Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Yating: Taiwan-built AI speech-to-text app for classes, meetings, and interviews, optimized for Taiwanese-accent Mandarin and Mandarin-English code-switching. 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 Yating when professionals capturing meetings and interviews in taiwan 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.
Taiwan-built AI speech-to-text app for classes, meetings, and interviews, optimized for Taiwanese-accent Mandarin and Mandarin-English code-switching.
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
Yating is an AI speech-to-text application developed by AILabs, a privately funded Taiwan-based company, and is described as a handy tool for classes, meetings, interviews, and everyday moments worth saving. It converts speech and voice to text and is notable for being optimized for languages and accents commonly used in Taiwan, handling Mandarin, Taiwanese, English, Japanese, and Cantonese, including sentences that switch between Chinese and English mid-thought. The app offers live transcription that can dictate audio from a microphone in real time as well as transcription of recorded audio and uploaded audio or video files. It includes a subtitle mode for accessibility, speaker identification with timestamps, and is available across mobile, web, and a Chrome plugin. An API is offered for batch processing and automatic speech recognition, and the company emphasizes a privacy-focused approach, stating it does not sell user data and that its technology and data are developed locally in Taiwan. Yating is named after a professional shorthand typist, reflecting its goal of accurate, fast transcription. The application remains active with recent updates, and it is positioned for students, podcasters, researchers, data analysts, and people who are hard of hearing. A free tier is available on iPhone alongside other offerings. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Yating is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | Yating |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Live microphone transcription plus transcription of recorded and uploaded files |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Optimized for Taiwanese-accent Mandarin and Mandarin-English code-switching |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | Support for Mandarin, Taiwanese, English, Japanese, and Cantonese |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Speaker identification with timestamps |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Subtitle mode for accessibility |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Cross-platform: mobile, web, and Chrome plugin |
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.
Yating
Choose Yating if you need students transcribing lectures and classes in mandarin or mixed mandarin-english — strengths include strong handling of taiwanese-accent mandarin and chinese-english code-switching.
Buzz
Yating
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while Yating is strong for students transcribing lectures and classes in mandarin or mixed mandarin-english. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and Yating 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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