Guides/Vitals vs SoundDial
Vitals vs SoundDial
Quick answer
Vitals and SoundDial both put a slider and a mute for every app in the menu bar. Vitals adds a full system monitor around it: the same menu bar item shows CPU, memory, battery, temperature and the apps using the microphone, so one app does the job of two. SoundDial is a mixer only, $12.99 on the Mac App Store, with profiles, call ducking and a boost to 200%. Choose Vitals to replace two apps with one; choose SoundDial if you need those extras.
VitalsSoundDial Choose Vitals if
- You want a mixer and a system monitor in one menu bar item
- You want to see which apps are using the microphone
- You want to know which app is using the CPU, memory or battery
- A volume and a mute for each app is all the mixer you need
Choose SoundDial if
- You want profiles, or music that ducks during calls
- You want to boost an app past 100%
- You want it from the Mac App Store
- You are on macOS 14
Where Vitals pulls ahead
One app instead of two
With SoundDial you still need a system monitor. Vitals puts the mixer in the same dropdown as CPU, memory, battery and temperature, with the apps behind each, so one menu bar item does both jobs.
Which app is listening
Under the input level, Vitals lists the apps using the microphone right now, the ones macOS's orange dot is about. SoundDial's site does not mention it.
Nothing touched at 100%
Vitals takes an app's sound only while it is turned down or muted. At 100% the app plays exactly as it would without Vitals, and if Vitals quits, every app sounds as it did before.
Everything Vitals does
One app, one payment, every update for life.
- Processes grouped by app. Every helper process is added to the app that launched it, so a working Mac shows about 60 apps instead of about 1,000 processes, each with one figure for memory, CPU, energy, disk and network.
- A tab per subsystem. Overview, CPU, Memory, Disk, Network, GPU, Battery, Sound, Bluetooth and Projects, plus Containers while Docker runs, each with its live figures and the apps behind them.
- Inside your browser. Click Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, Brave, Arc or Dia to see its memory and CPU split into tabs, extensions, graphics and the browser itself. Slack, VS Code and similar apps are split by window.
- 30 days of history. CPU, memory, energy, disk and network for the last hour, 12 hours, 24 hours, 7 days and 30 days, with the apps that used the most, ranked hour by hour for the last two days.
- What keeps the Mac awake, and the fans on. The Battery tab lists the apps holding sleep off, what each said it is doing and for how long. When the Mac runs hot, Vitals names the apps behind it, with Quit beside each.
- Alerts for misbehaving apps. A notification when an app keeps the CPU busy, keeps growing in memory, or hammers the disk or network.
- Dev servers and open ports, by project. Processes grouped by the project folder they run in, with their listening ports, and dev servers left idle for days pointed out and offered to stop.
- A menu bar you arrange. Every readout can be its own menu bar item: CPU, memory, GPU, network, disk, temperature or battery, as a value, a graph or both, ⌘-dragged into any order. Behind it, a dropdown with every metric, the busiest apps, and a tab for each metric.
- Arrange the window and the dropdown. Choose the window’s tabs and their order, and show, hide or reorder the sections, cards and lists on every tab. The dropdown has its own tiles and a List layout with one line per metric. Reset puts everything back.
- Docker containers. A Containers tab with every Docker container’s memory, CPU, network and ports, in the window and the dropdown, and Stop on each, after a confirmation.
- Sound and Bluetooth tabs. The Mac’s output device and level with a slider for every app playing sound, the microphone and the apps using it, and every connected Bluetooth device with its battery, lowest first.
- Units you choose. Celsius or Fahrenheit, bytes or bits for network speed, and CPU per core or per Mac, each with a live example in Settings.
- Temperatures and fans. CPU and GPU temperature on Intel and Apple silicon, M5 included, and fan speed. Hold any fan at a speed you choose, and hand it back to the Mac in one click. The menu bar temperature can follow the CPU, the GPU or the hottest sensor.
- Quit and force quit. Quit an app or a single process, always after a confirmation.
- Keyboard shortcuts and Shortcuts actions. Open the dropdown or the window from any app, and get a reading or the busiest app from the Shortcuts app.
- Export as an image. Save or copy a snapshot of the Mac as a 1200 × 630 share card or a dashboard image.
- In the Dock, if you like. Show in Dock keeps Vitals in the Dock like Activity Monitor. Opened by hand it shows its window; at login it stays in the menu bar.
What Mac users say
Now I find myself stealing quick glances at the menu bar, instead of taking another sip of coffee.
Ed Wiseman Emmy-winning director and producer macOS Activity Monitor is horrible when I’m juggling dev projects and local AI. Vitals is so much better.
Knowix Developer and AI builder cant keep vibecoding everything for $5, i get a finished product, clean ui, and bug fixes
Sai Krishna Founder of Superblog Common questions
Is Vitals a SoundDial alternative?
Yes, if you want a volume and a mute for every app from the menu bar and would rather have them inside a system monitor than in a separate app. SoundDial adds profiles, call ducking and a boost to 200%.
Does Vitals lower music during calls?
No. Vitals keeps each app at the level you set. SoundDial lowers the other apps when a call starts.
Is there a trial?
No. Vitals has a 14-day refund instead: buy it, and if it is not for you, email and the money comes back.
Get Vitals for $9 while the launch price lasts
One-time paymentLifetime updates14-day refund
Get Vitals for $9How we compared
The SoundDial column comes from its maker's own site on September 30, 2026. Where the site does not say whether it does something, the cell says "Not stated". If a cell is out of date, email us and we will fix it.
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How to turn one app down with nothing installed, and why macOS has no mixer: Mac volume mixer: how to change the volume of one app.