Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Plaud: AI note-taking platform that records conversations and meetings, then transcribes them and generates summaries and action items, via dedicated hardware recorders and a desktop/mobile app. 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 Plaud when capturing action items and decisions from conversations 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.
AI note-taking platform that records conversations and meetings, then transcribes them and generates summaries and action items, via dedicated hardware recorders and a desktop/mobile app.
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
Plaud is an AI note-taking platform that turns conversations and meetings into transcripts, structured summaries, and action items. It pairs dedicated hardware recorders (Plaud Note, Note Pro, and the NotePin wearables) with iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and web apps. Its desktop app captures audio natively from online meetings in Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams (and other conferencing apps) without joining as a bot, and can auto-detect when a meeting starts. Plaud transcribes in 112+ languages and offers 10,000+ summary templates. The Starter (free) plan includes 300 transcription minutes per month. Paid tiers add the "Ask Plaud" natural-language search across recordings plus Zapier, Google Calendar, and a beta MCP server integration. Plaud states it holds ISO 27001/27701, SOC 2, GDPR, and HIPAA compliance, and describes itself as trusted by over 2 million users globally.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Plaud is from $0/mo (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Plaud |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | AI transcription |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Meeting summaries & action items |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Online meeting capture |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Ask Plaud search |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Summary templates |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | AI transcription |
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.
Plaud
Choose Plaud if you need recording and summarizing in-person and online meetings — strengths include free starter plan includes 300 transcription minutes per month.
Buzz
Plaud
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Plaud is strong for recording and summarizing in-person and online meetings. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Plaud is from $0/mo. 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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