Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Notee: Mobile-first AI voice recorder and note taker that transcribes and summarizes meetings, lectures, and interviews with speaker identification. 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 Notee when capturing lectures or interviews with speaker labels 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.
Mobile-first AI voice recorder and note taker that transcribes and summarizes meetings, lectures, and interviews with speaker identification.
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
Notee is a mobile-first AI voice recorder, transcriber, and summary app developed by GM UniverseApps Limited for capturing meetings, lectures, interviews, and voice notes. Users record audio on their phone (with Apple Watch support on iOS), and Notee automatically converts speech to text, producing clear transcripts, concise summaries, and action items. It includes live audio transcription and smart voice dictation for real-time speech-to-text, speaker identification to track who is speaking during a discussion, and an intelligent keyword search plus an Ask AI feature for finding what was said across historical recordings. Notes can be exported as PDF, DOC text, or WAV audio and shared directly to tools such as Slack, Google Docs, and Notion. The app is available on iOS (iPhone and Apple Watch) and Android. Notee positions itself for business professionals and executives who want discussions turned into documented meeting minutes, as well as students and educators using it for lecture capture and summarization. The developer states that recordings and transcripts remain private and that user data is never shared. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Notee is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Notee |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Live audio transcription and smart voice dictation |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | AI summaries with automatic action items |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Speaker identification |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Keyword search and Ask AI across past recordings |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Export as PDF, DOC text, or WAV and share to Slack, Google Docs, and Notion |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | iOS (iPhone and Apple Watch) and Android availability |
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.
Notee
Choose Notee if you need recording and summarizing in-person meetings on a phone — strengths include mobile-first with apple watch support for quick capture.
Buzz
Notee
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Notee is strong for recording and summarizing in-person meetings on a phone. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Notee 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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