Guides / Recording with QuickTime, OBS, Audacity and GarageBand
QuickTime vs OBS vs Audacity for recording audio on a Mac
Updated 2026-09-03.
On a Mac the three free recorders split cleanly. QuickTime Player records a microphone to .m4a with no setup but cannot capture computer audio. OBS Studio 30 captures desktop or single-app audio on macOS 13 or newer, but writes a video container. Audacity records and edits mic or interface audio, and needs BlackHole for system audio. AirCheck ($39) fills the gap they leave: an audio file of what the Mac plays, no driver, no video container, no length limit.
Which free Mac tool records which audio source?
The deciding question is where the sound comes from.
- A microphone or an audio interface. All three work. QuickTime's File > New Audio Recording is the shortest path; Apple documents it at 44.1 kHz as AAC (High) or 24-bit PCM (Maximum). Audacity adds editing and a choice of sample rate. OBS is overkill unless you also want video.
- What the Mac is playing. Only OBS does this without a driver. Its knowledge base: with "OBS Studio 30 on macOS 13 (Ventura) and higher, you can use the new macOS Audio Capture Source", which captures all desktop audio or one application. QuickTime cannot: its mic list holds only Core Audio inputs. Audacity cannot either; its support page states macOS "does not have built-in desktop audio recording capabilities", and the workaround is BlackHole plus a Multi-Output Device.
- Mic and computer audio together. OBS mixes both into one file. QuickTime never does. Audacity can, with BlackHole inside an Aggregate Device.
Per-tool detail: recording with QuickTime, desktop audio in OBS, and Audacity and system audio.
How long does each take to set up, and what file do you get?
QuickTime: about a minute. Open, New Audio Recording, pick mic, record, save. Output is .m4a, either AAC or 24-bit PCM inside the same container. No 48 kHz, no WAV without an export step.
OBS 30: ten to twenty minutes the first time. Install, grant Screen Recording and Microphone permissions, restart, add a macOS Audio Capture source, set sample rate, choose a recording folder and format. Output is mkv, mp4 or mov with AAC audio; getting a WAV means extracting or transcoding afterwards. Once configured, a second recording is one click.
Audacity for a mic: two minutes. Pick the device in Audio Settings, press R, export WAV or MP3 at any bit depth. Audacity for system audio: fifteen to thirty minutes, most of it in Audio MIDI Setup building the Multi-Output Device, plus the risk of silent speakers or a feedback loop if a setting is wrong.
File sizes are the same physics for all of them. A 24-bit 48 kHz stereo WAV runs about 16.5 MB per minute, 16-bit 44.1 kHz about 10.1 MB per minute, MP3 at 320 kbps about 2.4 MB per minute (measured across 45 real recordings). OBS's AAC at its default bitrate is in the same range as the MP3 figure. Full table in how big is an audio recording per minute.
When is the free tool enough?
Most of the time.
- Voice note, interview in the room, lecture you attend: QuickTime at Maximum, or Voice Memos with Lossless on. Nothing to buy.
- A stream, game, or call where you also want the picture: OBS. It is the only free tool that gets desktop audio, mic and video into one synchronized file, and it is what streamers use anyway.
- A vocal or instrument you will edit: Audacity, or GarageBand if you prefer a DAW layout. Both are free and export WAV at 24-bit.
- Computer audio once in a while, and you already have BlackHole working: Audacity. The setup cost is paid; reuse it.
The free tools stop being enough in a narrow set of cases: you want an audio file (not video) of computer audio without touching Audio MIDI Setup; you record for hours and want the app to recover from a device stall by itself; you need one specific channel pair of a multi-input interface; or you want mic plus several apps mixed with live control. The first three are recorder problems, the last is a routing problem, and the paid tools split along that line.
When is a paid Mac audio recorder worth it?
Two paid tools cover the gaps, and they are not interchangeable.
Audio Hijack (Rogue Amoeba, $69 one-off) is a block-based router that records. It can take one app, another app and a mic, mix them with effects, and write the result, all live. It is the most configurable paid option and demands setup: a session built from blocks before you can record, and a learning curve. If your problem is "mix these sources", that is its category. Its price and features are on the vendor's page; check them before buying.
AirCheck ($39 one-off) is a recorder, not a router. One source per take: everything the Mac plays via ScreenCaptureKit, or one Core Audio input including a channel pair on an interface. It writes 24-bit at the device rate and exports WAV 16-bit, WAV 24-bit or MP3 320 kbps to ~/Music/AirCheck. Its watchdog restarts capture into the same file if audio stops arriving for 5 s, which is the feature that matters on a two-hour set. It runs on Apple silicon and Intel, has no length limit, and comes with a 14-day refund at $30 under Audio Hijack. It cannot mix a mic into the same file and cannot pick a single app.
Neither replaces OBS for video, and neither replaces Audacity for editing. The wider field, including Piezo and Loopback, is compared in Audio Hijack vs Piezo vs AirCheck.
You can choose to capture all desktop audio or just a certain application.
OBS Studio knowledge base, macOS Desktop Audio Capture Guide
Free Mac audio recorders compared with two paid ones, September 2026
| Tool | Records mic | Records system audio | Single-app capture | Output format | Driver install | First-time setup | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QuickTime Player | yes | no | no | m4a (AAC or 24-bit PCM) | no | 1 min | free |
| Voice Memos | yes | no | no | m4a (AAC or ALAC) | no | 1 min | free |
| OBS Studio 30 (macOS 13+) | yes | yes | yes | mkv / mp4 / mov | no | 10 to 20 min | free |
| Audacity 3 + BlackHole | yes | yes | no | WAV, AIFF, MP3, FLAC | yes | 15 to 30 min | free |
| AirCheck (macOS 14+) | yes | yes | no | WAV 16/24-bit, MP3 320 | no | 2 min | $39 |
| Audio Hijack | yes | yes | yes | many, incl. WAV, MP3, AAC | yes (its own) | 5 to 10 min | $69 |
Setup times are the author's estimates on macOS 26.4.1; prices as of Sept 2026, check vendor pages.
Where AirCheck fits
AirCheck is the right buy when the answer to "what do you want" is an audio file of what the Mac played, and nothing else. One permission, one button, nothing to configure, no video container, no Audio MIDI Setup, no length limit, a watchdog that restarts a stalled capture into the same file, and a 24-bit master at 48 kHz for system audio or at the interface's rate for a channel pair. Files are named by date and time and listed with duration and size in the app, exported as WAV or MP3 320 kbps. $39 one-off, 14-day refund, macOS 14 Sonoma or newer, Apple silicon and Intel.
When you do not need it: AirCheck records one source per take and does not edit. Video (OBS), editing (Audacity, GarageBand) and live mixing of a mic with app audio are different categories of tool.
AirCheck records what your Mac plays, or any input, to one file. $39 once.
macOS 14 or newer. One-off payment. Fourteen-day refund, no questions asked.
Questions people ask
Is OBS or QuickTime better for recording audio on a Mac?
QuickTime for a microphone: it is faster and writes a small .m4a. OBS for computer audio or anything with video: it is the only free tool that captures desktop and single-app audio natively on macOS 13 or newer, at the cost of a video container.
Can Audacity record system audio on a Mac like OBS does?
Not natively. Audacity records only Core Audio inputs; you need the BlackHole driver and a Multi-Output Device in Audio MIDI Setup. OBS 30 reads system audio through ScreenCaptureKit with no driver, so for capture alone OBS is simpler.
Which free app records both mic and computer audio at once on a Mac?
OBS Studio. Add an Audio Input Capture source for the mic and a macOS Audio Capture source for the desktop, and both go into one recording. Audacity can do it with BlackHole in an Aggregate Device; QuickTime and Voice Memos cannot.
Is it worth paying for a Mac audio recorder?
Only when the free tools fail your case: an audio-only file of computer audio without driver setup, multi-hour takes with automatic recovery, a specific interface channel pair, or live mixing of several sources. Otherwise QuickTime, OBS and Audacity cover it for free.
Sources
- Apple: Record audio in QuickTime Player on Mac
- OBS: macOS Desktop Audio Capture Guide
- Audacity support: Recording desktop audio
- Apple: Change Voice Memos settings on Mac
- Existential Audio: BlackHole
Related guides
- How to record audio with QuickTime Player on a Mac
- How to capture desktop audio in OBS on a Mac
- Can Audacity record system audio on a Mac?
- Can Voice Memos on a Mac record system audio?
- Free vs paid Mac audio recorders: what does free actually cover?
- Audio Hijack vs Piezo vs AirCheck: which one-off Mac recorder should you buy?
- Recording with QuickTime, OBS, Audacity and GarageBand: all guides
- Every guide, by topic