Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Némos: An Apple-focused "second brain" app that records and auto-transcribes voice memos and meeting notes entirely on-device using Apple Intelligence. 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 Némos when capturing spoken thoughts as voice memos and converting them to searchable, formatted notes 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.
An Apple-focused "second brain" app that records and auto-transcribes voice memos and meeting notes entirely on-device using Apple Intelligence.
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
Némos is a personal knowledge management ("second brain") app for the Apple ecosystem that captures and automatically organizes many content types, including voice memos that it records and transcribes on-device. Rather than joining video calls as a bot, it captures audio directly from the iPhone or Apple Watch and converts speech to text locally using Apple Intelligence Foundation Models, so data stays on the device. Transcribed audio becomes fully searchable, and recordings can be turned into formats such as bullet points, summaries, meeting notes, emails, or journal entries. Beyond voice, Némos handles screenshots with OCR, links, PDFs, notes, photos, and more, naming and filing them automatically without manual tagging. It runs on iPhone and iPad (with Apple Watch recording, Siri commands, and Chrome, Safari, and Firefox extensions), and offers two-way sync with Apple Reminders, Calendar, Notes, Photos, Files, Maps, and iCloud. It is aimed at students, researchers, writers, and professionals who want private, low-effort capture of voice and other notes. As of mid-2026 it is in private beta.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Némos is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Némos |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | On-device voice memo recording and automatic speech-to-text transcription |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Local AI processing via Apple Intelligence Foundation Models (data stays on device) |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Auto-formatting of recordings into summaries, meeting notes, bullets, email, or journal entries |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Full-text search across transcribed audio and other captured content |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Apple Watch voice recording and Siri voice command support |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Two-way sync with Apple Reminders, Calendar, Notes, Photos, Files, Maps, and iCloud |
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.
Némos
Choose Némos if you need recording and transcribing in-person meetings or lectures on an iphone or apple watch — strengths include privacy-focused: voice transcription and ai run fully on-device, with no cloud upload.
Buzz
Némos
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Némos is strong for recording and transcribing in-person meetings or lectures on an iphone or apple watch. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Némos 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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