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SiYuan vs Buzz

SiYuanBuzz

	SiYuan A privacy-first note and knowledge app with built-in AI. Visit	Buzz Transcribe and caption audio offline on your computer. Visit
Votes	0	0
Pricing	Freemium	Free
Category	Note Taking	Transcription
Tags	practical-ossopen-sourceself-hostedknowledge	practical-ossopen-sourceself-hostedtranscription
Best for	—	—
Pros	Local-first storage in open files you own, usable fully offline Block-level references, two-way links, and SQL queries for deep organization Most features are free, even for commercial use Cross-platform: desktop, mobile, HarmonyOS, plus Docker self-hosting Built-in flashcards, web clipping, and a community plugin/theme marketplace	Runs fully offline on your own machine, keeping audio private Permissive MIT license Handles files, YouTube links, and live microphone transcription Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT, with speaker identification and a watch-folder option Hardware acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan for faster processing
Cons	Built-in AI writing and chat require your own OpenAI API key Some conveniences, notably official cloud sync, are behind a paid membership The Docker/server mode is browser-only and drops PDF/HTML/Word export and Markdown import Documentation and UI occasionally show rough English, reflecting its origins	Accuracy and speed depend on the Whisper model size and your hardware; larger models need a capable GPU Whisper's translation feature outputs English, so it is not a general any-to-any translator Installers are unsigned, so Windows and macOS show security warnings on first run Intel Macs are no longer supported beyond an older release; current versions require Apple Silicon

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