Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Ma Synthèse: A sovereign French SaaS by GetCaaS that transcribes meetings and automatically generates structured minutes, assigned tasks, and follow-ups, with all data hosted in France. The right pick comes down to team size, budget, and the workflows you want to automate.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Buzz when transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline matters most, and Ma Synthèse when documenting internal team meetings with auto-assigned tasks and reminders 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.
A sovereign French SaaS by GetCaaS that transcribes meetings and automatically generates structured minutes, assigned tasks, and follow-ups, with all data hosted in France.
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
Ma Synthèse is a French SaaS application from GetCaaS that automates meeting documentation through a three-step process: it captures and transcribes spoken exchanges, organizes the discussion by topic and by speaker, then generates a clear, structured meeting report. Each report surfaces decisions and important points and produces an action list assigned to individual participants, with the tool able to send those tasks out and remind people who forget them. Its defining angle is data sovereignty: the service runs on French infrastructure (Scaleway) using Mistral AI, keeps data in France, and is positioned as a GDPR-compliant alternative for organizations with strict confidentiality needs. It targets municipal councils, public bodies and law enforcement, as well as legal and medical professionals. Pricing is usage-based, calculated from meeting hours multiplied by the number of licenses, with one free hour per month per organization and no commitment; organizations above thirty licenses get a custom quote. Announced in June 2026, it was selected to present at VivaTech 2026.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Ma Synthèse is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Ma Synthèse |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Automatic transcription of meeting audio into text |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Speaker identification, organizing the discussion by who spoke |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Structured meeting minutes that surface decisions and key points |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Automatic action-item list with tasks assigned to each participant |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Task dispatch and reminders to participants who forget follow-ups |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Sovereign French hosting (Scaleway + Mistral AI) with GDPR compliance |
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.
Ma Synthèse
Choose Ma Synthèse if you need generating official minutes and action items for municipal council and public-body meetings — strengths include data sovereignty: french-hosted infrastructure and eu data-protection compliance, suited to confidential public-sector use.
Buzz
Ma Synthèse
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Ma Synthèse is strong for generating official minutes and action items for municipal council and public-body meetings. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Ma Synthèse 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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