Alternatives to JACK Audio Connection Kit
Connect audio and MIDI applications through an audio server. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
JACK Audio Connection Kit
Connect audio and MIDI applications through an audio server.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as JACK Audio Connection Kit.
VB-CABLE
Route audio between applications through a virtual audio cable.
VB-CABLE is a free, closed-source virtual audio cable for Windows and macOS that passes one application's output to another, without JACK's MIDI routing or Linux support.
BlackHole
Pass audio between Mac applications through a virtual loopback driver.
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.
Voicemeeter Banana is a free Windows-only virtual mixer with five inputs and five outputs, replacing JACK's connection graph with a mixing console interface.
Loopback
Create virtual audio devices that combine application and hardware audio on a Mac.
Loopback is a paid macOS app with a visual routing interface that combines application and hardware audio into virtual devices, and it is closed source.
qpwgraph
A graphical patchbay for PipeWire that routes audio and MIDI between applications and devices on Linux.
qpwgraph routes audio and MIDI between applications and devices through a drag-and-drop graphical patchbay, but it only works on Linux with PipeWire rather than its own server.
Also worth comparing
These listings name JACK Audio Connection Kit as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
Plogue Bidule
Connect audio, MIDI and processing components in a modular workspace.
JACK Audio Connection Kit is a free open source audio server that routes audio and MIDI between separate applications, rather than hosting plug-ins inside one modular workspace.
Voicemeeter Potato
Top-tier virtual audio mixer with eight inputs, eight outputs and insert effects.
JACK Audio Connection Kit is an open-source audio server across Linux, macOS and Windows for low-latency routing of audio and MIDI, needing careful device configuration.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
ASIO4ALL
Use an ASIO interface with supported Windows audio devices.
FlexASIO
Universal ASIO driver that lets ASIO applications use ordinary Windows sound devices.
Ardour
A full digital audio workstation for recording, editing and mixing, with no subscription and no dongle.
Easy Effects
A rack of audio effects for PipeWire on Linux: equaliser, compressor, limiter, noise reduction and thirty more.
