A Cheaper SoundSource Alternative for Per-App Volume on Mac

SoundSource by Rogue Amoeba is one of the best-known per-app audio apps for Mac. It costs $49 and is sold by Rogue Amoeba directly, not on the Mac App Store.

Many people who search for it want something simple: turn Spotify down without touching a Zoom call, mute one noisy app, or make a quiet video louder. If that's you, it's worth knowing the cheaper options.

Why there's a market for this at all

macOS has no built-in per-app volume mixer. Windows has had one for years, but on a Mac the system volume is all or nothing. The only other built-in slider, the alert volume in System Settings > Sound, only covers system alert sounds.

Before buying anything, check the apps you use: many music players and call apps (Spotify, Apple Music, Zoom, Teams, Discord) have their own volume control. If those cover your needs, you may not need a mixer at all.

SoundSource: a broad audio tool

SoundSource does much more than volume. People who use many of its features, or who already use other Rogue Amoeba apps, often have good reasons to stay with it. Check Rogue Amoeba's website for its current feature list and requirements; we don't repeat competitor feature claims we can't keep up to date.

If per-app volume is all you use, though, $49 is a lot for a volume control.

SoundDial: per-app volume, one price

SoundDial focuses on the per-app volume job. Open it from the menu bar and every running app has its own control:

• A volume slider per app, from 0% to 200%
• Per-app mute: silence one app with one click while the rest keeps playing
• Boost above 100%: push a quiet app up to 200% without raising anything else
• Works per app, not per browser tab (all tabs of a browser share one slider)
• Does not record anything

It costs €14.99 one-time purchase on the Mac App Store, no subscription, and needs macOS 14.2 or later.

The free options

There are free tools too, and they're a legitimate choice:

• Background Music is a free, open-source app for per-app volume. See our Background Music vs SoundDial comparison.
• FineTune is a per-app audio project many people find through GitHub.

Check each project's page for its current features, supported macOS versions and install instructions.

Quick decision guide

• You need more than per-app volume, mute and boost, or you already rely on Rogue Amoeba's other tools: SoundSource is worth a look at $49.
• You mainly need per-app volume, mute and boost, bought once on the Mac App Store: SoundDial at €14.99 one-time purchase.
• You want free: try Background Music or FineTune and check their project pages.

Getting started with SoundDial

1. Install SoundDial from the Mac App Store.
2. Click the menu-bar icon. Each running app appears with its own slider.
3. Drag to set levels, click to mute, or push a slider past 100% to boost.

A shorter side-by-side is on our SoundSource alternative page. More on how it works: per-app volume control on Mac and SoundDial, a per-app volume mixer for Mac.

Get SoundDial on the Mac App Store.