16 Best Audio Recording Software for Mac [2023]

Movavi Screen Recorder is an app that you can use on your MacBook to record audio (both internal and external) or video content of your screen. It's some of the best music-recording software for a Mac due to its versatility and ease of use, so you can quickly and simply capture only the audio from your device as needed and save it as an MP3 file. There are also built-in editing tools for you to trim your recording down and cut out unwanted sections before saving.

Key features:

• Record webcasts and screencasts in HD and 4K with or without the audio stream
• Record music, speech, and audio effects in high quality to enhance video tutorials and presentations
• Capture keystrokes, mouse clicks, and cursor movement for guides and instructions

Another great option when you're looking for the best Mac audio recording software is GarageBand. It’s a free audio recorder for a Mac that functions as a fully-featured music creation studio, with a full audio library of instruments and voice presets. As the name implies, this software is aimed at bands and musicians. This desktop audio recorder for a Mac comes with a plethora of editing tools and features, allowing you to mix, sync, and adjust your tracks as needed. 

Key features:

• Multi-track recording

• A huge library of presets

• Can create complete music tracks

Logic Pro is another top-rated app to consider when you're looking for the best audio recorder for a Mac. This is a complete, professional-grade recording solution, made exclusively by Apple for the Mac platform, and it comes with everything that you need to make amazing music on your device. With its super sleek interface, integrated Dolby Atmos tools, powerful creative features, and huge collection of plug-ins and sounds, there's a lot you can do with this app.

Key features:

• Dolby Atmos tools

• Use your iPhone or iPad as a Logic Remote

• Huge library of sounds and plug-ins

Aiseesoft Screen Recorder is a full-featured screen recorder with audio recording capabilities. The program has a unique real-time video encoding technology that produces high-quality video and sound. You can change various preferences for both internal audio and microphone sound.

Key features:

• Users can test the microphone and system sound before recording

• Hotkeys to improve functionality

Some users are wondering: “Does Mac have an audio recorder?” Yes, there’s a built-in tool that you can use for recording audio on your Mac – QuickTime Player. So, if you choose to use this free music-recording software for a Mac, you won't need to worry about having to download or install any other freeware or audio capture program on your device. Many people use QuickTime for playing media files every day, but it also has hidden recording capabilities and can record your whole screen's video, as well as capture audio.

Key features:

• Record video and audio

• Playback your recordings in the app

• Built-in with every Mac

Audio Hijack is a Mac-exclusive app that is really good for voice recording on a Macintosh as well as for streaming live audio. Many people use it for online radio purposes or for recording and streaming audio, like podcasts, with their fans and followers around the world. It's got a really sleek and simple interface that doesn't take too long to understand and works well for beginners, and it's an ideal choice if you're looking into the idea of instantly streaming your audio with the world.

Key features:

• VoIP recording via Zoom and other apps

• Works with live broadcasting

• Capture audio from any website

This is one of the most comprehensive MacBook voice recorders available, and it's totally free to use, without any hidden costs or charges. It offers a massive range of features and functions, from noise gates and pitch adjustment to noise reduction when you're recording in spaces with background noise, along with lots of editing, multi-track recording, and much more.

Key features:

• Multi-track recording

• Tons of editing tools

• Export in MP3, WAV, or other popular formats

Ableton Live is a fluid and fast music creation suite which essentially gives users their own fully-functioning music studio inside their Mac devices. It offers a ton of features to help you capture the crispest and best quality audio, either with your voice or with instruments, and then add feeling and life to your music with editing tools and enhancements. The only downside is that you'll need to spend quite a lot of cash on one of the premium upgrades to get the full selection of Ableton Live features.

Key features:

• Take comping and linked-track editing

• Advanced editing tools

• A huge range of enhancements

MuLab from MuTools is another music creation and audio recording app for a Mac. It has a colorful and attractive user interface and a lot of useful features, including MUX Modular, which is a special synth, sampler, and effect engine. With the power of the MUX Modular, creating, recording, and editing audio becomes very easy.

Key features:

• Multi-track recording and editing

• Modular architecture for ease-of-use

• Lots of editing tools

Next up, we have Apowersoft Audio Recorder for Mac. This simple tool is useful for recording audio from your Mac in lossless quality, preserving the crispness and clarity of every sound. It can be used to record voices, calls, conferences, meetings, commentaries, and music, too, offering both internal and external audio capture.

Key features:

• Capture internal and external audio

• 10+ languages

• Lightweight app

Next up, we have Ardour, another top-quality voice recorder for Macintosh computers. This app is popular with singers, musicians, and other artists and creators, as it can help you bring out the very best in your recordings. It comes with many different enhancement tools and editing features to let you adjust and improve each little detail of your tracks, turning a simple and basic recording into something that sounds truly professional and impressive.

Key features:

• Drag and drop UI

• Editing tools to trim, adjust, and enhance

• Multi-track recording

Reaper is an audio recording and audio protection application. It supports multi-track audio and MIDI recording, as well as editing, processing, and mixing, with a wide range of tools and functions to play around with. Supporting lots of different kinds of hardware and digital formats, this app is famed for its versatility and can be used by anyone from teachers recording lectures to musicians preparing a new album.

Key features:

• Multi-track audio and MIDI capture

• 64-bit internal processing

• Support for thousands of plug-ins and add-ons

Piezo is a fun little app that is designed to look like an old-fashioned radio. It's designed with aesthetics and simplicity in mind, perfect for recording audio from applications like Skype and browsers like Safari and Chrome. You can record in both MP3 and AAC format, as desired, and it really couldn't be any easier to set up and start using.

Key features:

• One-click recording

• A range of recording presets

• Capture audio from apps and browsers

Compatible with the latest versions of macOS, Macsome Audio Recorder is a Mac-exclusive audio capture app to record audio from apps like Skype, iTunes, and internet browsers. It can also record external audio from microphones and other connected hardware, so it's a good choice for capturing calls and conferences. It saves in MP3 or AAC format, with various options for file size, audio quality, and more.

Key features:

• Save in MP3 or AAC

• Capture internal or external audio

• Adjust file size, quality, etc.

AudioNote is a powerful tool that is perfect for students and teachers. With this app, users can record lectures and meetings and at the same time take notes linked to audio. Additionally, AudioNote offers some handy tools: users can add drawings or photos to the notes. Overall, the app can be very helpful since it combines a Mac sound recorder and a notes app, so you don’t need to switch between two different apps.

Key features:

• Combines audio recording with note-taking

• Capture audio and connect it to written notes

• Connect to text, drawings, photos, or diagrams

Like GarageBand and similar apps, Avid Pro Tools is mostly a music creation app. It's designed to help aspiring musicians record and edit their tracks with ease, offering a range of musical instrument sounds and presets that you can experiment with and combine in different ways to make music. It also offers live broadcast options and cloud collaboration to work with bandmates in different locations.

Key features:

• A huge sound library

• Track presets for voice and instruments

• Cloud collaboration