Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Clipto: Mac-based AI transcription and knowledge assistant that indexes and searches meetings, interviews, podcasts, lectures, and other audio/video locally on-device. 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 Buzz when transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline matters most, and Clipto when professionals revisiting recorded meetings and interviews via natural-language search matters most. Try them side by side on real calls before deciding — needs vary by team.
Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper.
Mac-based AI transcription and knowledge assistant that indexes and searches meetings, interviews, podcasts, lectures, and other audio/video locally on-device.
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
Clipto is an AI-powered transcription and knowledge assistant built exclusively for Mac that functions as a fully local, searchable media library for audio and video. It transcribes and indexes a range of content including videos, audio files, podcasts, meetings, interviews, and lectures, with automatic transcription, speaker labeling, and AI summaries that condense long recordings. Its standout capability is search: users can run natural-language queries across large volumes of media, jump to exact timecodes for spoken dialogue, and surface people, scenes, and objects across their library. Processing is fully local and works offline with no cloud uploads, which the product positions as a privacy-focused architecture for creators and professionals who manage large media collections. Clipto integrates with creative and storage tools, including Adobe Premiere Pro, Dropbox, Google Drive, NAS, and local folders, and offers auto-tagging to keep footage organized. It targets content creators such as photographers, video editors, filmmakers, agencies, and marketers, but its transcription of meetings and interviews makes it relevant for capturing and revisiting conversations as well. The app is actively operating, requires Apple Silicon Macs with sufficient memory and a recent macOS version, and also offers an iOS app. Free and paid plans are referenced. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Clipto is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Clipto |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | On-device AI transcription with no cloud uploads, works offline |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Automatic speaker labeling in transcripts |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | One-click AI summaries of long recordings |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Natural-language search across large media libraries with timecode jumping |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Scene, object, and person recognition across content |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Integrations with Adobe Premiere Pro, Dropbox, Google Drive, NAS, and local folders |
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.
Clipto
Choose Clipto if you need creators and editors transcribing and searching large libraries of footage, podcasts, and interviews — strengths include fully local, offline processing for privacy-conscious users.
Buzz
Clipto
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Clipto is strong for creators and editors transcribing and searching large libraries of footage, podcasts, and interviews. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Clipto 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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