The best per-app volume apps for Mac
Windows has had a volume mixer for decades; macOS still has one slider for everything. Four apps that let you turn down Slack without turning down Spotify, and what each one installs to do it.
Updated
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Best for The most capable per-app audio control: volume, routing, EQ and effects per app.
- Per-app volume and mute, and send any app to a different output device.
- Built-in 10-band EQ, Headphone EQ, Magic Boost and Audio Unit plug-ins, per app or system-wide.
- From Rogue Amoeba, who have shipped Mac audio tools for over twenty years.
- The priciest option here.
- The current version needs macOS 15 or later; older Macs get a legacy version.
- 2
Stat SpaceOurs
Best for A free per-app mixer without installing an audio driver, inside a system monitor.
- Every app playing audio with a 0–150% slider, mute, a live level meter, and volumes remembered per app.
- Mute all but this, and play an app through another output device.
- Uses Core Audio process taps: no driver or kernel extension to install. A tap runs only for an app that isn’t at 100%.
- Shows which app is using your microphone, and which app made the last few sounds.
- No EQ or audio effects.
- Needs macOS 14.2+ and Apple Silicon, plus System Audio Recording permission (macOS shows the purple dot while a tap is active).
- 3
Best for People who mainly want a system-wide equalizer, with per-app volume as a bonus.
- Free basic and 10-band EQ, headphone presets, volume and balance for any device.
- Pro adds an App Mixer for per-app volume, an unlimited-band EQ, spatial audio and AU hosting.
- Intel and Apple Silicon.
- Per-app volume is a Pro feature.
- Routes system audio through its own user-space audio device.
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Best for A free, open-source per-app volume slider and auto-pausing music.
- Per-app volume sliders, with boost above 100%.
- Pauses your music player when another app starts playing, then resumes it.
- Free and open source;
brew install --cask background-music.
- Still labeled alpha, with hundreds of open issues and infrequent releases.
- Installs a virtual audio device, which macOS treats as a microphone; stereo outputs only.
How we chose
We picked apps that can set a different volume for each app on current macOS and Apple Silicon. We compared how they do it, since that affects reliability: older tools install a virtual audio device that all sound passes through, while newer ones use the process taps Apple added in macOS 14.2.
Two ways to do per-app volume
| Virtual audio driver | Core Audio process taps | |
|---|---|---|
| Used by | Background Music, eqMac | Stat Space |
| macOS version | Older versions too | 14.2 and later |
| Install | Audio device, sometimes needs a restart | Nothing extra |
| Permission | Often Microphone | System Audio Recording |
| When it’s active | All audio, all the time | Only apps you’ve changed, while they play |
A driver-based tool becomes your default output device, so if it crashes or an update breaks it, sound can stop entirely until you switch back in System Settings › Sound.
Which one should you pick?
- Audio is your job, or you want per-app EQ and routing: SoundSource is worth the money.
- You want a free mixer that installs nothing: Stat Space, on an Apple Silicon Mac with macOS 14.2 or later.
- You mostly want a system EQ: eqMac.
- You want free and open source and can live with alpha software: Background Music.
Quick fixes without an app
You can still get some of the way with what macOS has:
# Set output volume (0–100) from Terminal
osascript -e 'set volume output volume 40'
# Show audio devices and the current default
system_profiler SPAudioDataType
Click Sound in Control Center (or the menu bar, if you’ve added it) to switch output devices quickly. More options are in our guide to per-app volume on Mac.
Where Stat Space fits
We make Stat Space, and its Volume tab is free. It covers the everyday case well: turn a noisy app down, mute everything but your call, send music to the speakers while calls stay on headphones. If you need EQ or effects per app, SoundSource does far more.
We make Stat Space, so weigh our pick accordingly. Prices and features as of November 2026; spotted something out of date? Email [email protected].
Questions
Does macOS have per-app volume control?
No. macOS has one output volume for everything. Some apps (Zoom, Spotify, Music) have their own volume slider, but there’s no system mixer, so you need a third-party app.
Is there a free volume mixer for Mac?
Yes. Stat Space’s volume tab is free, and Background Music is free and open source. eqMac’s per-app mixer requires Pro.
Why does my Mac show a purple dot when I change an app’s volume?
Apps that use Core Audio process taps need System Audio Recording permission, and macOS shows a purple indicator while one is active. The audio is adjusted locally; it isn’t recorded or sent anywhere.
Know what your Mac is doing, without adding to it.
Free, no account. Pro is $9.99 once for the first 100 buyers.