Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Transgate: Transgate is an AI transcription platform that converts uploaded audio and video from meetings, calls, and interviews into searchable text, then summarizes, highlights, and lets you chat with the transcript. This comparison weighs them on pricing, features, and everyday workflow fit.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Buzz when transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline matters most, and Transgate when generating summaries and action items from recorded sessions for researchers, legal, or medical professionals matters most. Test each on your own meetings; the right choice tends to become obvious quickly.
Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper.
Transgate is an AI transcription platform that converts uploaded audio and video from meetings, calls, and interviews into searchable text, then summarizes, highlights, and lets you chat with the transcript.
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
Transgate is an AI-powered transcription and translation platform for turning recorded meetings, calls, interviews, and videos into accurate text. Rather than joining live calls as a meeting bot, it works on an upload basis: users upload an audio or video file (common formats such as MP3, WAV, MP4, MOV are supported) and transcription begins automatically. The platform layers AI analysis on top of the transcript, generating summaries and smart highlights that surface key decisions and action items, and offering an interactive chat feature so users can ask questions about the content and locate specific moments. It supports transcription and translation across 50+ languages and is offered through a web platform and a mobile app. Transgate markets itself to professionals across business, academia, research, legal, medical, and media fields, emphasizing privacy with stated GDPR compliance and SSL encryption. An API is referenced in the site footer, but the core offering is an end-user transcription product rather than a developer-only service.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Transgate is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Transgate |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Upload-based audio and video transcription supporting common file formats |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | AI summaries and smart highlights surfacing key decisions and action items |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Interactive chat with the transcript to query content and find key moments |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | AI translation across 50+ languages |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Multi-language transcription support |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Web platform plus a mobile app |
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.
Transgate
Choose Transgate if you need transcribing recorded business meetings, interviews, and calls into shareable, searchable notes — strengths include pay-as-you-go pricing with a no-credit-card free trial lowers the barrier to entry.
Buzz
Transgate
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Transgate is strong for transcribing recorded business meetings, interviews, and calls into shareable, searchable notes. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Transgate 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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