Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Votars: Multilingual AI meeting recorder and transcriber supporting many languages with real-time translation and one-click export. 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 Votars when users in india and asia transcribing meetings in regional languages 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.
Multilingual AI meeting recorder and transcriber supporting many languages with real-time translation and one-click export.
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
Votars is a multilingual AI meeting recording and transcription platform that captures conversations from online meetings, in-person discussions, and uploaded audio or video files. It applies AI processing to produce real-time transcription, identify multiple speakers, and translate across a broad set of languages, with marketing materials citing support for a large number of languages including major Indian and Asian languages such as Hindi and Tamil. After a meeting, Votars generates summaries and can export results in one click to formats including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, as well as mind maps, which makes it convenient for users who need to reuse meeting content in documents and presentations. The platform is cross-device, with clients available for Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, allowing capture from both desktop and mobile contexts. The vendor states privacy and security practices including SOC 2, SSL encryption, and GDPR alignment. Votars is positioned for international and multilingual teams, including users in markets such as India and broader Asia who need transcription and translation across many languages within a single tool rather than English-only meeting notes. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Votars is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Votars |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Captures online meetings, in-person audio, and uploaded files |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Real-time transcription with multi-speaker identification |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Multilingual support with real-time translation across many languages |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | One-click export to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and mind maps |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Cross-device clients for Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | AI-generated meeting summaries |
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.
Votars
Choose Votars if you need multilingual teams needing transcription and translation across many languages — strengths include broad multilingual coverage including major indian and asian languages.
Buzz
Votars
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Votars is strong for multilingual teams needing transcription and translation across many languages. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Votars 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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