Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Minutes AI: Apple-focused AI note taker that records meetings and lectures, transcribes with speaker labels, and turns them into formatted notes and summaries. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Buzz when transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline matters most, and Minutes AI when professionals capturing in-person meetings and interviews on apple devices 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.
Apple-focused AI note taker that records meetings and lectures, transcribes with speaker labels, and turns them into formatted notes and summaries.
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
Minutes AI, built by Minutes AI, LLC, is an AI note-taking and transcription app focused on the Apple ecosystem, with iOS, iPad, Apple Watch, and macOS support and an Android version as well. It captures spoken content three ways: recording live audio with its built-in recorder, uploading existing audio or video files in common formats such as mp3, m4a, wav, and mp4, or importing YouTube videos. From that input it produces a word-for-word transcript with speaker labels and automatically formats AI notes with headings and bullet points, applying punctuation, capitalization, and line breaks. Users can scrub through the original audio while reading the transcript, search for specific words, ask questions about the content through a chat interface, and even transcribe in one language while taking notes in another, with support for over fifty languages. Notes can be exported as PDFs, emails, and texts. The app is aimed at professionals and students who want a fast, accessible way to capture meetings, interviews, and lectures on their Apple devices, and it is actively maintained, with updates continuing through 2025 and 2026. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Minutes AI is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Minutes AI |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Live recording, audio or video file upload, and YouTube import |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Word-for-word transcripts with speaker labels |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Automatically formatted AI notes with headings and bullet points |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Chat with your audio to extract insights and action items |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Transcribe in one language while taking notes in another, 50+ languages |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Export notes as PDF, email, and text; iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac support |
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.
Minutes AI
Choose Minutes AI if you need students recording and summarizing lectures on iphone or ipad — strengths include deep apple-ecosystem coverage including iphone, ipad, apple watch, and mac.
Buzz
Minutes AI
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Minutes AI is strong for students recording and summarizing lectures on iphone or ipad. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Minutes AI is a free tier with paid upgrades. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
Yes. Many teams run more than one meeting assistant when the workflows are complementary.
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