Menu-bar volume apps for Mac, compared

The best menu-bar volume apps for Mac in 2026 are SoundSource ($49 one-time, the deepest), Background Music (free, open source), eqMac (free, EQ-first), Sound Control (a subscription), and Fader ($19.99 one-time). They all do the thing macOS won't — give each app its own volume — and they all live in the menu bar. The real difference is how often you have to open that menu: four of them put the mixer behind a menu-bar click, and Fader is the one built so you ride levels from the keyboard instead.

macOS gives you one master volume and a single output device. There is no built-in per-app mixer, so if you want Spotify at 30% while a call stays at 100%, you need a third-party app. The menu bar is where most of them live, because it's the one spot that's always reachable no matter which window is focused. That makes it the natural home for a Mac audio utility — and, for the levels you touch constantly, the slow part.

The five apps at a glance

Every app below sets per-app volume from the menu bar. Prices and licensing are current as of October 2026; check each maker's site before buying, since audio apps update often.

SoundSource — the deepest menu-bar panel

SoundSource by Rogue Amoeba is the most capable app in this list. Click its menu-bar icon and you get a panel with a slider for every running app, a system-wide EQ, per-app effects, and output routing — send one app to headphones while the rest stay on speakers. It's mature, polished, and well-supported. At $49 one-time (owners of version 5 or 4 upgrade for $25) it's also the most expensive. If you want one app to do everything and you don't mind the price, it's the obvious pick. We go deeper on that trade in whether SoundSource is worth it.

Background Music — free and open source

Background Music is a free, open-source utility that installs a virtual audio device and gives each running app a volume slider in a menu-bar list. It also auto-pauses your music when another app starts playing, and it can record system audio. For zero dollars, that's a lot. The honest caveats: it relies on a virtual device you route everything through, setup is fiddlier than a paid app, and as a community project its pace and macOS compatibility depend on volunteers rather than a company. If free is the priority and you're comfortable troubleshooting, it's a genuine option.

eqMac — free, but EQ-first

eqMac is a free, open-source app that lives in the menu bar and is built around a system-wide equalizer, with a volume control alongside it. The core is free; eqMac Pro unlocks advanced EQ (unlimited bands, a spectrum analyzer) for roughly $3 per month or about $40 for a lifetime license. It's a strong choice if your real goal is shaping tone — bass, treble, presence — rather than balancing one app against another. For pure per-app volume it's less direct than the others here.

Sound Control — capable, but a subscription

Sound Control by Static Z Software sits in the menu bar and does per-app volume, EQ, and output routing. The feature set is close to SoundSource's, but the pricing model is different: it's a subscription at $1.99 per month or $14.99 per year. $14.99 a year isn't a lot in isolation, but it's ongoing, and it's the only subscription in this roundup. If you prefer to pay once and never think about it again, that matters.

Fader — the menu bar you rarely have to open

Fader lives in the menu bar too, so everything is one click away when you want it. But the whole point of Fader is that you usually don't need the click. Hit a toggle hotkey and your keyboard becomes the mixer: the Q/A/Z column is one app, W/S/X the next, and you ride levels with letter keys without leaving what you're doing. It also does per-app output routing — music to one device, calls to another — and it's a one-time $19.99 purchase with a 3-day free trial, on macOS 14.4 or later.

Fader isn't trying to out-feature SoundSource. It's narrower on purpose: per-app volume and routing, done fast. The bet is that for the handful of apps you adjust twenty times a day, speed beats depth.

Why "menu-bar" is the thing to notice

Here's the part the feature lists skip. A menu-bar mixer means: move the pointer to the top of the screen, click the icon, find the right app's row, drag the slider, dismiss the panel. That's five actions for one volume change. Once is nothing. But per-app volume is something you do constantly — turn the call up, duck the music, mute the browser — and those trips add up into real friction. It's the quiet reason a lot of people install a mixer and then stop using it.

Every app above can set a level; they differ most in how far your hands travel to do it. Four of them route you through the menu bar. Fader's answer is to keep the menu-bar icon for the rare visit and put the common adjustments on keys you never leave. If you've tried a menu-bar mixer and found yourself not reaching for it, that round trip is probably why.

How to choose

Short version: want the deepest single app and don't mind $49 — SoundSource. Want free and you'll tinker — Background Music. Mostly want EQ — eqMac. Fine with a subscription — Sound Control. Want per-app volume and routing you reach in a keystroke, paid once — Fader. If you're weighing the whole category, our best per-app volume apps for Mac in 2026 roundup lays the options out side by side.

Bottom line

Any of these menu-bar apps will give your Mac the per-app volume Apple never shipped, and the free ones (Background Music, eqMac) genuinely work if you're patient. The question isn't whether they can set a level — they all can. It's how many times a day you'll make the trip to the menu bar to do it. If that trip is the part that's been stopping you, a keyboard-driven mixer is the fix, and that's exactly what Fader is built for.