Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Mumble AI: A voice-first AI workspace for Mac that records meetings without a bot, transcribes audio, and turns conversations and dictation into structured notes. 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 Mumble AI when recording and transcribing meetings offline on a mac for privacy matters most. Run both through a week of actual calls to see which suits your workflow.
Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper.
A voice-first AI workspace for Mac that records meetings without a bot, transcribes audio, and turns conversations and dictation into structured notes.
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
Mumble AI is a voice-first workspace built for macOS that captures meetings, voice memos, and system-wide dictation, then turns spoken audio into structured, organized notes. Rather than sending a bot into a call, Mumble records directly from the Mac's system audio, so no extra participant appears in Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, or Slack calls. It can auto-detect when a meeting starts via Google Calendar integration, display a live transcript with speaker labels during the conversation, and produce a summary with decisions and action items once the meeting ends. Beyond meetings, Mumble offers system-wide dictation that works in any text field, auto-organizing voice notes, and customizable templates for consistent note formatting. A notable feature is its dual processing approach: a cloud mode aimed at higher accuracy across many languages, and a fully local on-device mode where recording, transcription, speaker identification, and summarization run entirely on the Mac and work offline so audio never leaves the device. It is aimed at Mac users, including privacy-conscious professionals, who want hands-free capture and quick note generation. A companion iOS app, Mumble Note, syncs voice captures to the Mac. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Mumble AI is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Mumble AI |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Bot-free meeting capture recorded directly from Mac system audio |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Live transcript with speaker labels during the call |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Automatic summaries with decisions and action items |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | 100% local on-device mode that works offline |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | System-wide dictation that works in any text field |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Customizable note templates and Google Calendar auto-detection |
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.
Mumble AI
Choose Mumble AI if you need capturing structured notes from zoom, meet, teams, or slack calls without adding a bot — strengths include no bot joins the call, so meetings stay private and uninterrupted.
Buzz
Mumble AI
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Mumble AI is strong for capturing structured notes from zoom, meet, teams, or slack calls without adding a bot. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Mumble AI 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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