missing or garbled. Share the tab and it hears the audio as it plays. Small creators who never added subtitles, music-heavy channels, non-English lectures: no captions needed on either path.
Can it handle a 3-hour lecture video?
Yes. Long videos are the home turf: the transcript stays timestamped end to end, and the note is sectioned so hour two doesn't blur into hour three. From the tab, Free covers 120 minutes a month and Pro 3,000 (50 hours). A pasted link uses a note, not minutes.
Should I paste the link or share the tab?
Paste the link for most public YouTube videos. It works captions or not, you don't have to play a second of it, and it uses no minutes. Share the tab for live streams, or when you want the slides in your notes too.
Can I translate a YouTube video into notes in another language?
Yes. The video can be in about 100 languages, and the notes can be written in any of 20, such as Spanish, French, Hindi or Japanese. Set a default language, or open a note and choose Get notes in. Free includes 3 language versions a month.
Do I have to sit and watch the whole video?
Only if you share the tab. Then it has to stay open and keep playing, but you don't have to stare at it. A pasted link needs no playback at all.
Does it work on YouTube live streams?
Yes, from the tab. Live streams have no transcript to fetch yet, which is why link tools can't handle them. NoteAlong listens as the stream plays, so the notes exist the moment the stream ends.
Is this allowed?
NoteAlong is made for personal study notes on videos you watch. It doesn't keep, copy or share the video. From a tab, it transcribes audio already playing in your own browser and deletes the audio once it's text. Your notes stay private to you, and YouTube's terms still apply to how you use the video itself.