Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Simon Says: AI transcription, captioning, and translation built for professional video and audio workflows. Here's where each one pulls ahead on pricing, features, and the meetings it suits best.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Buzz when transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline matters most, and Simon Says when translating subtitles for international distribution 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 transcription, captioning, and translation built for professional video and audio workflows.
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
Simon Says is an AI transcription, captioning, and translation platform built for professional audio and video production workflows. Users upload audio or video and Simon Says transcribes the speech into text, with speaker identification to separate dialogue, and can generate subtitles and captions using built-in visual editing tools. The platform supports transcription and translation across roughly a hundred languages, making it useful for international distribution and localization. A defining characteristic is its focus on production environments: Simon Says integrates with industry-standard editing software such as Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and Avid, so transcripts and captions can move directly into editing timelines. This positions it as a transcription and captioning layer for video editors, producers, post-production teams, and content creators rather than a meeting note-taker. It is aimed at professionals who need accurate, editable transcripts and subtitles that fit into established editing pipelines, as well as researchers and creators who need reliable speech-to-text and multilingual captioning. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Simon Says is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Simon Says |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | AI transcription with speaker identification |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Subtitle and caption generation with visual editing |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Translation across many languages |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Integrations with Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and Avid |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Support for professional audio and video formats |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | AI transcription with speaker identification |
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.
Simon Says
Choose Simon Says if you need transcribing and captioning footage for video editing projects — strengths include integrates directly with professional video editing software.
Buzz
Simon Says
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Simon Says is strong for transcribing and captioning footage for video editing projects. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Simon Says is a free tier with paid upgrades. 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 Simon Says.
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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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.