Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Sembly AI: Team-focused notetaker with action items across 48 languages This comparison weighs them on pricing, features, and everyday workflow fit.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Buzz when transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline matters most, and Sembly AI when multilingual meeting transcription matters most. Try them side by side on real calls before deciding — needs vary by team.
Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper.
Team-focused notetaker with action items across 48 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
Sembly AI records and transcribes meetings in 40+ languages, then produces AI notes, summaries, and automatically detected tasks, with an AI chat assistant (Semblian) over single or multiple meetings. It connects to Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Webex, and automates via Zapier, webhooks, MCP, and CRM tools. As of March 2026, Sembly no longer offers a permanent free plan — the only no-cost option is a time-limited Basic free trial; paid plans start at $10/user/mo (annual).
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Sembly AI is from $10/mo (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Sembly AI |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | 40+ language transcription |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Automated action items |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Semblian AI chat |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Workflow automations |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | 40+ language transcription |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Automated action items |
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.
Sembly AI
Choose Sembly AI if you need team ai notes with task automation — strengths include transcription and ai notes in 40+ languages.
Buzz
Sembly AI
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Sembly AI is strong for team ai notes with task automation. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Sembly AI is from $10/mo. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
You can — some teams pair them when each covers a different part of the meeting workflow.
More head-to-head comparisons involving Buzz and Sembly AI.
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.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Calendly Notetaker: An AI meeting notetaker built into the Calendly scheduling platform that records meetings and generates summaries, transcripts, and action items. Which one wins depends on your platform mix, budget, and how hands-off you want notes to be.
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Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Castmagic: AI content platform that transcribes podcasts, videos, and recorded meetings with speaker diarization and turns them into show notes, summaries, and other assets. The right pick comes down to team size, budget, and the workflows you want to automate.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Celeste AI: Brazilian Portuguese-focused AI voice and transcription platform offering on-demand transcription plus a meeting assistant and AI notes, with credit-based and subscription plans. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Choppity: AI video and audio platform that transcribes recordings, generates styled captions, and turns long-form content into short clips. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Claap: Async video plus AI meeting recording and CRM updates This comparison weighs them on pricing, features, and everyday workflow fit.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Cleft Notes: AI voice-note app that turns spoken thoughts and meeting audio into structured, organized notes. Which one wins depends on your platform mix, budget, and how hands-off you want notes to be.