RUNLOCALAIv38
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RUNLOCALAI

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SYS · ONLINEUPTIME · 100%2026 · operator-owned
RUNLOCALAI · v38
← Home·/apps·Voice / transcription

Buzz

Fully offline

Open-source Whisper transcription with mic + file modes. Cross-platform Qt app.

Editorial verdict: “Best open-source Whisper desktop app. Cross-platform, free, less polish than MacWhisper.”

Voice / transcription
Free
MIT
★ 4.2 / 5
GitHub ★ 13,000
↗ GitHub

Compatibility at a glance

Which runtime + OS combos this app works against. Source of truth for "will it run on my setup?"

§ Runtimes supported
whisper-cpp
§ OS / platform
macoslinuxwindows
§ Hardware + model hint
Minimum VRAM
2 GB
Recommended starter model
Whisper Medium Q5_0 or Large v3 Q5_0
→ Build the rest of the stack with /stack-builder→ Pick a GPU for this app

What it is

Buzz is the open-source alternative to MacWhisper: cross-platform Qt app, supports mic, file, and folder modes, batch processing, translation. Built on whisper.cpp under the hood. Less polished than MacWhisper but free and runs on Linux + Windows + macOS.

✓ Strengths

  • +Open-source MIT-licensed
  • +Cross-platform Qt app
  • +Reasonable real-time perf on CPU

△ Caveats

  • −Qt UI is functional, not native-looking
  • −Speaker diarization is less mature than MacWhisper

About the Voice / transcription category

Transcription, speech-to-text, or text-to-speech.

§ Other voice / transcription apps
MacWhisper

Best Whisper desktop app on macOS. Pay once, transcribe locally forever.

OpenedAI-Speech

Best 'drop-in local TTS for OpenAI clients'. Bridge solution for existing pipelines.

Where to go from here

Stack Builder →

Pre-filled with this app's recommended use case + budget tier. Get the full rig + runtime + model picks.

Back to /apps →

The full directory — filter by category, runtime, OS, privacy posture, or VRAM.

Runtimes (/tools) →

What this app talks to: Ollama, vLLM, llama.cpp, MLX, LM Studio. The upstream layer.

Community benchmarks →

Did this app work for you on a specific rig? Submit the benchmark — it powers the model + hardware pages.