Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. TurboScribe: Whisper-based web app that transcribes uploaded audio and video files, including meetings, interviews, and podcasts, with speaker labels and subtitle export. 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 TurboScribe when generating subtitle files for podcast video and webinar recordings 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.
Whisper-based web app that transcribes uploaded audio and video files, including meetings, interviews, and podcasts, with speaker labels and subtitle export.
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
TurboScribe is a browser-based transcription service that converts uploaded audio and video files into text using OpenAI's Whisper speech-recognition model. Users upload recordings in common formats such as MP3, MP4, and WAV, and TurboScribe processes them into structured transcripts that can be exported as plain text, DOCX, PDF, or SRT and VTT subtitle files. The tool supports a large number of languages for both transcription and translation, and it automatically labels different speakers in a recording, which makes it usable for multi-participant content like meetings, interviews, and podcasts. Because it works from uploaded files rather than joining live calls, it pairs with recordings exported from platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet. It handles long recordings and batch uploads, and the interface is oriented toward people who need to turn a recorded conversation into a searchable, editable document or into captions for video. TurboScribe is aimed at individuals and small teams, including journalists, researchers, content creators, and professionals who regularly transcribe recorded meetings and interviews. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); TurboScribe is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | TurboScribe |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Audio and video transcription powered by the Whisper speech-recognition model |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Automatic speaker labeling for multi-participant recordings |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Transcription and translation across a large set of languages |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Export to plain text, DOCX, PDF, and SRT/VTT subtitle formats |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Support for long recordings and batch uploads of multiple files |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Works with recordings exported from Zoom, Teams, and Google Meet |
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.
TurboScribe
Choose TurboScribe if you need transcribing recorded meetings and interviews into searchable documents — strengths include built on the whisper model, which handles varied accents and technical terms reasonably well.
Buzz
TurboScribe
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while TurboScribe is strong for transcribing recorded meetings and interviews into searchable documents. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and TurboScribe 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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