Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Talat: A privacy-first desktop meeting notes app that records and transcribes calls entirely on your own machine, with no bot and no cloud upload. 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 Talat when keeping a searchable local archive of meeting notes in markdown or obsidian 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.
A privacy-first desktop meeting notes app that records and transcribes calls entirely on your own machine, with no bot and no cloud upload.
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
Talat is a lightweight desktop application that records and transcribes meetings entirely on the user's own computer, keeping audio and notes off cloud servers. It captures both the microphone and system audio, automatically detecting active conferencing apps such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and FaceTime, and transcribes both sides of the conversation in real time with low latency. Speakers are identified automatically and can be adjusted manually, and transcript segments can be edited, split, or deleted. When a meeting ends, an on-device large language model generates a summary highlighting key points, decisions, and action items. Because transcription and summarization run locally using hardware acceleration, the app functions offline and does not send meeting data to external providers, though users can optionally connect their own cloud LLM if they prefer. Talat supports exporting notes to Markdown for tools like Obsidian, along with webhooks and Model Context Protocol (MCP) support for integrating meeting data into other workflows, plus full local search across past recordings. Available for Apple Silicon Macs and Windows, it is sold as a one-time purchase rather than a subscription, making it suited to privacy-conscious individuals and small teams who want local control of their meeting records. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Talat is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Talat |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Fully local, on-device recording and transcription with no cloud upload |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Captures microphone and system audio from Zoom, Teams, Meet, and FaceTime |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Real-time speaker identification with editable transcript segments |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | On-device LLM summaries of key points, decisions, and action items |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Markdown export to tools like Obsidian, plus webhooks and MCP support |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Local search across all previously recorded meetings |
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.
Talat
Choose Talat if you need recording and transcribing meetings without sending audio to the cloud — strengths include audio and notes never leave the device, supporting strong privacy and offline use.
Buzz
Talat
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Talat is strong for recording and transcribing meetings without sending audio to the cloud. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Talat 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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