Most noise removal software picks a side. It works on Windows or it works on Mac, and you’re supposed to just deal with it. If your team is split across both operating systems (and most are), that limits your options fast.
I’ve been testing noise removal tools for the past year across a MacBook Pro and a Windows desktop, sometimes on the same call. Some of these tools are platform-exclusive for good reason (they depend on specific hardware). Others just haven’t built a Mac version yet.
Here’s what works on each side, and the one tool that works on both.
Krisp: best noise removal software for PC and Mac
Krisp is the only tool on this list that runs natively on Mac, Windows, Chrome, iOS, and Android with the same feature set across all of them. That sounds like a small thing until you switch laptops mid-week or your team is split across both platforms.
The noise removal itself is the strongest I’ve tested. 2-sided noise cancellation removes background noise from your microphone and from incoming audio at the same time, with over 40 decibels of reduction on each side. That second part matters more than people realize. You can sit in a quiet room and still hear the other person’s barking dog, hotel lobby, or open-plan office. Krisp cleans both directions without making anyone sound processed or robotic.
But Krisp hasn’t been just a noise removal tool for a while now. It’s a full Voice AI platform that covers the whole meeting lifecycle. The AI Note Taker runs bot-free by default, working at the system audio level so nobody on the call sees anything different. Live transcription in 16+ languages, speaker identification, and after the meeting you get key points, action items with owners, and a structured summary.
Accent Conversion is the feature nobody else has. It works both ways: speakers activate it to come across more clearly, and listeners enable it to better understand others. On a team with members in four or five countries, this cuts meeting friction in ways noise cancellation alone can’t.
Noise cancellation processing happens on your device, not in the cloud. HIPAA, SOC 2, and PCI DSS certified. Over 200 million devices globally, more than 80 billion minutes of voice audio processed monthly. Discord, Twilio, OpenAI, and VMware all use it.
Pricing starts at $8/month for the Core plan billed annually, with a 7-day free trial that gives you full access to everything. Two minutes to install, works with Zoom, Teams, Meet, Webex, and every other communication app I’ve thrown at it.
If you only install one tool from this list, make it this one.
Windows-only options
Windows users have more choices for noise removal, partly because GPU makers build their tools for Windows first and partly because Microsoft has been baking noise suppression into the OS itself.
NVIDIA Broadcast
NVIDIA Broadcast taps the Tensor cores on RTX graphics cards for real-time noise removal, room echo cancellation, and video effects like virtual backgrounds and auto-framing. A recent update added Studio Voice, which enhances your mic to sound closer to a high-end microphone.
The noise suppression handles steady sounds well: fans, AC units, keyboard clatter. Sudden loud noises (a door slam, a dropped mug) sometimes partially get through. It processes your microphone only, not incoming audio from other participants.
Free if you have an RTX 2060 or newer. Processing runs on your GPU, so your CPU stays open for other work. No meeting notes, no transcription, no accent features. If you already own the hardware, it’s hard to argue with free.
AMD Noise Suppression
AMD built noise suppression into its Adrenalin driver software, and it does one thing NVIDIA doesn’t: it handles both microphone input and speaker output. That means it processes noise on both sides of a conversation, which is a real edge if you’re already in the AMD ecosystem.
You need a Radeon RX 6000 series or newer GPU, or a Ryzen 6000 series or newer processor. Toggle it on in the Audio & Video tab. Fair warning: at higher aggressiveness settings, voices start sounding muffled. Dial it in rather than cranking it to max. Free, Windows only, no meeting features.
Windows Studio Effects (Voice Focus)
Microsoft built noise suppression directly into Windows 11 under the name Voice Focus, part of Windows Studio Effects. There are two versions: a software-based one available on most Windows 11 machines, and an enhanced AI version that runs on the NPU in Copilot+ PCs.
On a Copilot+ PC, the NPU-accelerated version runs in the background without touching your CPU or GPU, filtering mic noise across all apps automatically.
The software version handles moderate background noise. The NPU version is noticeably better. Neither matches dedicated tools like Krisp or NVIDIA Broadcast on difficult noise, but for casual use on a quiet-ish laptop, it’s already there and already on.
Mac-only options
Mac users have fewer third-party choices, but Apple has quietly built some useful noise handling into macOS itself.
macOS Voice Isolation
Apple added Voice Isolation as a mic mode starting in macOS Monterey, and it’s continued improving through Sequoia and beyond. It uses on-device machine learning to identify your voice and suppress everything else: traffic, nearby conversations, wind, construction.
To enable it, start a call in any supported app, click the mic mode icon in the menu bar, and select Voice Isolation. It works on any Mac with Apple Silicon or an Intel Mac with a T2 chip.
The limitation: it only activates during calls, and only in apps that support Apple’s mic mode API. You can’t set it as a system-wide default. FaceTime, Zoom, and Teams support it. Some smaller apps don’t. It only filters your outgoing mic, not incoming audio.
It won’t touch Krisp on noise reduction depth or meeting features, but it’s free and already on your machine.
Utterly
Utterly is a stripped-down noise cancellation app built specifically for macOS. Virtual microphone, on/off switch, sensitivity slider. That’s it. Works with any communication app, runs entirely on your Mac with no cloud processing. Intel and Apple Silicon both supported.
The free version handles basic noise suppression: fans, light street noise, keyboard tapping. The Elevate plan at $1/month adds voice isolation for louder environments. Setup takes under two minutes.
The app is minimal by design, which some people prefer. But development has been slow, updates are infrequent, and the company hasn’t said much about what’s next. It manages light noise fine. Anything louder and you’ll feel the gap between Utterly and the heavier options on this list.
Cross-platform: post-recording cleanup
Audacity
Everything above works in real time during calls. Audacity solves a different problem: cleaning up audio after you’ve already recorded it.
If you record podcasts, interviews, lectures, or voice-overs, the noise reduction tool in Audacity is free and runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux. The workflow is manual but effective: record a few seconds of silence (room tone), select it, build a noise profile, then apply reduction to the full recording. It strips out consistent background noise like hum, hiss, and fan drone.
I used it last month to rescue a podcast episode where somebody left a window open near a busy street. Took five minutes. Audacity won’t help you on a Tuesday afternoon Zoom call, but for post-production cleanup on a budget, nothing free comes close.
Built-in meeting platform noise suppression
Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet all ship with noise suppression now. Zoom lets you adjust the level from low to high. Teams offers Auto, Low, and High modes. Google Meet handles it automatically.
These work for light background noise in quiet rooms: keyboard clicks, a gentle fan, light traffic outside a closed window. They struggle with louder environments and only process your microphone, not incoming audio.
Zero setup, zero cost. Good enough if your workspace is already quiet. The moment it’s not, you’ll hit the ceiling fast.
What to pick based on your setup
The honest answer for most people: start with whatever’s already on your machine. macOS Voice Isolation, Windows Studio Effects, or the suppression built into Zoom and Teams. See if it’s enough. For a lot of quiet home offices, it will be.
When it’s not enough (and you’ll know the first time you take a call from a coffee shop or your neighbor starts a renovation), the question becomes whether you want a platform-specific tool or one that follows you everywhere. NVIDIA Broadcast and AMD Noise Suppression are solid and free if you have the right hardware. But they’re Windows-only, they only clean audio, and they won’t help you on your MacBook next week.
Krisp is where I landed after testing everything on this list. The 2-sided noise cancellation alone, cleaning both your audio and the other person’s, solves problems the other tools can’t touch. Add the meeting notes, accent conversion, and the fact that it runs the same on Mac and Windows, and it stops being a noise removal tool and starts being the thing that makes your meetings actually work.
The platform your computer runs shouldn’t dictate how clean your calls sound. In 2026, it mostly still does, with one exception.
