Comparison · Mac
Loopback alternatives for Mac
Rogue Amoeba’s Loopback is the audio router most Mac guides point to, and it does far more than many jobs need. Here’s how the free and paid options compare, and which one fits what you’re doing.
A note before you read: we make Patch, one of the tools on this page. We’ve tried to be fair, including about when Patch is the wrong pick.
The short version
- Loopback is the full-featured router: any apps and devices, into as many virtual devices as you need.
- BlackHole is free, but it’s a driver without a mixer. Mixing it with your mic means building devices yourself.
- Patch, which we make, does one job: your mic and up to four apps, mixed into one virtual mic for calls and streams.
At a glance
| Tool | Cost | Mixing | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patch | $39 once, free trial | Mic plus up to four apps, a level for each, limiter | Music, clips or an app demo in Zoom, Meet, Discord or OBS |
| Loopback | $99, free trial | Any apps and devices, a level for each, channel mapping, monitors | Complex routing: many devices, many channels, Intel Macs |
| BlackHole | Free, open source | None: carries whatever plays into it | Sending all Mac audio, or one app’s, if you’re happy in Audio MIDI Setup |
| VB-Cable | Donationware | None: a virtual cable, like BlackHole | People who know it from Windows |
| Audio MIDI Setup | Built into macOS | Joins devices, no levels | Hearing a virtual device and your speakers at once |
| Soundflower | Free | None | Nothing new: unmaintained, no Apple silicon |
Prices and requirements are from each maker’s own site, checked on 23 September 2026.
Loopback: the full-featured router
Loopback, from Rogue Amoeba, creates virtual audio devices from any mix of apps and hardware inputs. You wire sources to outputs, set a level for each, map up to 64 channels, and add monitors so you can hear what each device carries. It handles jobs far beyond a call: feeding several apps at once, nesting one device inside another, or routing an audio interface’s channels.
It costs $99. In the free trial, noise is laid over the audio after 20 minutes, until you turn the device off and on again. It’s a Universal app for Intel and Apple silicon Macs; the current version needs macOS 14.5 or later, and Rogue Amoeba keeps an older build for older systems.
Choose it if you need more than one virtual device, channel-level control, or routing that isn’t just “my mic plus some apps”.
BlackHole and VB-Cable: free, bring your own mixer
BlackHole, from Existential Audio, is a free, open-source virtual audio driver, in 2, 16 and 64-channel versions. Choose it as an app’s output, or as your Mac’s output, and whatever plays into it comes out as an input other apps can record. Install it from its site, where a donation is optional, or with Homebrew: brew install blackhole-2ch.
It has no interface and no mixer. To hear the audio yourself, you build a Multi-Output Device in Audio MIDI Setup, and as BlackHole’s own guide notes, macOS can’t change the volume of a Multi-Output Device. To add your microphone, you build an Aggregate Device, or put a mixer app in between. It’s a solid building block if you’re comfortable wiring devices together.
VB-Cable, from VB-Audio, is familiar from Windows and has a Mac driver too. It’s donationware, and like BlackHole it’s a cable rather than a mixer.
Choose it if it has to be free and you want all of your Mac’s sound, or one app’s output, in another app.
Audio MIDI Setup: already on your Mac
Audio MIDI Setup, in Applications › Utilities, builds two kinds of combined device. A Multi-Output Device plays to several outputs at once, like BlackHole and your headphones. An Aggregate Device joins several inputs into one device with more channels.
Neither one is a mixer. There are no levels to set, and an Aggregate Device lists your mic and the app audio as separate channels rather than blending them. Pair it with BlackHole; on its own it can’t capture app audio.
Soundflower: retired
Soundflower was the free way to route audio on a Mac for years, and plenty of old guides still point to it. It’s no longer maintained: the last release, 2.0b2, is labelled for macOS Big Sur 11.1 and earlier, and its ReadMe says Apple silicon Macs aren’t supported. On a current Mac, BlackHole does the same job.
Patch: your mic and apps into one virtual mic
Patch does one job. It captures your microphone and up to four apps, mixes them with a level for each, runs a limiter, and hands the result to your call app as a virtual mic called Patch Mix. Setup is guided for Zoom, Google Meet, Discord and OBS, and Preview lets you hear the mix before the call does.
What it doesn’t do, so you can rule it out quickly:
- It needs a Mac with Apple silicon, running macOS 26 or later.
- It makes one mix, Patch Mix, rather than any number of virtual devices.
- It captures whole apps. A browser source includes all its tabs.
- It has no channel mapping or multitrack recording.
Choose it if you want music, a clip, a game or an app demo in your call or stream at a level under your voice, without building devices. The play music through your mic guide walks through the setup for each app.
Which one to use
- A video in one meeting: the call app’s own share sound. It’s free and already there.
- Music or a clip mixed into your mic for Zoom, Meet or Discord: Patch.
- Game and voice into OBS: OBS 30 or later can capture one app itself with its macOS Audio Capture source. Patch helps when the same mix also has to reach a call.
- Multitrack podcasts, many devices or channel mapping: Loopback.
- Free, and you don’t mind wiring: BlackHole with Audio MIDI Setup.
Questions
Is there a free alternative to Loopback?
BlackHole is the usual one. It’s a free virtual audio driver, and paired with Audio MIDI Setup it can send your Mac’s sound into another app. It has no mixer, so you can’t set your voice and the music at different levels.
Can BlackHole mix my mic and system audio?
Not on its own. Audio MIDI Setup can join your mic and BlackHole into an Aggregate Device, but that places them side by side as separate channels rather than mixing them, and a call app may only listen to some of those channels. For a mix with levels, you need a mixer app in between.
Does Soundflower still work?
Not on Apple silicon Macs, which its own ReadMe says aren’t supported. Its last release, 2.0b2, is labelled for macOS Big Sur 11.1 and earlier. On a current Mac, use BlackHole for a free driver, or a maintained router.
Can Patch replace Loopback?
If your job is getting your mic and some apps into a call or a stream, yes. If you need several virtual devices, channel mapping, more than four apps, or you have an Intel Mac or a macOS older than 26, Loopback is the better fit.
Do I need any of these for Zoom or Google Meet?
Not always. Zoom can share your computer’s sound in a meeting, with or without your screen. Meet shares a tab’s audio, and with Chrome 142 or later on macOS 14.2 or later, your system audio when you present a window or screen. You need a virtual mic when the sound has to be part of your microphone, at a level you set against your voice.