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Hourglass VS TranscriptFetch

Compare Hourglass VS TranscriptFetch and see what are their differences

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  3. ยป Reviews
  4. ยป Alternatives

Hourglass logo Hourglass

Hourglass is the most advanced simple countdown timer for Windows.

TranscriptFetch logo TranscriptFetch

Video & web data API for AI: transcripts from YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, plus any page as clean Markdown. Falls back to AI transcription when captions are missing. Built for RAG and agents.
  • Hourglass Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-09
  • TranscriptFetch Home
    Home //
    2026-08-01
  • TranscriptFetch Dashboard
    Dashboard //
    2026-08-01

TranscriptFetch is one API for getting text out of video and web content.

Send a URL from YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, X or Facebook and get back clean, timestamped text. Send any web page and get clean Markdown. One endpoint, one response shape, one API key.

The part that actually matters

Most short-form video has no caption track to download. TikTok's auto-captions are opt-in per upload, Instagram never publishes a downloadable track, and a large share of captions on both platforms are burned into the video frames where no parser can read them.

When there is no caption track, TranscriptFetch transcribes the audio instead. Same endpoint, same response, so your code never branches on which method produced the text.

What you get back

  • A joined text field for feeding a model or a search index
  • A segments array with per-cue start times and durations, so subtitles and jump-to-moment links are a formatting step rather than another integration
  • Consistent output whether the text came from captions or speech recognition

Built for pipelines and agents

  • MCP server so Claude, Cursor and other MCP clients can fetch transcripts as a tool mid-conversation
  • Python and JavaScript SDKs
  • Batch endpoint for up to 50 videos in a single call
  • Channel, playlist and keyword-search endpoints for ingesting at scale

Pricing

100 free credits on signup, no card required. One credit per successful response. Failed, blocked and empty results are never charged, which matters on short-form video where a meaningful share of any batch is music with no speech in it.

Hourglass

Website
chris.dziemborowicz.com
Pricing URL
-
$ Details
-
Release Date
-
Startup details
Country
Australia
Edit details

TranscriptFetch

Website
transcriptfetch.com
Pricing URL
Official TranscriptFetch Pricing
$ Details
freemium $5.0 / Monthly (Basic, 500 credits)
Release Date
2026 May
Startup details
Country
United States
State
Texas
City
College Station
Founder(s)
Chandler Casey
Employees
1 - 9
Edit details

Hourglass features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Hourglass offers a straightforward and intuitive interface, allowing users to quickly set up and manage timers without any hassle.
  • Customizable Alerts
    Users can customize alerts with different sounds and messages, ensuring they are notified in a manner that suits their preferences.
  • Versatile Time Formats
    The application supports a variety of time formats, including seconds, minutes, and hours, enabling precise time tracking.
  • Portable
    Hourglass is a portable application, meaning it can be run from a USB drive without the need for installation, making it highly convenient for use on different devices.
  • Free of Cost
    The application is available for free, providing significant value without any financial investment.

Possible disadvantages of Hourglass

  • Limited Functionality
    Hourglass focuses primarily on basic timer functions and lacks advanced features like integration with other tools or apps.
  • Windows Only
    Hourglass is only available for Windows, limiting its accessibility for users on other operating systems like macOS or Linux.
  • No Cloud Sync
    The application does not support syncing timers across devices via cloud services, restricting users to manage timers on the same device.
  • No Mobile App
    There is no mobile version of Hourglass, which means users cannot set or manage timers on their smartphones or tablets.
  • No Updates
    The application does not receive frequent updates, which might result in outdated features or lack of support for newer operating systems.

TranscriptFetch features and specs

  • Fast Transcript Retrieval
    TranscriptFetch is designed to quickly extract transcripts from YouTube videos, saving users time compared to manually transcribing content.
  • Simple Interface
    The tool typically offers a straightforward, user-friendly interface where users can paste a video link and receive a transcript without complicated steps.
  • Useful for Content Repurposing
    Transcripts can be used to create blog posts, subtitles, summaries, or social media content, making it valuable for content creators and marketers.
  • Time-Saving for Research
    Researchers and students can use transcripts to quickly review video content without watching the entire video, improving efficiency.
  • Accessibility Support
    Providing text versions of video content can help make information more accessible to people with hearing impairments or those who prefer reading.

Analysis of Hourglass

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Hourglass is a good tool.

Why this product is good

  • Hourglass is a straightforward and user-friendly countdown timer application. It is known for its simplicity, easy-to-use interface, and versatility. Users appreciate its ability to create multiple timers and customize them according to their needs. Additionally, it offers features such as notifications and a variety of alarm sounds, making it a practical choice for those who need to manage their time effectively.

Recommended for

    Hourglass is recommended for anyone who needs a reliable and simple countdown timer. It's particularly useful for individuals who work with time-sensitive tasks, such as those in the kitchen, fitness enthusiasts, or professionals who need to manage their time during meetings or work sessions. It's also a great tool for students who want to use the Pomodoro Technique to enhance their productivity.

Hourglass videos

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TranscriptFetch videos

No TranscriptFetch videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Hourglass and TranscriptFetch)

Hourglass

TranscriptFetch

Time Tracking
100 100%
Time Tracking
0% 0
Transcription
0 0%
Transcription
100% 100
Online Services
100 100%
Online Services
0% 0
AI
0 0%
AI
100% 100

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing Hourglass and TranscriptFetch.

What makes your product unique?

TranscriptFetch's answer:

Most short-form video has no caption track to download. TikTokโ€™s auto-captions are opt-in per upload, Instagram never publishes a downloadable track, and many captions on both are burned into the video frames where no parser can read them. TranscriptFetch transcribes the audio when no caption track exists, on the same endpoint, with the same response shape. Your code never branches on which method produced the text. It also covers YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, X and Facebook plus any web page as clean Markdown, so a pipeline spanning several sources is one integration rather than five.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

TranscriptFetch's answer:

Three reasons. Coverage: one API key and one response shape across five video platforms and the open web, instead of stitching together a library per platform. Reliability: requests run through rotating infrastructure, so code that works locally keeps working from a server, which is where most open-source approaches break. Billing that matches reality: one credit per successful response, with failed, blocked and empty results never charged. That last point matters on short-form video, where a meaningful share of any batch is music with no speech in it. There is also an MCP server, so AI agents can fetch transcripts as a tool without a custom integration.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

TranscriptFetch's answer:

Developers and technical teams building on video and web content. The common cases are RAG and retrieval pipelines that need video as text, AI agents that need to read a link mid-conversation, content teams repurposing short-form video at scale, and media monitoring and research tools. It is an API first, so the buyer is usually the person writing the integration rather than an end user. The free browser tools exist for one-off transcripts and for evaluating output quality before writing any code.

What's the story behind your product?

TranscriptFetch's answer:

It started with discovering there is no good way to get the text of a video. YouTubeโ€™s official Data API will confirm a caption track exists and then refuse to hand it over, because captions.download requires the video ownerโ€™s OAuth token. The popular open-source libraries work until you deploy them, at which point platforms start refusing datacenter IPs. And YouTube is the easy case: TikTok and Instagram publish no caption file at all. Every workaround solved one platform, worked locally, and broke in production. TranscriptFetch is the version that handles the failure cases as first-class behaviour rather than edge cases.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

TranscriptFetch's answer:

Next.js with TypeScript and Tailwind on the front end and API layer, Clerk for auth with SHA-256 hashed API keys, Neon Postgres with Drizzle ORM, Redis for caching, and Stripe for billing. The extraction layer is a Python and FastAPI service. Speech-to-text uses Whisper-class models. The MCP server is published in the official Model Context Protocol registry with a DNS-verified namespace.

User comments

Share your experience with using Hourglass and TranscriptFetch. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Hourglass seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 5 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Hourglass mentions (5)

  • Whatโ€™s the best website to use as a timer?
    Check out hourglass if you are on Windows. Itโ€™s a simple portable timer with no fluff. Source: over 3 years ago
  • how to add a timer that is counting down from a certain amount of hours that stays on the the screen and doesn't reset when laptop shuts down
    I have not used or tried this app https://chris.dziemborowicz.com/apps/hourglass/. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Anybody know a good countdown timer for windows? I'd rather not use whatever web tools are out there. All I want out of it is to start the countdown over with just one click, and set my own alarm sound.
    Https://chris.dziemborowicz.com/apps/hourglass/ put your alarm sounds in C:\Program Files (x86)\Hourglass or just the local folder if you use the portable version. Source: over 4 years ago
  • [Steam] Summer Sale 2021 (Day 5)
    Put a slightly less than 2hr timer (e.g. I use this https://chris.dziemborowicz.com/apps/hourglass/ but any similar would do), if you are not sure then uninstall and ask for a refund. EZ PZ. Source: about 5 years ago
  • Program to display timer/stopwatch on taskbar in windows 10?
    Try https://tomighty.github.io/ or https://chris.dziemborowicz.com/apps/hourglass/ - when minimized to taskbar icon it shows time progress as a background colour. If you find something better let me know. I also looking for a regular clock in taskbar (hour & minutes only). Source: about 5 years ago

TranscriptFetch mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of TranscriptFetch yet. Tracking of TranscriptFetch recommendations started around Aug 2026.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Hourglass and TranscriptFetch, you can also consider the following products

wnr - Better than pomodoro, this timer app balances work and rest.

SocialFetch.dev - Social media scraping API for public profiles, posts, comments, videos, transcripts, and metrics from TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, X, LinkedIn, and more. Pay-as-you-go credits, 100 free to start.

TIMEBOX - An advanced timer for professional meeting facilitators

TranscriptAPI.com - Get YouTube video transcripts with a simple API call or through Model Context Protocol. Fast, reliable, and easy to integrate into your applications.

SnapTimer - SnapTimer is a simple, free, portable countdown timer for Windows.

Online Alarm Kur - Free online alarm clock, set alarm easily on your computer using the internet alarm clock without downloading any software, wake up in time with the loud online alarm clock.

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