Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Tali AI: Tali AI is a Canadian-built AI ambient scribe and medical dictation platform that turns patient conversations into structured clinical notes for healthcare providers. We compare them on cost, capture approach, and day-to-day fit so you can choose faster.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Buzz when transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline matters most, and Tali AI when clinics auto-populating insurance, disability, and referral forms from encounters matters most. Run both through a week of actual calls to see which suits your workflow.
Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper.
Tali AI is a Canadian-built AI ambient scribe and medical dictation platform that turns patient conversations into structured clinical notes for healthcare providers.
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
Tali AI is an AI-powered clinical documentation platform for healthcare providers. Its Ambient Scribe listens to in-person, virtual, or phone visits and generates structured notes such as SOAP or consult notes from the conversation, without requiring explicit voice commands. It also offers AI medical dictation, where clinicians can speak a summary of a visit and have it converted into a structured note. Tali captures audio through a Chrome extension and desktop use, or via iOS and Android apps that can act as a microphone and sync notes to the desktop; it works with standard headset microphones. Beyond note-taking, Tali can pre-fill structured clinical and insurance forms, surface follow-up actions like referrals, labs, and prescriptions, and provides a medical search feature for medications and conditions. It integrates directly with EMRs/EHRs including Oscar Pro, TELUS Health Med Access, PS Suite, Healthquest, and Practice Fusion, and is positioned for primary care and specialty practices across multiple disciplines.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Tali AI is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Tali AI |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Ambient scribe that auto-generates structured SOAP and consult notes from patient conversations |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | AI medical dictation from spoken visit summaries |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Direct integration with EMRs/EHRs including Oscar Pro, Med Access, PS Suite, Healthquest, and Practice Fusion |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Capture via Chrome extension, desktop, and iOS/Android apps used as a microphone |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Automatic pre-filling of clinical and insurance forms |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Medical search for medications and conditions plus automatic follow-up task surfacing |
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.
Tali AI
Choose Tali AI if you need family physicians and specialists documenting patient visits hands-free during or after appointments — strengths include purpose-built for clinical workflows with deep emr/ehr integrations.
Buzz
Tali AI
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Tali AI is strong for family physicians and specialists documenting patient visits hands-free during or after appointments. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Tali 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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