Buzz

by Chidi Williams

Cross-platform desktop app for Whisper — open-source MacWhisper alternative.

Category
Open source
License
MIT
Stars
★ 18.8k
Last push
2026-04-19
Pricing
free
Platforms
macOS, Linux, Windows

What it is

Buzz is the open-source cross-platform desktop app for Whisper. File drop, live microphone, multiple model sizes, batch processing — all running locally. Free, MIT-licensed, and the closest OSS equivalent to MacWhisper across all three desktop OSes.

Best for: Non-technical users who want Whisper on their desktop without touching a terminal.
Watch out for: No native diarization; UI is functional rather than polished.

Install / use

brew install --cask buzz  # or Windows/Linux installers from releases

Features

Speaker diarizationNo
Word-level timestampsYes
Streaming / real-timeYes
Languages supported99
HIPAA eligibleNo

Links

GitHub repo ↗

Alternatives

Whipscribe is a managed faster-whisper + whisperX service. If you want transcripts without running infrastructure, we're one click away.

Try Whipscribe →