Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Vatis Tech: Speech-to-text platform with developer API, speaker diarization, and meeting transcription tools. 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 Vatis Tech when embedding transcription into applications via the api matters most. Try them side by side on real calls before deciding — needs vary by team.
Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper.
Speech-to-text platform with developer API, speaker diarization, and meeting transcription tools.
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
Vatis Tech is a speech-to-text platform that converts audio and video into text and offers both a developer API and self-serve tools, including a meeting transcription and summarization tool. The service supports a broad set of languages with real-time language switching and provides speaker diarization to identify and label individual participants in multi-speaker recordings such as meetings and interviews. It accepts a wide range of audio and video formats and offers several export options, including TXT, DOCX, SRT, VTT, JSON, and PDF, along with a built-in editor for proofreading transcripts. Beyond transcription, Vatis Tech includes audio-intelligence capabilities such as sentiment analysis, intent detection, topic identification, and PII redaction, and it can translate transcripts into additional languages. For developers, the platform exposes a REST API with Python and JavaScript SDKs and custom-vocabulary support for domain-specific terms, while flexible deployment options include cloud and on-premises. Vatis Tech markets enterprise-grade security with GDPR compliance, ISO 27001, and SOC 2 Type II. It suits both teams that want to transcribe meeting recordings directly and developers who need to embed transcription into their own applications. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Vatis Tech is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Vatis Tech |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Speech-to-text API with Python and JavaScript SDKs |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Speaker diarization for multi-speaker recordings |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Free meeting transcription and summarization tool |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Audio intelligence: sentiment, intent, topics, and PII redaction |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Multiple export formats (TXT, DOCX, SRT, VTT, JSON, PDF) |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Cloud and on-premises deployment with enterprise compliance |
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.
Vatis Tech
Choose Vatis Tech if you need transcribing uploaded meeting recordings and generating summaries — strengths include combines a developer api with self-serve meeting tools.
Buzz
Vatis Tech
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Vatis Tech is strong for transcribing uploaded meeting recordings and generating summaries. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Vatis Tech 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.
More head-to-head comparisons involving Buzz and Vatis Tech.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. CLOVA Note: South Korean AI meeting-minutes service by Naver that records meetings, transcribes speech, separates speakers, and generates summaries and action items. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
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Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Claap: Async video plus AI meeting recording and CRM updates This comparison weighs them on pricing, features, and everyday workflow fit.
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