# eqMac review (2026): is the free plan enough? > System-wide equalizer and per-app volume mixer for macOS Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. eqMac processes the audio of a whole Mac rather than one app. The free tier has a bass, mids and treble equalizer and a 10-band equalizer, while the paid Pro tier adds an unlimited-band equalizer, a per-app volume mixer and spatial audio effects. Pro is sold as a subscription or a one-time lifetime license for one Mac. - **Category:** Desktop Utilities - **Made by:** Bitgapp Ltd. - **Website:** https://eqmac.app/ - **Runs on:** macOS - **Who should skip it:** Tight if you're staying free, because the unlimited-band equalizer, app mixer and spatial audio are all Pro. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, eqMac has a free plan, and paid plans start at $3 per month, or $30 per year. - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** Basic: bass, mids and treble equalizer, 10-band equalizer, headphone presets, volume and balance (including boost beyond 100%), and support for any audio device. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Basic | $0 | Free features with community support; no access to Pro features. | | Pro Subscription | $3 per month, starting at; or $30 per year | Expert equalizer, app mixer, spatial audio and all other features; the page says one device license costs $1 per month. | | Pro Lifetime License | $40 one-time, for one Mac | Lifetime access to current Pro features and security and compatibility updates; future Pro features might require a partial upgrade. | Read from https://eqmac.app/ on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with eqMac before buying. ## Key features - **Equalizers:** Basic (bass, mids, treble) and 10-band equalizers are free. The Expert equalizer has unlimited bands with gain, Q factor or octave bandwidth, several filter types and a spectrum analyzer, and needs Pro. - **App mixer:** Sets the volume of each application separately across the system. This is a Pro feature. - **Headphone presets:** Reference presets for more than 4,600 headphones, with the site marking the feature as available in both tiers. - **Spatial audio and left/right EQ:** Pro adds spatial audio effects for different listening environments and separate equalization of the left and right channels. - **Super presets and Audio Unit hosting:** Presets can switch automatically when the output device or main audio app changes; Pro can host Audio Units and chain them with eqMac effects. - **Works with any output device:** Supports built-in, Bluetooth, AirPlay 1, USB, HDMI, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt, aggregate and multi-output devices. ## Good for - Mac users who want one equalizer applied to every app and every output device - People who want to turn down a single app without touching system volume - Headphone owners looking for a preset for their model ## Worth knowing - The unlimited-band equalizer, app mixer and spatial audio are Pro only. - Recording, hotkeys, cloud sync, virtual output and remote control are listed as in development, not available yet. - The Pro Lifetime License covers one Mac and current Pro features only. - The public GitHub repository holds only v1.3.2 without Pro features; newer releases are developed in a private fork, so the current app is not open source. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.4 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. eqMac puts a 10-band equalizer over all sound on a Mac, free. The per-app mixer, unlimited bands and spatial audio are Pro, and the current app is not the open source version people remember. - **Value for money: B.** Pro is $30 a year, about $2.50 a month, which is in the cheaper quarter, and Lifetime is $40 for one Mac. - **Free plan and trial: B.** The basic equalizer, headphone presets and volume boost are free for good, with no trial clock. One person could stay there. - **Features: C.** Equalizers, a per-app mixer and presets, but recording, hotkeys, cloud sync and virtual output are listed as still in development. - **Ease of use: B.** No rating on record. Install it and move sliders; it works with any output device. - **Platforms and integrations: D.** Mac only. No Windows, Linux, phone or web version. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Bitgapp Ltd.'s own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among desktop utilities - eqMac's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 35 of the 186 other desktop utilities we grade, and level with 33. - It stands best on ease of use (B, above 78 of 186) and worst on platforms and integrations (D, above 0). - Its paid plans start at $2.50 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $2.99 for the category: 14 of the 36 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. 28 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/utilities ## Keep it, or make your own? **Your call.** It depends on the utility: a converter or a calculator is an afternoon. eqMac sits between: not beyond making, and not a weekend's work either. What you would give up is listed below. Whether that is worth the price is your call. It costs $30 a year. - You could not: A native app living in the menu bar. - You could not: A real app for macOS. Something home-made would be a web page. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. **Tags:** One-time purchase, Menu bar app ## Alternatives - [SoundSource](https://toolgpa.com/tools/soundsource): Per-app volume, output routing and audio effects for the Mac. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/eqmac-vs-soundsource) - [BlackHole](https://toolgpa.com/tools/blackhole): Virtual audio loopback driver for routing sound between Mac apps. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/blackhole-vs-eqmac) - [FxSound](https://toolgpa.com/tools/fxsound): Free open-source Windows equalizer and volume booster. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/eqmac-vs-fxsound) - [Voicemeeter](https://toolgpa.com/tools/voicemeeter): Virtual audio mixer for Windows, sold as donationware. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/eqmac-vs-voicemeeter) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://eqmac.app/ - https://github.com/bitgapp/eqMac Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/eqmac Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).