Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. StenoAI: Open-source desktop app that records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings entirely on-device with no bots, subscriptions, or cloud processing. 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 StenoAI when generating diarized live transcripts during zoom, teams, or meet calls on a mac 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.
Open-source desktop app that records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings entirely on-device with no bots, subscriptions, or cloud processing.
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
StenoAI (Steno) is an open-source desktop application that records meetings, transcribes them in real time, and generates AI-powered summaries while keeping all data local on the user's device. It positions itself as a privacy-first meeting notes tool with no cloud processing, no subscriptions, and no bots joining calls, and it is distributed under the MIT license with an actively maintained release history (v0.5.4 in June 2026). On Apple Silicon it can use the Parakeet TDT v3 model for live transcription, and it also supports Whisper models, capturing both system audio and microphone input via a native Core Audio Tap on recent macOS versions so it works across platforms like Zoom, Teams, Meet, Discord, and phone calls without OAuth integrations. During recording it shows live speaker labels distinguishing the user from others, and it supports 25 European languages for live transcription with up to 99 languages available via Whisper after recording. Summaries are produced with local LLMs through Ollama (for example Llama 3.2, Gemma, or Qwen), with optional remote Ollama server support to run larger models on a separate machine, and both transcripts and summaries can be exported as editable Markdown. A Windows build is in alpha alongside the primary macOS app. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); StenoAI is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | StenoAI |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | On-device transcription with Parakeet TDT v3 (Apple Silicon) or Whisper models |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | System audio and microphone capture via native Core Audio Tap (no bots) |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Real-time on-screen speaker labels distinguishing you from others |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Local LLM summaries through Ollama, with remote Ollama server support |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | 25 European languages live, up to 99 languages via Whisper after recording |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Markdown export of transcripts and summaries |
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.
StenoAI
Choose StenoAI if you need capturing and summarizing confidential meetings without sending audio to the cloud — strengths include fully local, bot-free capture with no cloud processing or subscriptions for core use.
Buzz
StenoAI
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while StenoAI is strong for capturing and summarizing confidential meetings without sending audio to the cloud. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and StenoAI 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.
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