Home / Guides / System Audio Capture Tools Compared
If you want to record what your computer is playing — a browser tab, a video call, a streaming radio, a plugin demo — there are a handful of tools that do it, and they work very differently. This is the honest overview of the main options on macOS and Windows, and links to the in-depth comparison for each.
To capture system audio, your realistic options are BlackHole (free, Mac), VoiceMeeter (free, Windows), Loopback and Sound Siphon and Audio Hijack (paid, Mac), and AudioRoute (paid, Mac + Windows).
| Tool | Platform | Price | How it captures | DAW plugin | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AudioRoute | Mac 14.2+ & Windows 10/11 | €29 one-time | Core Audio taps / WASAPI loopback | Yes (VST3/AU, bundled) | Simple capture to file or DAW, on both platforms |
| BlackHole | macOS | Free (open source) | Virtual audio driver + aggregate device | No | Free Mac routing for technical users |
| VoiceMeeter | Windows | Free (donationware) | Virtual mixer + cables | No | Windows streaming / full mixing |
| Loopback | macOS | Paid (Rogue Amoeba) | Virtual audio devices, wiring | No | Advanced Mac routing between apps |
| Sound Siphon | macOS | $49 one-time | Virtual audio devices | Sold separately | Per-app Mac capture and mixing |
| Audio Hijack | macOS | Paid (Rogue Amoeba) | App/system audio capture with effects | No | Recording app audio with an effects chain |
Prices current as of August 2026; check each vendor for the latest. Loopback and Audio Hijack are Rogue Amoeba products with their own current pricing.
Free, open-source virtual audio driver for macOS. You route system audio into BlackHole, then read it from a DAW or recorder, usually via an aggregate device so you can still hear the audio while capturing. Powerful and free, but the aggregate-device setup trips up a lot of people. Full comparison: AudioRoute vs BlackHole →
Free (donationware) virtual audio mixer for Windows, by VB-Audio. It is a full mixing console with virtual cables, ideal for streamers who need to route and mix several sources. Powerful, but famously steep to learn for a simple "record this tab" job. Full comparison: VoiceMeeter alternative →
Rogue Amoeba's macOS routing tool. It creates virtual devices you wire up visually to send audio between apps. Excellent for complex routing; more than you need if you only want to capture system audio into a DAW or a file. Full comparison: Loopback alternative →
A mature macOS capture tool by Static Z Software that creates virtual input devices and can isolate specific apps. Mac-only, and users report a repeated permission prompt on newer macOS. Full comparison: Sound Siphon alternative →
Rogue Amoeba's polished macOS app for recording audio from any application, with a block-based effects chain. Great for podcast/app recording on a Mac; macOS-only, and no DAW plugin. It is the strongest single-purpose Mac recorder, but it does not cross to Windows.
Our own tool. It captures system audio using the modern Core Audio process-tap API on macOS and WASAPI loopback on Windows, so there is no aggregate device or virtual-cable setup. You grant permission once, then record to a WAV file from the tray app or straight into any DAW with the bundled VST3/AU plugin. The trade-off versus the free tools is price; the trade-off versus the Mac-only paid tools is that AudioRoute also runs on Windows and keeps the workflow deliberately simple.
Not sure? Try before you decide. AudioRoute has a 14-day free trial with no card required, and the free tools cost nothing to test. Set aside 20 minutes with the two that fit your platform and use the one that gets you recording fastest.
AudioRoute is the simplest cross-platform option: install, grant permission once, and record to a file or into a DAW via its bundled plugin. BlackHole (Mac) and VoiceMeeter (Windows) are free but need more setup.
BlackHole on macOS and VoiceMeeter on Windows. Both are free; both require you to build the routing yourself.
VoiceMeeter and AudioRoute. BlackHole, Loopback, Sound Siphon and Audio Hijack are macOS-only.
Not with modern tools. AudioRoute uses Core Audio process taps (Mac) and WASAPI loopback (Windows), so there is no aggregate-device setup.
Mac and Windows. No card required. The simplest way to record whatever is playing — to a file or straight into your DAW.
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