Akkadu: Akkadu is an AI-powered platform that delivers real-time live captions, subtitles, and remote simultaneous interpretation in 90+ languages for events, meetings, and video content. Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. We compare them on cost, capture approach, and day-to-day fit so you can choose faster.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Akkadu when adding multilingual live captions and subtitles to conferences, webinars, and hybrid events matters most, and Buzz when generating subtitles for video content in multiple formats matters most. Run both through a week of actual calls to see which suits your workflow.
Akkadu is an AI-powered platform that delivers real-time live captions, subtitles, and remote simultaneous interpretation in 90+ languages for events, meetings, and video content.
Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper.
Akkadu, built by Akkadu Technology, is a platform for breaking down language barriers in live and recorded settings. It listens to a speaker's audio and produces real-time AI live captions and subtitles in more than 90 languages, and can deliver an AI voice translation that voices a speaker's words in another language. Beyond automated transcription and translation, Akkadu also offers remote simultaneous interpretation (RSI), connecting human interpreters to events, plus human live captioning for higher-accuracy needs. It is available as a desktop and web-based application and is designed to work alongside common video conferencing tools such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex, and Google Meet, as well as on-site and hybrid events. The company states it does not store voice data and gives users control to delete transcripts. Akkadu targets event organizers, conferences, corporate meetings, universities, content creators, and language service providers who need multilingual accessibility. It is offered on a pay-as-you-go hourly model with a free limited demo tier.
Best suited for
Buzz is a widely used open-source desktop application that transcribes and translates audio offline on the user's personal computer, powered by OpenAI's Whisper. It is MIT-licensed and actively maintained, with v1.4.4 released in March 2026, and it has grown a large community with roughly 19.7k GitHub stars. Buzz runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux, with installation options including Flatpak, Snap, and PyPI. It supports both importing existing audio and video files and real-time transcription from microphone input, and it can export results in formats such as TXT, SRT, and VTT for subtitling and documentation. The app includes an advanced transcript viewer with search and playback controls, a watch folder for automatically transcribing new files, and a command-line interface for automation. It offers GPU acceleration through CUDA for Nvidia cards, Apple Silicon support, and Vulkan for many other GPUs, which makes faster transcription practical even on laptops. Buzz also provides speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio, plus a plugin system that adds capabilities like AI-generated summaries. Because all processing happens locally, recordings and transcripts remain on the user's machine rather than being uploaded to a cloud service. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Akkadu is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Akkadu | Buzz |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Real-time AI live captions and subtitles in 90+ languages | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper |
| Standout feature | AI voice translation that voices a speaker into another language | Real-time transcription from microphone input |
| Team usage | Remote simultaneous interpretation (RSI) with human interpreters | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio |
| Integrations | Human live captioning option for higher accuracy | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT |
| Languages & capture | Works with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex, and Google Meet plus on-site/hybrid events | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface |
| Best-fit workflow | Custom glossaries and accent recognition to improve accuracy | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan |
Akkadu
Choose Akkadu if you need adding multilingual live captions and subtitles to conferences, webinars, and hybrid events — strengths include covers 90+ languages across captions, subtitles, interpretation, and voice translation.
Buzz
Choose Buzz if you need transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline — strengths include fully offline so audio and transcripts stay on the user's computer.
Akkadu
Buzz
It depends on your workflow. Akkadu is strong for adding multilingual live captions and subtitles to conferences, webinars, and hybrid events, while Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Akkadu is a free tier with paid upgrades and Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
Sure. Running both makes sense when their strengths don't overlap and the budget allows.
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