Comparison · Mac
BlackHole alternatives for Mac
BlackHole is the free answer to “how do I send my Mac’s sound into another app”. It’s a good driver, but it isn’t a mixer. Here’s what it takes to get your mic and an app into a call with it, and when a router that mixes for you is the easier way.
A note before you read: we make Patch, one of the tools on this page. We’ve tried to be fair, including about when BlackHole is the better pick.
The short version
- BlackHole is a free virtual cable: what plays into it comes out as an input. It doesn’t mix, and it has no levels.
- Getting your mic and an app into a call with it means a Multi-Output Device, an Aggregate Device, or a mixer app in between.
- A router with a mixer, like Loopback or Patch, does that wiring for you, with a level for each source.
What BlackHole does
BlackHole, from Existential Audio, is a free, open-source virtual audio driver for macOS, in 2, 16 and 64-channel versions, and runs on Intel and Apple silicon Macs. The current version, 0.7.1, came out in July 2026. It adds a device called BlackHole that works as both an output and an input: choose it as an app’s output, or your Mac’s, and whatever plays into it can be picked as a microphone in another app.
That’s all it does, on purpose. It has no window, no levels and no mixer. It moves sound from one place to another, bit for bit, and leaves the rest to you and Audio MIDI Setup.
The BlackHole setup for a call
To play music into Zoom or Discord and still hear it yourself, the usual setup is:
- Install BlackHole 2ch, from its site or with Homebrew.
- In Audio MIDI Setup, create a Multi-Output Device with your headphones and BlackHole, so you hear the music while BlackHole carries it.
- Set your Mac’s output, or the music app’s, to that Multi-Output Device.
- Create an Aggregate Device with your microphone and BlackHole, so the call can get both from one device.
- In the call app, choose the Aggregate Device as the microphone.
It works for plenty of people. It’s also five steps in a utility most Mac users have never opened, and the result has a few snags.
Where it gets stuck
- No volume keys. BlackHole’s own guide notes that macOS can’t change the volume of a Multi-Output Device. While it’s your output, the volume keys and menu bar slider do nothing.
- Channels, not a mix. An Aggregate Device lists your mic and BlackHole as separate channels side by side. A call app may listen only to the first one or two, so it hears your voice or the music, not both.
- No levels. There’s no fader for the music against your voice. You set it in the music app and hope.
- Everything, or one app. Set your Mac’s output to BlackHole and the call gets every sound: notifications, other tabs, the call itself if it plays through the same output.
- Drift. Devices joined in Audio MIDI Setup run on separate clocks. BlackHole’s guide says to tick drift correction for every device except the clock source; miss it, and audio can glitch.
None of these is a bug in BlackHole. They’re the edges of a driver that’s meant to be a building block. If you want the mixing done for you, you need a router.
The alternatives
| Tool | Cost | Mic and app together | Volume keys |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patch | $39 once, free trial | Yes, with a level for each app | Yes |
| Loopback | $99, free trial | Yes, any apps and devices | Yes |
| BlackHole | Free, open source | Only through an Aggregate Device, as separate channels | Not with a Multi-Output Device |
| Call app share sound | Free | No: sent with a share, in that app | Yes |
Prices are from each maker’s own site, checked on 29 September 2026.
Your call app’s share sound
For a video in one meeting, you may not need a driver at all. Zoom, Google Meet, Teams and Discord can each send your Mac’s sound along with a screen share. It only travels with the share, and only in that app, but it’s free and already there.
Loopback
Rogue Amoeba’s Loopback is the full router: virtual devices built from any apps and hardware, a level for each, channel mapping and monitors. It costs $99, has a free trial, and runs on Intel and Apple silicon Macs. Choose it for multitrack podcasts, several virtual devices, or an Intel Mac. Loopback vs BlackHole, side by side.
Smaller routers
Newer, cheaper apps route one app’s sound into another too. Soundshine’s routing app is $11.99 and needs macOS 15 or later. SoundPipe is $10 and needs an Apple silicon Mac on macOS 14.4 or later. Check whether one mixes your microphone in, or only carries app audio, before you buy.
Patch
Patch, which we make, does the one job most people install BlackHole for. It captures your mic and up to four apps, mixes them with a level for each, runs a limiter, and hands your call app one virtual microphone called Patch Mix. Your Mac’s output stays on your headphones, so the volume keys keep working.
It needs a Mac with Apple silicon on macOS 26 or later, makes one mix rather than any number of devices, and captures whole apps rather than single tabs.
Which one to use
- A video in one meeting: the call app’s own share sound.
- Free, and happy in Audio MIDI Setup: BlackHole.
- Your mic and music at set levels, in any call app: Patch. The play music through your mic guide walks through it.
- Many devices, channel mapping or an Intel Mac: Loopback.
Questions
Is there a free alternative to BlackHole?
For sending sound into a call, often yes: Zoom, Google Meet, Teams and Discord can each send your Mac’s sound as part of a screen share. For a driver like BlackHole, the free options are other virtual cables such as VB-Cable, which have the same lack of a mixer.
Why can’t I change the volume with BlackHole?
To hear audio that goes into BlackHole, you play to a Multi-Output Device that includes BlackHole and your headphones. macOS can’t change the volume of a Multi-Output Device, so the volume keys stop working. Set the level in the app that’s playing, or in the headphones’ own entry in Audio MIDI Setup.
Can BlackHole send my mic and my music at the same time?
Only by joining your mic and BlackHole into an Aggregate Device in Audio MIDI Setup. That puts them side by side as separate channels, not mixed, and a call app may listen only to the first one or two channels, so it may hear the mic or the music but not both.
Is Loopback or BlackHole better?
They do different jobs. BlackHole is a free driver you wire up yourself. Loopback, at $99, is a full router with a mixer, any number of virtual devices and channel mapping. If you only need your mic and a few apps in a call, Patch sits between them.
Do I have to uninstall BlackHole to use Patch?
No. They’re separate devices and don’t touch each other. If you’d set your Mac’s output to BlackHole or a Multi-Output Device, set it back to your headphones or speakers.