Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Viaim RecDot: AI recording earbuds paired with the viaim app that capture meetings and calls and turn them into transcripts, translations, summaries, and action items in 78 languages. 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 Viaim RecDot when transcribing and translating multilingual or cross-border conversations in real time 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 recording earbuds paired with the viaim app that capture meetings and calls and turn them into transcripts, translations, summaries, and action items in 78 languages.
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
Viaim RecDot is a pair of AI note-taking true-wireless earbuds combined with the viaim companion app, built to capture and document meetings, calls, interviews, and lectures hands-free. Recording can be triggered by pinching an earbud, tapping the charging case, or capturing phone and internet calls, so audio is captured whether the conversation is in person or remote. The viaim app then provides live transcription with accent recognition across 78 languages, real-time translation with audio playback that shows original and translated text together, and structured outputs including smart summaries, key takeaways, extracted action items, and automatically generated mind maps. Industry and scenario templates let users shape how notes are formatted. A built-in assistant called Vitana answers questions grounded in the user's own recordings and organized Spaces rather than the open web. It is aimed at professionals who attend frequent meetings, client calls, and interviews, as well as students and researchers who want a single wearable device that both plays audio and captures structured notes.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Viaim RecDot is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Viaim RecDot |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Real-time transcription in 78 languages with accent recognition |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Real-time translation showing original and translated text with audio playback |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Automatic summaries, key takeaways, action items, and mind maps |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Speaker labeling and editable transcripts in the viaim app |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Recording of in-person conversations plus phone and internet calls via earbud, case, or app |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Vitana AI assistant that answers questions grounded in your own recordings and Spaces |
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.
Viaim RecDot
Choose Viaim RecDot if you need capturing and summarizing in-person and online work meetings, client calls, and interviews — strengths include single wearable device handles both audio playback and structured note capture, no separate recorder needed.
Buzz
Viaim RecDot
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Viaim RecDot is strong for capturing and summarizing in-person and online work meetings, client calls, and interviews. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Viaim RecDot 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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