Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. VidNotes: VidNotes is an AI tool that transcribes videos, meeting recordings, and lectures, then generates summaries, key points, flashcards, and a chat interface in 30+ languages. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Buzz when transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline matters most, and VidNotes when professionals extracting action items and decisions from zoom, meet, or teams recordings 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.
VidNotes is an AI tool that transcribes videos, meeting recordings, and lectures, then generates summaries, key points, flashcards, and a chat interface in 30+ 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
VidNotes is an AI-powered transcription and note-taking tool that turns videos, lectures, podcasts, and meeting recordings into structured, searchable text. Users either upload a local file (MP4, MOV, MKV, and more) or paste a link from YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or Vimeo, including exported recordings from Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and webinars. Under the hood it runs the audio through OpenAI's Whisper model for speech-to-text, then a large language model produces a summary, key points, timestamped notes, auto-generated flashcards, and extracted action items in the same language as the source. A chat feature lets users ask questions about the content and receive answers with citations, and transcripts and notes can be exported as TXT, PDF, Markdown, or SRT captions. It supports English plus 30+ additional languages and handles mixed languages and varied accents. Aimed at students, researchers, content creators, and professionals, VidNotes is available in the browser, as a Chrome extension, and as iOS and Android apps. The app is published by Silpho LLC.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); VidNotes is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | VidNotes |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Speech-to-text transcription via OpenAI's Whisper, with timestamps |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | AI summaries, key points, and extracted action items from meetings and videos |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Auto-generated flashcards with spaced-repetition review |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Chat interface that answers questions about a video with citations |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Supports file uploads plus YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Vimeo, and meeting recordings (Zoom, Google Meet, Teams) |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Export to TXT, PDF, Markdown, and SRT captions across web, Chrome extension, iOS, and Android |
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.
VidNotes
Choose VidNotes if you need students turning recorded lectures into summaries and flashcards for study — strengths include works across web, chrome extension, ios, and android, with no download required for browser use.
Buzz
VidNotes
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while VidNotes is strong for students turning recorded lectures into summaries and flashcards for study. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and VidNotes 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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