Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Typist: AI speech-to-text service that converts audio and video into text and exports captions, with tiered models for speed or accuracy. 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 Typist when generating srt or webvtt captions for podcasts and videos 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.
AI speech-to-text service that converts audio and video into text and exports captions, with tiered models for speed or accuracy.
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
Typist is an AI transcription service that converts audio and video files into text and caption files. Users upload recordings in common formats such as MP3, MP4, M4A, WAV, OGG, FLAC, and WebM, and Typist returns a transcript that can be exported to DOCX, SRT subtitles, WebVTT captions, PDF, or plain text. The platform offers multiple transcription models, described as Turbo for speed, Pro for a balance of speed and accuracy, and Studio for the highest accuracy, with the Studio tier adding speaker identification. Typist supports a wide range of languages and accents and provides word-level and segment-level timestamps, which makes it suitable for producing subtitles that import cleanly into video editors. The product positions itself around fast turnaround for pre-recorded content and predictable, credit-based usage. Its documented use cases span lectures, podcasts, interviews, research and client calls, and consulting meetings, alongside students, therapists, and video editors. A free tier with a limited number of minutes lets new users try the service before moving to paid plans, and a web dashboard handles uploads, transcription, and exports. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Typist is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Typist |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Audio and video to text transcription across many file formats |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Export to SRT subtitles, WebVTT captions, DOCX, PDF, and TXT |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Multiple transcription models trading off speed and accuracy |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Speaker identification on the highest-accuracy tier |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Word-level and segment-level timestamps for clean subtitle timing |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Support for a wide range of languages and accents |
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.
Typist
Choose Typist if you need transcribing recorded interviews and research or client calls — strengths include clean subtitle exports (srt and webvtt) that import into video editors.
Buzz
Typist
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Typist is strong for transcribing recorded interviews and research or client calls. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Typist 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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