Krisp Noise Cancellation: How It Works and How to Set It Up

Krisp cancels noise by standing between your headset and the calling app. The Mac or Windows desktop app installs two virtual devices, Krisp Microphone and Krisp Speaker, and once you pick both inside Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack or a browser, Krisp strips background sound from what colleagues hear and from what reaches your ears. Skip the device step and nothing changes. Noise cancellation, voice isolation and echo cancellation come with every paid plan, and the pricing matrix lists noise cancellation as unlimited on Core ^[1], which costs $8 per user per month billed annually or $16 per user per month billed monthly. Krisp's pricing page has no free plan for the app: you start with a 7-day free trial that needs no credit card.

Two virtual devices carry every call

Installing Krisp creates Krisp Microphone and Krisp Speaker. Inside the Krisp app you choose your physical microphone and speaker; inside the calling app you choose the Krisp versions. Audio then flows through Krisp in both directions, and Krisp's help says the noise processing happens locally, with no audio sent to or stored on its servers ^[2]; meeting content reaches Krisp's cloud only if you use its notes, recording, the mobile app or an integration. Both devices are mono. Krisp Microphone can carry HD voice at 32,000 Hz, depending on the hardware and the load on your machine, while Krisp Speaker tops out at 16,000 Hz. Stereo is not supported, so this is a voice tool rather than a music one.

On that audio path Krisp runs four jobs. Microphone noise cancellation cleans what others hear from you. Voice isolation removes human voices near you, such as a colleague on the next desk. Speaker noise cancellation cleans the noise coming from other participants. Echo cancellation handles both acoustic echo and room echo. Krisp Speaker deliberately leaves the in-app sounds of Zoom, Teams, Meet and Cisco Webex alone, keeps only the default sounds of Skype and Slack, and passes dial tones, busy tones and voicemail beeps through untouched. Krisp itself says no tool can guarantee perfect silence in every situation (November 2026).

Stage 1: install the app, sign in, choose real hardware

The desktop app runs on Mac and Windows only; Linux and Chrome OS are not supported. Krisp recommends macOS 14 Sonoma or later with an Intel Core i5 or Apple silicon and at least 8 GB of RAM, or 64-bit Windows 10 (ideally version 1903 or later) or Windows 11 with an Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5, 8 GB of RAM and .NET 4.6.2. Older machines may still cope, and Krisp points them to its low-power mode. The full installer is about 700 MB, you need a Krisp account before installing, and Windows asks for admin rights.

Stay signed in. Krisp Microphone and Krisp Speaker appear in other apps only while you are logged in to the desktop app, which explains most of the missing device reports. Next, open Krisp's settings and select the physical headset or microphone and the speaker you actually use, because the virtual devices cannot sit on top of another virtual microphone. The 7-day trial lets you test Krisp's paid features, noise cancellation included; after that a paid plan is required, as our guide to whether Krisp is free explains. Discord users already have Krisp built in for their own microphone, a separate free product covered in our Krisp in Discord guide.

Stage 2: route each calling app through Krisp

Every app needs the same two picks, plus one change to its own audio filter so two processors do not fight over your voice. Krisp's general advice is to switch off the calling app's echo cancellation and noise suppression.

Zoom deserves a note. Its Medium and High settings may suppress your voice together with Krisp, so keep Zoom on Low. Browsers add their own limits: Chrome, Opera and Edge let you choose Krisp Microphone in browser settings, but no browser setting picks a speaker for every web app, so Meet-style apps need the speaker chosen in their own audio menu. Firefox and Safari cannot use Krisp Speaker at all; Safari, Krisp explains, accepts no virtual speaker on macOS ^[3].

Compatibility comes down to one test. An app works with Krisp only if it accepts virtual audio devices and offers audio settings or system-level enforcement; Krisp says that covers 800+ apps (August 2026). Avoid chaining Krisp with another virtual audio tool, since Krisp warns that the combination can cause feedback, echo or double processing.

Stage 3: decide which side to clean, then add voice isolation

Two toggles control direction. Cancel my noise (outbound, also labeled Noise from me) works through Krisp Microphone. Cancel others' noise (inbound) works through Krisp Speaker. Selecting only Krisp Microphone in a call cleans your side and leaves incoming audio as it arrives. Select both if you also want Krisp's note taker to capture the full meeting, since Krisp recommends both devices for complete transcripts and recordings.

Voice isolation is where Krisp goes further than Meet's built-in filter. Google says Meet's own noise cancellation removes non-speech noise but not voices such as a TV or people talking. Krisp's version removes nearby voices, needs Cancel my noise switched on and a compatible headset, and starts automatically in online meetings. Turn it off and noise is still canceled, but voices stay. Krisp's settings page calls the automatic mode Background Voice Cancellation, active when a headset is in use.

Hardware matters most here. Krisp lists a USB-A or USB-C headset with a half- to full-length boom mic as the strongest pairing; Bluetooth headsets and mid-length booms work with weaker results ^[4]. Approved models from Jabra, Poly, Logitech, Sennheiser, EPOS, Razer, SteelSeries, HyperX, Yealink, Cisco and others switch on by themselves. An unlisted headset can be enabled by ticking Manual activation in the Noise Cancellation settings. Echo needs almost nothing from you: Acoustic Echo Cancellation is on by default but works only with both Krisp devices selected, while Room Echo Cancellation is built in, cannot be turned off, and needs Krisp Microphone with Noise from me enabled.

Stage 4: tune processor load, gain control and Bluetooth

Krisp offers three performance modes for noise cancellation: Auto, Maximal Removal and Battery Saver. They trade cancellation strength against CPU and RAM. Battery Saver uses considerably less of both, and Krisp describes the drop in quality as slight and hard to notice. That makes it the sensible pick for a laptop running on battery or a machine below the recommended specs, while Maximal Removal is the strongest setting, at a higher CPU and RAM cost.

Gain control is the quiet saboteur. Aggressive automatic gain control in browsers and softphones keeps pushing your microphone level around, and Krisp's help says that can hurt noise cancellation. On Windows, Krisp offers a Lock at optimal level option for the microphone volume; Mac users do not get it, so the fix there is turning AGC off in the calling app. More broadly, Krisp wants to be the only processor on the signal, which means switching off noise cancellation, echo cancellation and AGC in the operating system, the calling app and the headset's own software.

Bluetooth works, with limits. On a Mac, a Bluetooth microphone and speaker selected in Krisp always run in mono with speaker audio capped at 16 kHz, even AirPods Pro. On Windows, choose the Headset (Hands-Free AG Audio) entry for both microphone and speaker, or the headset mic will not pass through Krisp. A wired USB headset with a boom mic remains the most reliable option, though Krisp stresses that expensive hardware is not needed.

Stage 5: run the test and fix what still sounds wrong

Krisp's built-in Test Noise Cancellation tool records a short sample and plays it back Without Krisp and With Krisp. The recording never leaves your device and is not saved. Run it once after setup and again after any change of headset or performance mode. If the With Krisp version sounds right but people on calls still complain, the problem sits in the calling app's settings, not in Krisp.

The usual faults have short fixes:

• Krisp devices missing from the app's menu: sign in to the Krisp desktop app, then reopen the calling app's audio settings.
• Your voice cuts out in Zoom: set Zoom's background noise removal to Low.
• Echo, feedback or a processed, doubled sound: remove other virtual audio tools from the chain and turn off the app's own filters.
• Other people's noise still reaches you: check that Krisp Speaker is the app's output and Cancel others' noise is on; in Safari or Firefox, switch browsers.
• High CPU or crackling on an older laptop: move to Battery Saver.
• Nothing works on an office network: Krisp needs outbound TCP port 443 and access to *.krisp.ai.

To stop Krisp for one call, select your physical microphone and speaker in the calling app. Uninstalling needs admin access: on a Mac use the Uninstaller via Finder; on Windows remove both KrispDriversInstaller and Krisp in Apps and features. If Krisp devices linger on a Mac, delete /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/KrispAudio.driver and restart coreaudiod in Terminal.

The bottom line

Krisp's noise cancellation is worth the setup if you take calls from shared or noisy spaces and want the same cleanup in every app, in both directions, including other people's voices. The work is front-loaded: select Krisp Microphone and Krisp Speaker in each app, turn the app's own filter down, and pair the app with a USB boom headset if voice isolation matters. Linux and Chrome OS users are out. Everyone else can check fit during the 7-day trial before paying for Core, and our Krisp pricing breakdown covers which plan to choose.