Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Spellar AI: A bot-free AI meeting note taker for Mac, iOS, and web that records on-device and produces transcripts, summaries, and action items. 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 Spellar AI when consultants generating templated summaries and action items per meeting 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.
A bot-free AI meeting note taker for Mac, iOS, and web that records on-device and produces transcripts, summaries, and action items.
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
Spellar AI is a bot-free meeting note taker built by Spellar LTD for professionals who want their conversations captured without a bot joining the call. The app records directly on the user's Mac, iPhone, or iPad, so no participant appears in the meeting, and it produces transcripts in many languages with intelligent language detection. At the end of each meeting Spellar generates a structured summary that highlights key points and action items, and it offers customizable summary templates so the output can match different meeting types. A distinguishing feature is its model flexibility: users can switch between AI models such as different GPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity options per meeting, per template, or per question, and a real-time copilot can assist during the conversation. Privacy is configurable: server-side transcription is opt-in rather than default, and users can run transcription on-device or bring their own AI key to keep calls private. Spellar syncs across macOS, iOS, and the web, and supports one-click export to tools like Notion, Jira, Linear, and Google Docs. It suits sales reps, consultants, and professionals who want discreet capture plus flexible, exportable meeting notes. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Spellar AI is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Spellar AI |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Bot-free recording on Mac, iPhone, and iPad |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Transcription in 100+ languages with automatic language detection |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Per-meeting model switching across multiple AI providers |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Customizable summary templates with action item extraction |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | On-device transcription or bring-your-own-key options; server-side AI is opt-in |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | One-click export to Notion, Jira, Linear, and Google Docs |
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.
Spellar AI
Choose Spellar AI if you need sales reps capturing client calls without a visible bot — strengths include no bot joins the call, keeping capture discreet across platforms.
Buzz
Spellar AI
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Spellar AI is strong for sales reps capturing client calls without a visible bot. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Spellar AI is a free tier with paid upgrades. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
Sure. Running both makes sense when their strengths don't overlap and the budget allows.
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