Alternatives to BlackHole

Pass audio between Mac applications through a virtual loopback driver. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.

Replacements

Listings that take over the same core job as BlackHole.

  • Loopback

    Create virtual audio devices that combine application and hardware audio on a Mac.

    PaidProprietarymacOS

    Loopback is a paid macOS app with a visual routing interface that combines application and hardware audio into virtual devices.

  • VB-CABLE

    Route audio between applications through a virtual audio cable.

    FreeProprietaryWindowsmacOS

    VB-CABLE is a free, closed-source virtual audio cable for Windows and macOS, providing a basic virtual device with extra cables under separate terms.

Also worth comparing

These listings name BlackHole as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.

  • Audio Hijack

    Capture and process audio from Mac applications and input devices.

    PaidProprietarymacOS

    BlackHole is a free, open-source macOS loopback driver that passes audio between apps, needing a separate recorder and manual setup in Audio MIDI Setup.

  • JACK Audio Connection Kit

    Connect audio and MIDI applications through an audio server.

    FreeOpen sourceLinuxmacOSWindows

    BlackHole is a free, open-source GPL-3.0 virtual loopback driver for macOS only, passing audio between Mac applications but not MIDI and not acting as a full audio server.

  • Voicemeeter Banana

    Windows virtual mixer with five inputs and five outputs for routing audio.

    FreeProprietaryWindows

    BlackHole is an open-source virtual loopback driver for macOS only, offering routing channels but no mixer interface like Voicemeeter Banana.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.