VoxTube – Convert YouTube videos to audio with local TTS

Source: Dev.to

Problem

I kept queuing YouTube tutorials and talks but never watching them. Video demands attention in a way that audio doesn’t.

Solution

VoxTube extracts transcripts from YouTube videos and converts them to audio using high‑quality TTS, so I can “watch” YouTube during my commute, while cooking, and during workouts.

Technical details

• Built with Bun + Hono (~300 lines)
• Uses Kokoro TTS (runs locally via Docker)
• Caches generated audio
• No cloud dependencies

What I learned

• Bun’s file APIs are really nice for streaming audio.
• Modern TTS (Kokoro) sounds surprisingly natural.
• Most YouTube videos have transcripts available.

Stats

• 2 weeks to MVP
• ~300 lines of code
• $0 monthly costs (runs locally)

GitHub: