Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. KUDO: Live speech translation and AI captions platform for multilingual meetings, webinars, and events. 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 KUDO when adding live translated captions to webinars and conferences 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.
Live speech translation and AI captions platform for multilingual meetings, webinars, and events.
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
KUDO is a live speech translation and captioning platform that lets organizations run meetings, webinars, and events in multiple languages using both AI and professional human interpreters. Its AI Speech Translator delivers real-time translated audio and captions across a large number of languages, with options to use full AI speech and captions for broadcasts like keynotes and town halls or captions-only mode to reduce latency in interactive discussions. KUDO offers a native integration with Microsoft Teams and an embeddable widget for other platforms such as Zoom, allowing attendees to access translated audio and captions in real time. Participants can scan a QR code displayed on screen, choose their preferred language, and immediately begin hearing translated audio or reading live captions, and the service is browser-based with low bandwidth requirements. Beyond AI, KUDO provides access to a large network of professional interpreters for spoken and sign languages. It is used for internal and external company meetings, all-hands meetings, sales kick-offs, training, product launches, research, board and investor meetings, and large hybrid events. KUDO is an established, actively operating enterprise platform for multilingual communication. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); KUDO is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | KUDO |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Real-time AI speech translation and captions in many languages |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | AI captions-only mode to reduce latency in interactive meetings |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Native Microsoft Teams integration and embeddable widget for other platforms |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | QR code and link access for attendees to pick their language |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Access to a large network of professional human interpreters |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Browser-based delivery with low bandwidth use |
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.
KUDO
Choose KUDO if you need hosting multilingual all-hands meetings and town halls — strengths include combines ai translation with optional professional human interpreters.
Buzz
KUDO
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while KUDO is strong for hosting multilingual all-hands meetings and town halls. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and KUDO is a free tier with paid upgrades. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
Often yes: teams combine tools when one handles capture and another handles analysis.
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