Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Listen Labs: Enterprise AI customer research platform that recruits participants, runs AI-moderated interviews, and delivers executive-ready insight reports. Which one wins depends on your platform mix, budget, and how hands-off you want notes to be.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Buzz when transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline matters most, and Listen Labs when enterprise concept and prototype testing with recruited participants 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.
Enterprise AI customer research platform that recruits participants, runs AI-moderated interviews, and delivers executive-ready insight reports.
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
Listen Labs is an AI-first customer research platform that automates the qualitative research workflow end to end, from study design and participant recruitment through AI-moderated interviews to insight delivery. Its AI interviewer conducts personalized, in-depth conversations with each participant, asking follow-up questions and understanding context without a human moderator, and the platform supports video, audio, and text formats in 100-plus languages with automatic translation and transcription. Studies can incorporate stimuli such as videos, images, and Figma prototypes, and recruitment draws on a global network of tens of millions of qualified participants, with the option to integrate existing recruitment providers or bring your own audience. Once interviews complete, Listen Labs automatically packages results into executive-ready outputs, surfacing key themes and takeaways, generating personas, and producing highlight reels and slide decks, with turnaround measured in hours rather than the weeks typical of traditional research. The company is venture-backed and reports use by large consumer and technology brands, positioning the platform for enterprises looking to replace or supplement surveys and traditional market research with scalable AI-led interviews. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Listen Labs is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Listen Labs |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | AI interviewer running personalized video, audio, and text interviews |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Global participant recruitment with bring-your-own-audience option |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Stimulus testing with videos, images, and Figma prototypes |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Automated key themes, takeaways, and persona generation |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Executive-ready reports with highlight reels and slide decks |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Support for 100+ languages with translation and transcription |
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.
Listen Labs
Choose Listen Labs if you need replacing or supplementing surveys with scalable ai-led customer interviews — strengths include end-to-end automation from recruitment to executive-ready deliverables.
Buzz
Listen Labs
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Listen Labs is strong for replacing or supplementing surveys with scalable ai-led customer interviews. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Listen Labs 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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