The Windows Volume Mixer equivalent on Mac, in 2026

What is the Mac equivalent of the Windows Volume Mixer?

There is none inside macOS: the Mac has one volume for every app. The most direct equivalent is FineTune, free, open source and driverless: one slider per app, as on Windows. Morendo, which we make, adds named buses, an equalizer and shortcuts per bus, for 19 €. SoundSource and Wave Link cover professional audio and streaming, with an extension or a driver.

What Windows has had since Vista, and what macOS still lacks

Since Windows Vista, in 2007, a click on the sound icon opens a volume mixer: one slider per app, next to the master slider. The browser at 40%, the game at 100%, the call at 70%, and Windows remembers it next time. It is the reflex people who switch to a Mac look for in their first week.

macOS has nothing like it, and macOS 26 Tahoe changed nothing. The keyboard volume keys, the menu bar slider and the one in System Settings all do the same thing: they raise or lower everything that plays. No per-app setting, no shortcut to target one app rather than another.

What macOS offers natively

Three things, and they are not enough. First, a single system volume, the one on the keyboard. Second, the built-in volume of some apps: Apple Music has its slider and its equalizer, Spotify, VLC and the YouTube player have theirs, Discord has an output slider and a volume per participant. These sliders are not global, you have to bring the app to the front to reach them, and the browser has none for its tabs or for notifications.

Third, Audio MIDI Setup lets you create a Multi-Output Device: the same sound sent to the headphones and the speakers at the same time. Useful, but with no system volume and no per-app setting: the keyboard keys stop working, and every app comes out at the same level everywhere.

Eight apps that fill the gap

Since macOS 14.4, an app can adjust another app's sound without installing an audio driver, thanks to Apple's process taps API. Four apps use it. Four others, older or more ambitious, still go through a driver or a system extension, with the administrator password.

App	Price	Driver or extension	What sets it apart
FineTune	Free, open source	None	The Windows mixer, more complete: boost up to 4x, per-app equalizer, headphone correction, per-app routing
Morendo	19 € once	None	Named buses you set once, equalizer and shortcuts per bus, latency displayed, interface in French and English
SoundDial	$12.99 (14.99 €)	None	Mac App Store, saved profiles, auto-ducking, 33 languages; no equalizer
Submix	$7.99 for one Mac	None	The cheapest paid option, per-app routing, level meters; no equalizer
Wave Link 3	Free	Audio driver and system extension	Streaming console: mic chain, up to 5 mixes, Audio Units, Stream Deck
SoundSource	$49	ACE extension	The professionals' reference: Audio Units, AirPlay, device settings
Background Music	Free, open source	HAL driver	Auto-pause for music, system audio recording; no equalizer, more than 500 open issues
eqMac	Free, paid Pro	Virtual audio driver	The most advanced equalizer, unlimited bands

Checked on September 10, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us, we fix it.

Which tool for which profile

You just want the Windows mixer. Take FineTune. It is free, it installs nothing, and it does more than the original: boost, equalizer, routing. If your need fits in "this app quieter than the rest", you can stop reading here.

You game with Discord, or you want groups. Morendo, which we make. Discord goes in the Chat bus, the game in Game, the music in Media; each bus keeps its volume, its equalizer and its keyboard shortcuts from one launch to the next, and a shortcut turns Chat down mid-match, with a confirmation panel on screen. 19 € once, 14-day trial.

You work with sound. SoundSource. Audio Units on any app, an AirPlay output, fine device settings. It is the most complete and the most expensive, and its ACE extension is justified by what it allows.

You stream with a microphone. Wave Link 3. Mic chain, effects, five mixes, Stream Deck control, free. You pay in installation, a driver and a system extension, and in a window to keep open according to user reports.

Installing it in three steps

Download the DMG and drag the app to Applications; FineTune also installs through Homebrew. Both are a single app, with no installer.
On first launch, macOS asks for one permission: system audio recording. That is what lets the app hear each program separately. No restart, no administrator password.
Play something in your apps: each one shows up with its slider. In Morendo, drop them in a bus; the bus remembers them at the next launch.

Uninstalling means deleting the app. No driver and no virtual device is left behind in your Sound settings.

Frequently asked questions

Will Apple add a volume mixer to macOS?

Nothing is announced, and macOS 26 Tahoe does not have one. What Apple did, since macOS 14.4, is open the process taps API: a third-party app can adjust another app's sound without a driver. FineTune, Morendo, SoundDial and Submix are built on it.

Is the volume slider in Spotify or YouTube not enough?

It is, as long as the app has its own slider and you are willing to go and find it. The browser has none for its tabs, notifications have none either, and none of these sliders is global: you have to bring the app to the front. A mixer gives a slider to everything that plays, and a shortcut to reach it.

Do I need a driver to get per-app volume on Mac?

Not since macOS 14.4. FineTune, Morendo, SoundDial and Submix install nothing and never ask for an administrator password; a single permission, system audio recording. Wave Link, SoundSource, Background Music and eqMac still go through a driver or a system extension.

What about the Multi-Output Device in Audio MIDI Setup?

It sends the same sound to several outputs at once, the headphones and the speakers for instance. But it has no system volume, the keyboard keys stop working, and every app comes out at the same level everywhere. To set one output apart, you need a mixer that handles outputs, such as FineTune, Morendo or SoundSource.

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