Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. WhisperTranscribe: Whisper-based transcription app for podcasts, interviews, and recorded meetings that also generates content like summaries, social posts, and clips. Here's where each one pulls ahead on pricing, features, and the meetings it suits best.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Buzz when transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline matters most, and WhisperTranscribe when generating summaries and social content from spoken recordings matters most. Test each on your own meetings; the right choice tends to become obvious quickly.
Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper.
Whisper-based transcription app for podcasts, interviews, and recorded meetings that also generates content like summaries, social posts, and clips.
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
WhisperTranscribe is a transcription application, available as both a web app and desktop software for Windows and Mac, that converts audio and video into text using OpenAI's Whisper technology. Users can upload files, record directly in the app, or import content from YouTube links and podcast RSS feeds, and the tool transcribes across more than 50 languages with the ability to translate transcripts. It includes speaker identification and exports in standard formats. Beyond transcription, WhisperTranscribe offers a chat feature for querying transcripts, clip generation optimized for social platforms, and content generation that turns a single recording into a range of written assets such as summaries, social posts, newsletters, reports, and blog posts. While its messaging leans toward podcasters and YouTubers, the recording, transcription, and speaker-labeling features apply to recorded interviews and meetings as well. It is aimed at content creators, podcasters, journalists, researchers, and businesses that want to transcribe spoken content and then repurpose it into written deliverables rather than work with a raw transcript alone. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); WhisperTranscribe is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | WhisperTranscribe |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Transcription powered by the Whisper speech-recognition model |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Transcription across more than 50 languages with translation |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Speaker identification in recordings |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Import from uploaded files, in-app recording, YouTube, and podcast RSS feeds |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Content generation into summaries, social posts, newsletters, and blog posts |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Transcript chat for querying recordings and clip generation for social video |
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.
WhisperTranscribe
Choose WhisperTranscribe if you need transcribing podcast episodes, interviews, and recorded meetings — strengths include available as both web and native desktop apps for windows and mac.
Buzz
WhisperTranscribe
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while WhisperTranscribe is strong for transcribing podcast episodes, interviews, and recorded meetings. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and WhisperTranscribe 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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