Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Fathom: AI meeting assistant with a generous free tier — unlimited recording and transcription plus instant AI summaries. 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 Fathom when sales teams using summary templates matters most. Run both through a week of actual calls to see which suits your workflow.
Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper.
AI meeting assistant with a generous free tier — unlimited recording and transcription plus instant AI summaries.
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
Fathom (fathom.ai) records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings across Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. Its free plan is unusually generous: unlimited recording and transcription with instant AI summaries. Paid plans add 15+ summary templates (BANT, Sandler, etc.), AI action items, CRM sync (HubSpot, Salesforce), and a bot-free capture option (beta on Mac).
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Fathom is from $16/mo (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Fathom |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Unlimited free recording |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | AI summary templates |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Bot-free option (Mac beta) |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | CRM sync |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Unlimited free recording |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | AI summary templates |
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.
Fathom
Choose Fathom if you need solo users and small teams wanting the most generous free recording — strengths include unlimited recording and transcription on the free plan.
Buzz
Fathom
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Fathom is strong for solo users and small teams wanting the most generous free recording. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Fathom is from $16/mo. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
You can — some teams pair them when each covers a different part of the meeting workflow.
More head-to-head comparisons involving Buzz and Fathom.
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