Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. TransLinguist: TransLinguist is a cloud-based platform offering real-time AI speech translation, live interpretation, and live captions for multilingual meetings and events. 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 TransLinguist when delivering simultaneous interpretation for international conferences and live events 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.
TransLinguist is a cloud-based platform offering real-time AI speech translation, live interpretation, and live captions for multilingual meetings and events.
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
TransLinguist is a cloud-based multilingual communication platform built for meetings, conferences, trainings, and broadcasts. Its TransLinguist Speech AI product delivers on-demand, real-time speech-to-speech translation across 15+ languages, while the TransLinguist Interactive service connects participants with certified human interpreters for remote simultaneous interpretation and video remote interpreting. The platform also produces live captions and subtitles for videos, events, and meetings, and the company offers broader language services including transcription, voice-over, transcreation, machine-translation post-editing, and localization. Audio and speech are captured directly within virtual meeting sessions, and the platform integrates with preferred conferencing tools including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Webex, and BlueJeans, in some cases enabling live interpretation with a single click and no extra apps. It also supports hybrid and on-site events. TransLinguist is aimed at enterprises, event organizers, and teams running international meetings or training sessions that need accurate, real-time multilingual support to keep cross-language audiences engaged.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); TransLinguist is a free tier with paid upgrades (paid). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | TransLinguist |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Real-time AI speech-to-speech translation in 15+ languages |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Live human remote simultaneous and video remote interpretation |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Live captions and subtitles for meetings, events, and videos |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Integrations with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Webex, and BlueJeans |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Support for remote, hybrid, and on-site events |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Additional language services: transcription, voice-over, and localization |
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.
TransLinguist
Choose TransLinguist if you need providing real-time translation and captions for multilingual business meetings and corporate trainings — strengths include combines on-demand ai translation with certified human interpreters for flexibility.
Buzz
TransLinguist
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while TransLinguist is strong for providing real-time translation and captions for multilingual business meetings and corporate trainings. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and TransLinguist is a free tier with paid upgrades. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
Often yes: teams combine tools when one handles capture and another handles analysis.
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