Soundish vs SoundSource: Per-App Volume on Mac, Compared
Soundish and SoundSource both give each Mac app its own volume and output. Their prices, trials, features and permissions side by side, and when SoundSource is the better buy.
Pick SoundSource if you want Audio Unit plug-ins and effects on an app's sound, AirPlay speakers, or one app playing on several devices at once. Pick Soundish if a volume, an output and an equaliser for each app are what you're after, with nothing to install, for $14.99 once instead of $49.
Both are menu bar apps that give every app on your Mac its own volume, which macOS doesn't do by itself. Soundish is ours. Every fact about SoundSource here comes from Rogue Amoeba's own site.
Soundish and SoundSource side by side
| Soundish | SoundSource | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $14.99 once | $49 once |
| Updates | Every update so far free | Nearly all free; a new major version can be a paid upgrade ($25 from version 5 or 4) |
| One licence covers | Up to 3 of your own Macs | One person, on one or more Macs |
| Free trial | 7 days, every feature, no card | No time limit, but noise is added to the sound it changes after 20 minutes, until you relaunch it |
| macOS | 14.6 (Sonoma) or later | 15 (Sequoia) to 27 |
| Volume for each app | 0 to 200% | Up to 400%, with its Volume Overdrive effect |
| An output for each app | Yes | Yes, AirPlay speakers included |
| One app on several devices at once | No | Yes, with output groups |
| Equaliser for each app | 10 bands, 9 presets | 10 bands, almost two dozen presets |
| Effects and Audio Unit plug-ins | No | Yes |
| Level meters | No | Yes, for each app and device |
| Save a whole setup | Profiles, each with a hotkey | Quick Configs, each with a shortcut |
| What it installs | Nothing: it uses the audio taps built into macOS | ARK (Audio Routing Kit), with your Mac's administrator password |
| Permissions | System Audio Recording; Bluetooth, to wake a sleeping speaker; Accessibility only for the volume keys option | System Audio Access and Microphone Access (required); Accessibility, Local Network and Bluetooth (optional) |
Checked on 13 October 2026, on Rogue Amoeba's own site: SoundSource, its price and its permissions.
Where SoundSource is the better pick
- Plug-ins and effects. SoundSource hosts Audio Unit plug-ins, other makers' included, on any app's sound. It also has built-in effects, among them Magic Boost, Headphone EQ and Balance & Pan.
- AirPlay. It can send any app's sound to one or more AirPlay speakers on your network.
- Several devices at once. Output groups play one app on several devices together.
- More boost. Volume Overdrive takes an app to 400%. Soundish stops at 200%.
- Level meters, for every app and every device.
- Automation. SoundSource has actions for the Shortcuts app.
- Your volume keys on HDMI and DisplayPort. The Mac's volume keys don't work with outputs like these. SoundSource's Super Volume Keys make them work with any output.
- All your Macs. One licence covers one person on any number of their Macs.
If you'll use any of those, SoundSource is worth its price.
Where Soundish is the better pick
- The price. Soundish is $14.99 once. SoundSource is $49.
- Nothing to install. Since version 1.5, Soundish uses the audio taps built into macOS. There's no driver, no administrator password and no restart.
- macOS Sonoma. Soundish runs on macOS 14.6 or later. SoundSource 6 needs macOS 15.
- No microphone permission. Soundish asks for System Audio Recording, the first time you change an app's sound. It never asks for the microphone.
What else Soundish does
- The volume keys for the app you're in. An option makes the keyboard's volume keys change the app in front, not the whole Mac. It needs Accessibility, called Device Control and Data Access on macOS 27.
- A monitor's own speakers. On a Mac with Apple silicon, Soundish sets the volume and mute of a monitor that accepts it, over DDC. Some Macs' own HDMI ports and DisplayLink docks don't pass the commands on.
- Rules for your outputs. Rank your devices, so the one you prefer takes over when it connects. Mark a monitor without speakers so it never becomes the default.
- A maximum volume for each device, to protect your ears or your speakers.
- Bluetooth speakers that have gone to sleep can be woken from an app's output menu, once Soundish has seen them connected.
What Soundish can't do
- Plug-ins. There are no Audio Unit plug-ins or effects, only the equaliser.
- A volume for each browser tab. A browser plays all its tabs through shared helper processes, so it gets one volume.
- Alert sounds. They don't belong to an app, so they stay at the device's volume.
- Clean sound far above 100%. Soundish makes a quiet app louder by multiplying its sound. Past the loudest the output can play, loud parts distort, because there's no limiter.
Soundish has to be running for any of this. Quit it and every app plays normally again at once.
How to try them
SoundSource's trial has no time limit: after 20 minutes it adds noise to the sound it changes, and relaunching it starts the 20 minutes again. Soundish's trial is 7 days with every feature, and asks for no card: start it here.
The first time you change an app's volume in Soundish, macOS asks once to allow System Audio Recording. That's how Soundish reaches each app's sound. Nothing is recorded or saved.
Want more than one of our apps? The Appish Suite has all four for $26.99.
Common questions
Is Soundish a cheaper SoundSource alternative?
Yes, for the core of it: a volume, a mute, an output and an equaliser for each app. Soundish is $14.99 once, and SoundSource is $49 once. SoundSource does more for its price, from Audio Unit plug-ins to AirPlay.
Does Soundish install a driver or a system extension?
No. Since version 1.5, Soundish uses the audio taps built into macOS, so there's nothing to install, no password and no restart. Versions before 1.5 used a driver, and Soundish offers once to remove it.
Does SoundSource install anything?
Yes. Rogue Amoeba's manual says SoundSource needs a component called ARK installed, and that installing it asks for your Mac's administrator password.
Can Soundish use Audio Unit plug-ins?
No. Each app gets a 10-band equaliser with nine presets, and that's all the processing there is. If you need plug-ins on an app's sound, SoundSource is the one to buy.
Which Macs do they run on?
Soundish needs macOS 14.6 (Sonoma) or later, on Apple silicon or Intel. Rogue Amoeba's site lists SoundSource for macOS 15 to 27.