Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Wave: Cross-platform AI note taker that records and transcribes meetings, calls, and voice memos into summaries. The right pick comes down to team size, budget, and the workflows you want to automate.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Buzz when transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline matters most, and Wave when capturing in-person meetings and lectures from a phone 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.
Cross-platform AI note taker that records and transcribes meetings, calls, and voice memos into summaries.
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
Wave is a cross-platform AI note taker and recorder that captures meetings, phone calls, lectures, and voice memos and converts them into speaker-labeled transcripts and concise summaries with key points and action items. It works without sending a bot into a call, offering tab audio capture for recording browser-based meetings, a combined mode that captures both tab audio and the microphone, and a quick voice-memo option for short recordings. Wave is available across a wide range of platforms, including iOS and Android apps, a web app, Mac and Windows, and a Chrome extension, so users can record and review notes on whichever device they are using, including in-person meetings captured directly from a phone's microphone. Transcription and summarization support dozens of languages, and the service stores recordings in secure cloud storage with encryption and states that user data is not used to train AI models. Wave is aimed at professionals, students, and content creators who want a flexible, multi-device tool for recording, transcribing, and organizing spoken content without a meeting bot. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Wave is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Wave |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Records meetings, calls, lectures, and voice memos |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Bot-free tab audio capture plus combined tab and mic mode |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Speaker-labeled transcripts with summaries and action items |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Apps for iOS, Android, web, Mac, Windows, and Chrome |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Support for dozens of languages |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Encrypted cloud storage with no model training on user data |
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.
Wave
Choose Wave if you need recording browser-based meetings without a bot joining — strengths include bot-free capture across many platforms and devices.
Buzz
Wave
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Wave is strong for recording browser-based meetings without a bot joining. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Wave 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 Wave.
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.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Calendly Notetaker: An AI meeting notetaker built into the Calendly scheduling platform that records meetings and generates summaries, transcripts, and action items. Which one wins depends on your platform mix, budget, and how hands-off you want notes to be.
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Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Castmagic: AI content platform that transcribes podcasts, videos, and recorded meetings with speaker diarization and turns them into show notes, summaries, and other assets. The right pick comes down to team size, budget, and the workflows you want to automate.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Celeste AI: Brazilian Portuguese-focused AI voice and transcription platform offering on-demand transcription plus a meeting assistant and AI notes, with credit-based and subscription plans. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Choppity: AI video and audio platform that transcribes recordings, generates styled captions, and turns long-form content into short clips. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
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.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Cleft Notes: AI voice-note app that turns spoken thoughts and meeting audio into structured, organized notes. Which one wins depends on your platform mix, budget, and how hands-off you want notes to be.