Tutorial and course notes
Capture every slide or code screen of a lecture with one frame every 10–30 seconds instead of pausing and screenshotting.
YouTube → frames
Pull every frame you need from a YouTube link.
Paste a public YouTube video or Short. Preview six frames instantly, then create a free account to download the full set as JPG, PNG or WebP — or call the same extraction from your code.
How to extract frames from a YouTube video
Links that work
- youtube.com/watch?v=…
- youtu.be/…
- youtube.com/shorts/…
- m.youtube.com/watch?v=…
Private, members-only, age-restricted and live streams that are still running cannot be processed. You are never charged for a link that fails.
- 01
Copy the link
Use Share → Copy link on a public video or Short. youtu.be and /shorts/ links work too.
- 02
Preview the frames
Paste it above. Six frames spread across the video appear in a few seconds.
- 03
Get the full set
Sign in with a free account to choose an interval, a frame count or exact timestamps and download everything as a ZIP.
Why people extract YouTube frames
From tutorial screenshots to research datasets
Thumbnail research
Pull 24 evenly spaced stills from your own upload to find a thumbnail moment that actually represents the video.
Computer-vision datasets
Sample videos you are licensed to use at a fixed rate and get indexed files with exact timestamps for labelling.
Video essays and reviews
Grab the exact moments you reference, at the timestamps you cite, for commentary you are entitled to publish.
Timestamp mode
Turn chapter markers into stills
Already have timestamps from a video's chapters, your transcript or your editor? Send them as a list and get exactly those frames — billed per ten frames, not per minute of video.
- Up to 500 timestamps per request, in seconds (e.g. 754.5)
- Frames come back sorted with their real decoded timestamp
- Combine with start/end to process only one segment of a long video
Automate it
The same YouTube extraction, one API call away
Build frame extraction into your app, CMS or ML pipeline. Every account includes 100 free credits a month; one credit covers one minute of video.
curl -X POST "https://api.getvideoframes.com/v1/jobs?wait=true" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $GVF_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID","mode":"timestamps","timestamps":[12,95.5,240,612],"format":"png"}'Pricing
Pay per minute of video. Start free.
One credit turns one minute of video into frames — up to 100 frames per minute are included. Exact-timestamp requests cost one credit per ten frames. Failed jobs are never charged.
Free
$0/month
100 credits
- Videos up to 10 min
- 300 frames per job
- Frames up to 1280 px wide
- Download links for 1 day
Credit pack
Never expires$10one-time
500 credits
- Videos up to 60 min
- 2,000 frames per job
- Frames up to 1920 px wide
Starter
$19/month
1,500 credits
- Videos up to 60 min
- 2,000 frames per job
- Frames up to 1920 px wide
- Download links for 7 days
Pro
Popular$49/month
5,000 credits
- Videos up to 120 min
- 5,000 frames per job
- Frames up to 1920 px wide
- Download links for 7 days
Scale
$199/month
25,000 credits
- Videos up to 180 min
- 10,000 frames per job
- Frames up to 1920 px wide
- Download links for 7 days
Prices in USD. Subscriptions renew monthly and reset the monthly credits; pack credits stack on top and never expire. Cancel or switch plans anytime from the billing portal.
How link extraction works
Unlike our browser tools, link extraction runs on GetVideoFrames servers: we fetch the public video (usually the 720p stream for YouTube), decode it with FFmpeg and store the frames for 1–7 days depending on your plan. We keep the frames, not the video. Only process videos you own or have permission to use.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
- Can I extract frames from a YouTube Short?
- Yes. Paste the youtube.com/shorts/ link directly. Shorts are processed like any other video, and vertical frames keep their 9:16 aspect ratio.
- What resolution are YouTube frames?
- Frames are decoded from the stream we can fetch, which is usually 720p for YouTube. The free preview is scaled to 640 px wide; full downloads keep the source resolution up to your plan limit and are never upscaled.
- How many frames can I get for free?
- The preview shows six frames without an account. A free account gets 100 credits every month — enough for 100 minutes of video with up to 100 frames per minute, up to 300 frames per job.
- Is it legal to extract frames from YouTube videos?
- It depends on the video and what you do with the frames. Use videos you own, videos with a license that allows it, or uses permitted in your jurisdiction such as commentary or research. YouTube's terms also apply to how you access content.
- Why did my YouTube link fail?
- The most common reasons are private or age-restricted videos, live streams in progress, and videos removed from YouTube. Failed links show the reason and never use credits.