Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. PatientNotes: PatientNotes is an AI medical scribe that listens to clinician-patient conversations and automatically generates structured clinical notes. The right pick comes down to team size, budget, and the workflows you want to automate.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Buzz when transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline matters most, and PatientNotes when generating specialty-formatted soap and progress notes for entry into an ehr 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.
PatientNotes is an AI medical scribe that listens to clinician-patient conversations and automatically generates structured clinical 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
PatientNotes is an AI medical scribe built for healthcare providers. It uses ambient AI listening to capture natural conversations between clinicians and patients in the background, transcribing both speakers without requiring typing or voice commands. From each encounter it generates structured clinical documentation including SOAP notes, progress notes, H&P documentation, and custom formats automatically formatted to specialty standards. The platform also suggests ICD-10 diagnosis and CPT procedure codes based on the documentation. It supports a range of medical specialties such as primary care, psychiatry, cardiology, dermatology, and pediatrics, with specialty-specific templates. Finished notes are moved into electronic health record systems via one-click copy and paste, with formatting optimized for major EHRs like Epic, Cerner, and Athena; direct API integration is not used. It is available as a native iOS app for iPhone and iPad and as a web application, with automatic syncing across devices and an Android app noted as in development. The product is marketed as HIPAA compliant.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); PatientNotes is a free tier with paid upgrades (paid). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | PatientNotes |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Ambient AI listening that captures both patient and clinician speech in the background |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Automatic generation of structured clinical notes (SOAP, progress, H&P, custom) |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | AI-suggested ICD-10 diagnosis and CPT procedure codes |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Specialty-specific templates across multiple medical specialties |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | One-click copy and paste into any EHR, optimized for Epic, Cerner, and Athena |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Native iOS app plus web application with cross-device syncing |
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.
PatientNotes
Choose PatientNotes if you need clinicians documenting in-person patient visits hands-free during the encounter — strengths include removes manual documentation work by transcribing encounters and drafting notes automatically.
Buzz
PatientNotes
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while PatientNotes is strong for clinicians documenting in-person patient visits hands-free during the encounter. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and PatientNotes is a free tier with paid upgrades. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
Sure. Running both makes sense when their strengths don't overlap and the budget allows.
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