Guides

A Buzz alternative for the Mac that types where you are

By Ryleigh Newman · Published October 6, 2026

YapToText is a Buzz alternative for the Mac that does a job Buzz's own pages do not describe: tap one key, talk, and your words are typed into whatever app you are in, with Whisper running on your Mac. It transcribes audio and video files too, as plain text. Buzz is free and MIT licensed, and for recordings it does more than I do: subtitles, speaker identification, YouTube links, a watch folder and a command line, on Mac, Windows and Linux. I built YapToText, so read this with that in mind. Every Buzz fact here comes from Buzz's GitHub README, its documentation and buzzcaptions.com.

My hands make typing difficult, so I dictate every day, and I built YapToText as an accessibility tool because I needed one. If you came for Buzz vs MacWhisper, the three-way comparison is further down.

Download for free. No account, nothing locked, macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon. Source on GitHub.

Steps

1. Install YapToText from the Mac App Store and open it.
2. In the Get set up card, press Continue next to Microphone and Grant next to Accessibility, and switch YapToText on in System Settings, Privacy & Security, Accessibility.
3. Click into a text field, tap Right Command, say a sentence and tap it again.
4. On the Utility page, pick Raw Transcription in the Transcribe a file card and drop a recording on it.
5. Add your Buzz Initial prompt words on the Dictionaries page, with the wrong spelling in Heard and yours in Replace with.

What Buzz is, from its own pages

Buzz describes itself as an app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your personal computer, powered by OpenAI's Whisper. It is made by Chidi Williams, it is MIT licensed, and its code is on GitHub.

• Files first. Import an audio or video file, or a YouTube link, pick a task, a language and a model, and click Run. Transcripts export as TXT, SRT or VTT, and a Word-Level Timings option gives each word its own subtitle line.
• Live transcription. Pick a microphone and click Record, and Buzz transcribes into its own window, with a presentation window for events. Its docs call this resource-intensive and say it may not be real-time. A setting can also write the live text to a file as it arrives, which the docs suggest for apps like OBS Studio.
• Translation. A Translate to English task turns speech in another language into English text.
• Many models. Whisper, Whisper.cpp, Faster Whisper, Whisper-compatible Hugging Face models, Parakeet, Qwen3-ASR and VibeVoice ASR models, or the OpenAI Whisper API. Its FAQ calls Whisper.cpp the best option on Macs.
• Tools for recordings. Speaker identification, speech separation for noisy audio, a transcription viewer with search and playback speed, a watch folder for new files, a command line, and plugins such as AI summary generation.
• Every desktop. A .dmg for the Mac from SourceForge, Windows installers, Flatpak, Snap and AppImage builds for Linux, and a pip package. The README says Buzz now requires Apple silicon on the Mac, and that 1.4.5 is the last version for Intel Macs; 1.4.5 is also the newest release on GitHub.

buzzcaptions.com also points to a separate Buzz for macOS on the Mac App Store, with a macOS-native look, Whisper.cpp models and the OpenAI Whisper API, search, audio playback and inline editing of transcripts. The free, open-source app is the one it calls Buzz Classic, and that is the one this page compares. Buzz is a free workbench for recordings; YapToText is a free dictation app that also handles a recording.

What you keep, and what changes

Both run Whisper on your Mac, both are free, and both publish their code. What changes is where the words go once they are text.

• Talking. Buzz's live recording shows your words in its own window, and its pages do not describe typing into other apps. YapToText does exactly that: click where the words go, tap Right Command, talk, and tap again. Intelligent Insert reads a few words around your cursor first, so a phrase dropped mid-sentence gets the right capital, spacing and final mark; the Intelligent Insert guide shows how.
• Files. In Buzz you import a file, choose a model and click Run. In YapToText you pick a mode on the Transcribe a file card on the Utility page, then drop the file or press Choose File. It reads anything macOS can decode, Voice Memos included, and gives back plain text with Copy, Insert and Send below. The guide to transcribing an audio file has every step.
• Models. Buzz downloads the model you pick. The App Store version of YapToText has Whisper Large v3 Turbo (Q5) inside, the Dictation Model Library on the AI Models page has ten more Whisper models, and you can add any whisper.cpp GGML file of your own. YapToText runs Whisper only.

• Cleanup. Buzz gives you the transcript, with an AI summary plugin. YapToText ships a cleanup model, Phi-3.5 Mini Instruct, that runs on the Mac. Raw Transcription gives exactly what was said, and any other mode, such as Note or Email, cleans the result up, for a file as much as for a dictation.
• Your words. Buzz takes an Initial prompt of commonly misspelled words. YapToText's Dictionaries prime Whisper with your spellings too, and then correct the text again afterward. The Dictionaries guide covers both halves.
• Install. Buzz's Mac build is a .dmg from SourceForge. YapToText comes from the Mac App Store, or from Homebrew without the models.
• Price. Both are free. Buzz asks you to star the repository; YapToText has an optional tip jar that unlocks nothing.

You keep Whisper on your Mac and a free, open app; you gain a key that types in every app.

Side by side

Checked October 6, 2026, on Buzz's GitHub README, its documentation and buzzcaptions.com.

A file you transcribe with Transcribe file in the menu bar panel is also filed in History under the file's name, which is where Export Text lives. Buzz gives a recording more tools; YapToText gives your voice more places to go.

Buzz vs MacWhisper, and where YapToText sits

Buzz vs MacWhisper comes down to price and openness. Both transcribe files on the Mac and export subtitles. Buzz is free and open source, with speaker identification included, while MacWhisper keeps speaker recognition for Pro, a one-time purchase. MacWhisper's free version, sold on macwhisper.com, also dictates into other apps.

Checked October 6, 2026, on Buzz's README and documentation; MacWhisper facts from macwhisper.com and its help center, October 3 and October 5, 2026. Prices change, so check before you buy.

Where YapToText sits: it is the one of the three built for dictation first, with files as plain text on the side. For subtitles or speakers, Buzz or MacWhisper is the right tool. The MacWhisper alternative page compares MacWhisper with YapToText in detail, and the ranking of transcription apps for Mac covers the rest. Buzz for free subtitles and speakers, MacWhisper for a paid file tool that also dictates, YapToText for free dictation that also does files.

Move over in a few minutes

You do not have to give Buzz up. Keep it for subtitles and speakers, and let YapToText take the talking. Install, grant two permissions, dictate once, and drop one recording on the Utility page.

Step 1: Install YapToText

• You: Get YapToText from the Mac App Store and open it.
• YapToText: Arrives with both models inside, so there is no model to pick or download first.
• Check: When you open it, the capybara appears in your menu bar.

Step 2: Allow the microphone and Accessibility

• You: On the welcome screens, or in the Get set up card on the Home page, press Continue next to Microphone, then Continue or Grant next to Accessibility.
• macOS: Asks once for the microphone, then opens System Settings, Privacy & Security, Accessibility, where you switch YapToText on yourself. An app cannot switch this on for itself.
• Check: Within a couple of seconds the Get set up card leaves the Home page. If Accessibility will not stay on, press Show in Finder, drag the app into the list, and press Recheck.

Step 3: Dictate one sentence

• You: Click into a text field in any app, tap Right Command, say a sentence, and tap it again. If you would rather hold a key while you talk, choose Hold to talk in the Keys card on the Dictation page.
• YapToText: Shows your voice as a wave and your words as they form, then types the finished text at your cursor.
• Check: The words land where your cursor was. Without Accessibility nothing is lost: the dictation is still transcribed and copied to your clipboard.

Step 4: Transcribe a recording you used to open in Buzz

• You: Open the Utility page. In the Transcribe a file card, pick Raw Transcription in the mode menu, then drag the recording onto the card or press Choose File.
• YapToText: Reads the file by its content, not its extension, and transcribes it on the Mac. A recording over 4 minutes is cut at quiet moments into pieces of about 2 minutes.
• Check: The text appears in the card with Copy, Insert and Send below. A file with no speech in it says none was found.

Step 5: Bring your Initial prompt words over

Say: Select the right spelling of a word anywhere on screen, tap Right Option, say this, and tap Right Option again.

add this to my dictionary

What happens: The card says Added, with the word in quotes, and the word goes into your first dictionary exactly as written.

• You: Add the rest on the Dictionaries page: in a dictionary such as General, type the wrong spelling in Heard and your spelling in Replace with, then press Add.
• YapToText: Uses the entry from your next dictation, and for files too, since your dictionaries apply on the Transcribe a file card.
• Check: Dictate a sentence with that word. It comes out spelled your way.

The keys and shortcuts guide lists every key that can start a dictation, and the Utility guide covers the other cards on that page.

What Buzz does that YapToText does not

Buzz is good software, and for recordings it does a lot I have not built. For subtitles, speakers or a folder full of recordings, Buzz is the better tool, and it costs nothing.

• Subtitles and timings. SRT and VTT export, and word-level timings. YapToText gives plain text.
• Speakers. Speaker identification in transcribed media. YapToText labels no speakers.
• Links, folders and scripts. YouTube links, a watch folder that transcribes new files on its own, and a command line. YapToText takes one file at a time, and the file has to be on your Mac.
• Other models. Faster Whisper, Hugging Face models, Parakeet, Qwen3-ASR and VibeVoice ASR. YapToText runs Whisper only; the page on Parakeet vs Whisper weighs that.
• Translation. A Translate to English task, for a file or live. YapToText does not translate as you speak.
• Audio playing on the Mac. Buzz's docs show how to transcribe sound from other apps through a loopback driver such as BlackHole. YapToText does not record system audio or join calls.
• Every desktop, and more languages. Windows and Linux, Intel Macs up to 1.4.5, and more than 90 languages, against YapToText's Apple silicon Macs and 29 languages plus auto-detect.

What each one cannot do

• YapToText. No Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad or Intel version, and a download of about 2.9 GB from the App Store. File transcription gives plain text, with no timestamps, subtitles or speaker labels, one file at a time. It does not translate as you speak. It hears 29 languages plus auto-detect, and its interface is in English. It is built to work alongside VoiceOver and Voice Control, but the full test pass with them has not been run yet, as the accessibility page says.
• Buzz. Its pages do not describe typing into other apps or editing a selection by voice, so live text stays in Buzz's window, or in a file, until you copy it. Its docs say live transcription is resource-intensive and may not be real-time, and suggest Whisper.cpp and smaller models for it. It works offline with local models; the OpenAI Whisper API option, which its FAQ describes as speech recognition on a remote server, does not. Its pages do not give a minimum macOS version.

If your work is recordings rather than typing, Buzz may be all you need. Buzz turns recordings into files; YapToText turns your voice into text where you are working.

The short version

• Who should switch. Anyone on an Apple silicon Mac who wants to talk into any app, with recordings as plain text on the side.
• Who should stay. Anyone who needs subtitles, speakers, YouTube links, a watch folder, a command line, Windows, Linux or an Intel Mac.
• What it costs. Nothing, either way. Both are free and open source.
• Buzz vs MacWhisper. Buzz is free and open source with speakers included; MacWhisper has a free version and Pro at €64 once, checked October 5, 2026.

Two free Whisper apps, one built for recordings and one built for talking.

If something here no longer matches Buzz's own pages, open an issue on GitHub. Every one gets read.

Download for free. No account, nothing locked, macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon. Source on GitHub.

About the author. Ryleigh Newman is a developer whose hands make typing difficult and who dictates every day with YapToText, the app this site describes. Facts about other apps come from their own sites, with the date they were read. More about the project.

Related

• Transcribe audio to text on a Mac, free, without uploading it
• A free MacWhisper alternative built for dictation first
• Whisper for Mac, running locally and typing into any app
• The best transcription apps for Mac in October 2026, ranked for audio and video files
• Open-source dictation apps for the Mac, from someone who makes one
• A free Aiko alternative for the Mac, with dictation into any app

Sources

• https://github.com/chidiwilliams/buzz (checked 2026-10-06)
• https://github.com/chidiwilliams/buzz/releases (checked 2026-10-06)
• https://buzzcaptions.com/ (checked 2026-10-06)
• https://chidiwilliams.github.io/buzz/docs (checked 2026-10-06)
• https://chidiwilliams.github.io/buzz/docs/installation (checked 2026-10-06)
• https://chidiwilliams.github.io/buzz/docs/usage/file_import (checked 2026-10-06)
• https://chidiwilliams.github.io/buzz/docs/usage/live_recording (checked 2026-10-06)
• https://chidiwilliams.github.io/buzz/docs/preferences (checked 2026-10-06)
• https://chidiwilliams.github.io/buzz/docs/faq (checked 2026-10-06)
• https://www.macwhisper.com (checked 2026-10-05)
• https://docs.macwhisper.com/article/14-how-to-use-the-dictation-feature (checked 2026-10-05)
• https://docs.macwhisper.com/article/34-transcription-is-slower-than-expected (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://docs.macwhisper.com/article/40-macwhisper-whisper-transcription-difference (checked 2026-10-05)
• https://docs.macwhisper.com/article/33-macwhisper-for-ios (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://apps.apple.com/us/app/whisper-transcription/id1668083311 (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://apps.apple.com/us/app/yaptotext/id6786382289 (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://github.com/ryleighnewman/YapToText (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://github.com/chidiwilliams/buzz/tags (checked 2026-10-06)
• https://chidiwilliams.github.io/buzz/docs/cli (checked 2026-10-06)

Questions