Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Kanari AI: Kanari AI is a MENA-focused speech technology company whose Fenek AI platform automatically transcribes, translates, and subtitles Arabic-dialect and English audio and video, including meeting recordings. 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 Kanari AI when generating editable transcripts and shareable exports for content and research teams matters most. Trial each on a few real meetings before you commit — the better fit usually shows fast.
Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper.
Kanari AI is a MENA-focused speech technology company whose Fenek AI platform automatically transcribes, translates, and subtitles Arabic-dialect and English audio and video, including meeting recordings.
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
Kanari AI is a speech-technology company founded in 2020, headquartered in Pasadena, California, with offices in Doha, Dubai, and Bangalore. It specializes in automatic speech recognition, text-to-speech, and natural language processing for Arabic dialects and English. Its consumer-facing product, Fenek AI, is a web-based transcription, translation, and subtitling platform that lets users upload audio and video files, including online meeting recordings, and convert them to editable text. It is notable for handling all major Arabic dialects, as well as mixed Arabic-and-English speech within the same sentence. Within the platform, users can edit transcripts, share and download files in multiple formats, generate subtitles for video, and create team workspaces to collaborate across projects. Kanari AI also offers its speech recognition and text-to-speech models through a web portal and an API available on request, serving media, education, government, and healthcare. It is built primarily for Arabic-speaking individuals, content teams, and organizations in the MENA region needing dialect-aware transcription and captioning.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Kanari AI is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Kanari AI |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Automatic transcription of audio and video files, including online meeting recordings |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Support for all major Arabic dialects and mixed Arabic-English speech in the same sentence |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Translation and subtitle/caption generation for video |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Transcript editing with sharing and multi-format export |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Team workspaces for collaborative, multi-project work |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Speech recognition and text-to-speech also available via web portal and API |
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.
Kanari AI
Choose Kanari AI if you need transcribing and subtitling arabic-dialect media, interviews, and meeting recordings — strengths include strong dialectal arabic coverage, including code-switching between arabic and english.
Buzz
Kanari AI
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Kanari AI is strong for transcribing and subtitling arabic-dialect media, interviews, and meeting recordings. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Kanari AI is a free tier with paid upgrades. 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.
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