Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Recast Studio: AI video repurposing tool that turns webinars, podcasts, interviews, and Zoom recordings into captioned clips and written content. We compare them on cost, capture approach, and day-to-day fit so you can choose faster.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Buzz when transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline matters most, and Recast Studio when repurposing a zoom interview into blog posts and linkedin content 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 video repurposing tool that turns webinars, podcasts, interviews, and Zoom recordings into captioned clips and written content.
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
Recast Studio is an AI-powered video editor and repurposing platform aimed at marketing teams, podcasters, and content creators who produce long-form recordings. Its core promise is to take webinars, podcasts, interviews, and Zoom recordings and turn them into social-ready clips and written assets without manual scrubbing. The platform transcribes uploaded recordings and supports transcript-based editing, where highlighting or deleting text trims the underlying video, alongside automatic reframing with face detection and filler-word and pause removal. It generates captions synced to edits across more than twenty languages and can produce audiograms and template-based clips in multiple aspect ratios. Beyond video, Recast can draft blog posts, show notes, LinkedIn posts, and email summaries directly from a recording's transcript, and it includes direct publishing and scheduling to channels such as TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, and X, plus a shared team workspace. Because it explicitly accepts webinar and Zoom recordings, it bridges the gap between meeting and event recordings and short-form distribution. Recast Studio is actively operating, with current testimonials and functional sign-up on its site, and offers a free tier alongside paid plans. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Recast Studio is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Recast Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Transcribes webinars, podcasts, interviews, and Zoom recordings |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Transcript-based editing that trims video by editing text |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Automatic reframing with face detection and filler-word/pause removal |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Caption generation synced to edits across 20+ languages |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | AI-generated blog drafts, show notes, LinkedIn posts, and email summaries |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Direct publishing and scheduling to multiple social platforms |
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.
Recast Studio
Choose Recast Studio if you need turning a recorded webinar into short captioned clips for social channels — strengths include explicitly handles webinar and zoom recordings, not just podcasts.
Buzz
Recast Studio
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Recast Studio is strong for turning a recorded webinar into short captioned clips for social channels. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Recast Studio 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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