Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Voibe: Voibe is a private, offline AI dictation app for Apple Silicon Macs that converts speech to text on-device and inserts it into any app via a hold-to-speak hotkey. This comparison weighs them on pricing, features, and everyday workflow fit.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Buzz when transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline matters most, and Voibe when writing prompts and queries into ai tools like chatgpt and claude by voice matters most. Trial each on a few real meetings before you commit — the better fit usually shows fast.
Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper.
Voibe is a private, offline AI dictation app for Apple Silicon Macs that converts speech to text on-device and inserts it into any app via a hold-to-speak hotkey.
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
Voibe is a Mac dictation app that turns speech into text entirely on-device, so audio never leaves the machine. Built for Apple Silicon Macs (M1 through M4) running macOS 13 or later, it runs optimized OpenAI Whisper models locally and works with no internet connection. You hold a hotkey (such as the Fn key), speak, and release; Voibe transcribes the audio and inserts the resulting text directly into whatever app is focused. It works system-wide across Mail, Notes, browsers, Slack, VS Code, ChatGPT, Claude and other text fields, rather than in a single dedicated window. The app supports a custom dictionary for names, jargon and technical vocabulary, plus smart punctuation. Because everything is processed locally and the audio is discarded after transcription, it is positioned for professionals handling confidential or NDA-protected work, including lawyers, consultants and developers. Voibe is a voice-to-text dictation tool focused on fast, accurate, private text entry; it is not a meeting recorder or conversation-intelligence platform. A Windows version is on a waitlist.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Voibe is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Voibe |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Automatic smart punctuation |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Fully on-device speech-to-text using OpenAI Whisper models optimized for Apple Silicon (no cloud upload) |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Hold-to-speak hotkey that inserts dictated text into any app's focused text field |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Works offline with no internet connection required |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Custom dictionary for names, jargon, and technical vocabulary |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | System-wide compatibility across Mail, Notes, browsers, Slack, VS Code, ChatGPT and more |
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.
Voibe
Choose Voibe if you need dictating emails, messages, and long-form documents directly into any mac app — strengths include strong privacy posture: transcription happens locally and audio is discarded, so no data leaves the mac.
Buzz
Voibe
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Voibe is strong for dictating emails, messages, and long-form documents directly into any mac app. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Voibe is a free tier with paid upgrades. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
Sure. Running both makes sense when their strengths don't overlap and the budget allows.
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