Frequently asked questions

VidBrief turns YouTube videos into structured summaries, clickable chapter outlines, transcripts, and a chat that grounds every answer in transcript timestamps. Paste a URL, wait under a minute, and you have everything you need to decide whether the video is worth watching — and the ability to jump to the exact moment that matters.

Create a free account at vidbrief.org/auth/signup, paste any YouTube URL on your dashboard, and watch the AI work. No credit card required.

Most videos with YouTube captions finish in 15–40 seconds. Videos that need audio transcription (no captions available) take 1–3 minutes — they download the audio, run ASR, and then summarize.

Any public YouTube video up to your tier's max length (Free: 150 min, Plus: 300 min, Pro/Business: 600 min). YouTube Shorts work, livestreams replays work. Age-restricted, private, and region-locked videos can't be fetched.

We automatically download the audio and run Paraformer ASR (a speech-to-text model that handles Chinese and English very well). This works for most videos. It does consume extra processing time and counts toward your monthly minute quota.

Yes — Plus tier and above. Drag an mp3, mp4, m4a, wav, or webm file (up to 500 MB) into the upload box on your dashboard. Useful for podcasts, lectures, or anything you've recorded yourself.

Transcription works for ~50 languages (Paraformer is strongest in Chinese and English). The AI summary is generated in the same language as the source video.

We use DeepSeek and (for chat answers) optional Anthropic Claude. Summaries are generally faithful but can occasionally miss nuance — always click the timestamp to verify a specific claim. The chat is designed to cite a [mm:ss] for every answer so you can verify in one click.

Yes, occasionally. DeepSeek (our default LLM) is a Chinese provider with content filters for politically sensitive topics. If you hit a refusal, try rephrasing — or upgrade tiers to use a different model.

Treat AI output as a draft, not gospel. Every summary, outline, and chat answer cites transcript timestamps — verify the source before acting on anything important (medical, legal, financial).

Every processed video is automatically indexed into a personal, searchable knowledge base. Ask questions across all your videos at once — "where did I hear about attention heads?" or "summarize the views on the Fed across these 12 videos" — and get answers with citations linking back to specific moments.

Yes. Each user's KB is scoped by user ID — no one else can search your videos. Even our admins can't read your transcripts in normal operation.

Yes — 10 videos / 450 minutes per month, forever, no credit card required. See full limits on the pricing page.

Monthly or yearly via Stripe. Subscriptions auto-renew. Cancel anytime from the Billing page — you keep access until the end of the current period, then drop to Free.

We don't pro-rate refunds for partial cycles. If you cancel a yearly plan in month 3 you keep access for the remaining 9 months but won't be refunded. If you experience a service issue or unexpected charge, email hello@vidbrief.org and we'll work it out.

Yes, anytime via Billing. Upgrades take effect immediately and Stripe pro-rates the difference. Downgrades take effect at the end of your current billing period.

(Plus tier and above) Create a Notion internal integration, share a database with it, paste the integration token + database URL into your Account page. From any processed video, click Notion in the export bar to push the summary as a new database row. Full step-by-step in the "How to get these" expandable on the Account page.

(Plus tier and above) Add a Discord webhook URL on your Account page. You'll receive embed messages when subscribed channels publish new videos, and when your alert keywords match. Setup walkthrough is on the Account page.

All tiers, including Free. From any video detail page, click the Markdown or Obsidian export button — downloads a clean .md file with frontmatter that drops cleanly into a second-brain vault.

Follow YouTube channels and we'll automatically summarize new uploads into your library each day. Add keyword alerts (e.g. "Tesla earnings", "Federal Reserve") and we'll email + Discord-ping you when a new video discusses that topic — using LLM semantic matching, not literal string match.

No — only videos published after you subscribe. The cron runs once a day, so you'll see new uploads within 24 hours. Click Refresh ↻ on a channel card to scan immediately.

Email privacy@vidbrief.org from your registered address. We delete or anonymize within 30 days. Active subscription? Cancel first via the Billing page to avoid a final charge.

On Vercel (US, hosting), Neon (US-East, Postgres), and Vercel Blob (US, audio uploads). See the Privacy Policy for the full subprocessor list and what data each one touches.

No. Never. We make money from subscriptions.