Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Notably: Notably is an AI-powered qualitative research platform that transcribes interview recordings and analyzes notes, transcripts, and other research data into themes and insights. Here's where each one pulls ahead on pricing, features, and the meetings it suits best.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Buzz when transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline matters most, and Notably when synthesizing qualitative data into themes and insights for market research and agencies 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.
Notably is an AI-powered qualitative research platform that transcribes interview recordings and analyzes notes, transcripts, and other research data into themes and insights.
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
Notably is an end-to-end qualitative research platform built for analyzing and synthesizing research data rather than capturing live meetings. Teams import diverse inputs—video and audio interview recordings, written notes, usability test recordings, and survey exports—into a centralized research repository. Its interview transcription feature imports cloud recordings and transcribes video and audio so researchers can analyze the spoken content. Notably's AI then automates much of the synthesis: it generates highlights and tags, surfaces themes, produces insight summaries, and can run sentiment analysis across an entire study. A library of customizable AI templates supports stages of the research process, from thematic analysis to persona creation, user journeys, and reporting with AI-generated visuals. Notably is aimed at UX and product researchers, market researchers, agencies, design strategists, academics, and consultants who already have collected data and want faster time-to-insight. Notably does not recruit participants, run surveys, or conduct interviews itself; it focuses on analysis and the research repository. It is a web-based, end-user SaaS product.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Notably is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Notably |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Interview transcription from imported video and audio recordings |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | AI-generated highlights and tags on transcripts |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Automatic theme extraction and insight summaries |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Sentiment analysis across an entire study |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Customizable AI research templates (thematic analysis, personas, journeys) |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Centralized qualitative research repository with interactive reports |
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.
Notably
Choose Notably if you need transcribing and analyzing user interview recordings for ux and product research — strengths include strong ai automation reduces manual tagging and synthesis time.
Buzz
Notably
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Notably is strong for transcribing and analyzing user interview recordings for ux and product research. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Notably 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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