Sometimes you want the VPN for everything except one app — a video call that hates the tunnel's latency, a streaming app that objects to VPN exit locations, a banking app that flags foreign IPs. Most Mac VPN apps can't do this: their macOS clients are all-or-nothing (see the provider-by-provider rundown). Here's how to do it with any VPN in about two minutes.
Exclude an app from the VPN, step by step
- Install AppLanes from the Mac App Store and approve its network extension (System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions → Network Extensions). The in-app onboarding walks you through it.
- Connect your VPN as usual — any provider or protocol.
- In AppLanes' Apps list, find the app you want outside the tunnel.
- Flip its lane to Direct. New connections from that app now bypass the VPN and use your normal connection.
- If the app was already running, give it a few seconds to reconnect — or quit and reopen it to apply the route immediately.
How to verify the app is really bypassing the VPN
Open AppLanes' Activity view: every connection is shown live with its lane, so you can watch the excluded app's traffic leave via Direct while other apps stay on VPN. One caveat when checking with "what is my IP" websites in a browser: some of those pages report the location of your DNS resolver rather than your connection. With a VPN up, DNS is answered by the VPN by design, so such pages can show the VPN's region even when your traffic genuinely goes direct — the Activity view shows the truth per connection.
Helper processes are covered automatically
Modern apps often do networking through helper processes (Chrome's network helper is the classic example). AppLanes applies your rule to an app's helpers automatically, so excluding the app excludes all of it — no hunting for hidden binaries.
Frequently asked questions
Can I exclude an app from the VPN without changing my VPN app?
Yes. AppLanes works alongside any VPN — you don't reconfigure the VPN at all. It decides per app whether connections enter the tunnel, go direct, or are blocked.
Is excluding apps from the VPN free?
You can try it free: AppLanes comes with a 3-day free trial with every feature unlocked — unlimited rules, app blocking, and leak protection. After the trial it's $2.99/month or $19.99/year, billed through the Mac App Store.
Will the excluded app leak my VPN IP?
No — it's the reverse: the excluded app uses your regular connection and shows your real IP, while every other app keeps using the VPN. If you want the opposite (only some apps on the VPN), set the default route to Direct and put chosen apps on the VPN lane.
Get per-app VPN routing on your Mac
Every feature unlocked for 3 days, free — no account, works with any VPN, macOS 13+.