Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. ScribeBuddy: AI transcription and subtitle tool that converts audio and video to text, generates subtitles, and translates across many languages. Which one wins depends on your platform mix, budget, and how hands-off you want notes to be.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Buzz when transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline matters most, and ScribeBuddy when generating multilingual subtitles for podcasts and video content 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.
AI transcription and subtitle tool that converts audio and video to text, generates subtitles, and translates across many languages.
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
ScribeBuddy is an AI-powered transcription platform that converts audio and video content into text and subtitles across more than one hundred languages. Users upload recordings or capture live speech, and ScribeBuddy returns a transcript with speaker recognition and timestamps, which can then be summarized, translated, or turned into subtitle files for accessibility and wider reach. The service is positioned for a broad range of source material, including video files, podcasts, meetings and interviews, lectures, voice memos, and YouTube videos, making it relevant to creators as well as professionals who need records of conversations. Beyond core transcription, ScribeBuddy offers AI summaries that distill key information from a recording, real-time live transcription, and translation into a large set of languages so the same content can be repurposed for international audiences. It is available across platforms including iPhone, Android, Mac, and Windows. ScribeBuddy provides a free option for short files alongside pay-as-you-go and paid plans, lowering the barrier for individuals to try the tool before committing while still scaling to larger transcription and subtitling workloads for teams handling meetings, interviews, and media content. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); ScribeBuddy is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | ScribeBuddy |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | AI transcription of audio and video with speaker recognition and timestamps |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Subtitle generation for accessibility and content repurposing |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Translation across a large set of languages |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | AI summaries that distill key information from recordings |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Real-time live transcription of speech |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Cross-platform availability on iPhone, Android, Mac, and Windows |
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.
ScribeBuddy
Choose ScribeBuddy if you need transcribing meetings and interviews into searchable text — strengths include handles meetings, interviews, podcasts, and lectures in one tool.
Buzz
ScribeBuddy
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while ScribeBuddy is strong for transcribing meetings and interviews into searchable text. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and ScribeBuddy 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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Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. CLOVA Note: South Korean AI meeting-minutes service by Naver that records meetings, transcribes speech, separates speakers, and generates summaries and action items. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
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