Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Mentalyc: Mentalyc is a HIPAA-compliant AI documentation tool that records or transcribes therapy sessions and generates clinical progress notes for mental health professionals. This comparison weighs them on pricing, features, and everyday workflow fit.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Buzz when transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline matters most, and Mentalyc when documenting psychiatric and assessment notes such as mse and biopsychosocial assessments matters most. Test each on your own meetings; the right choice tends to become obvious quickly.
Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper.
Mentalyc is a HIPAA-compliant AI documentation tool that records or transcribes therapy sessions and generates clinical progress notes for mental health professionals.
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
Mentalyc is an AI documentation platform built for therapists, counselors, psychiatrists, PMHNPs, social workers, and other behavioral health professionals. It captures sessions in several ways: recording telehealth or in-person sessions with client consent, uploading an audio file, dictating a recap, or typing a short summary. The session audio is transcribed, and according to the company audio is processed and deleted while transcripts are stripped of identifying details. From this input it auto-generates clinical notes in multiple formats, including SOAP, DAP, BIRP, GIRP, PIRP, PIE, intake notes, MSE, biopsychosocial assessments, and supervision/consultation notes. Beyond notes, it produces treatment plans with measurable goals and tracks client progress over time. Mentalyc is web-based and accessed through a browser after signup, and it can sync with EHR systems such as SimplePractice, TherapyNotes, and Jane App or run as a standalone tool. It states it is HIPAA and SOC 2 compliant and does not use customer data to train AI models.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Mentalyc is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Mentalyc |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Transcribes recorded, uploaded, dictated, or typed sessions into structured notes |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Generates multiple note formats (SOAP, DAP, BIRP, GIRP, PIRP, PIE, MSE, intake, supervision) |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Automated treatment plans with measurable goals |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Progress tracking across sessions without client questionnaires |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | EHR integrations with SimplePractice, TherapyNotes, and Jane App |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | HIPAA and SOC 2 compliant with audio deleted after processing and de-identified transcripts |
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.
Mentalyc
Choose Mentalyc if you need generating progress notes from recorded or in-person therapy sessions — strengths include purpose-built for mental health documentation with many clinical note formats.
Buzz
Mentalyc
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Mentalyc is strong for generating progress notes from recorded or in-person therapy sessions. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Mentalyc 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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