Mac Keep-Awake Apps Compared
Start with the simplest tool that meets your needs. A free option may be all you need for work with the lid open.
Written by Pratik Nayak, the developer of Stay Awake. This is a guide to choosing a tool, not an independent review or a benchmark. Documentation checked November 5, 2026.
caffeinate: the built-in option
Already included in macOS, caffeinate can prevent idle sleep while a command or timed session runs. Try caffeinate -i -t 3600 for an hour. It has no menu bar interface. A normal idle-sleep assertion is not a general lid-close override; check man caffeinate for the options on your Mac.
KeepingYouAwake: a free menu bar interface
KeepingYouAwake is open source and wraps macOS's caffeinate command. Its README describes preventing sleep on desktop Macs and on portable Macs with the lid open. It is a straightforward choice if you want a menu instead of Terminal.
KeepingYouAwake's documentation ↗
Amphetamine: sessions and automation
Amphetamine is a free Mac App Store utility with sessions and triggers. It also has closed-display features; its developer provides Amphetamine Enhancer for additional capabilities. Read the current documentation and compatibility requirements for your Mac before choosing it for closed-lid work. Closed-lid support is not unique to Stay Awake.
Amphetamine Enhancer's documentation ↗
Stay Awake: a focused closed-lid workflow
Stay Awake combines regular keep-awake mode with a closed-lid mode that needs no external display, an auto-stop timer, and configurable battery cutoff. The latter uses an administrator-approved helper. It is designed to restore normal sleep when the app quits or crashes, and stop closed-lid mode when macOS reports serious thermal pressure.
The prebuilt app supports Intel and Apple silicon on macOS 13 or later. It has a 7-day trial, then a $4.99 USD one-time license. The source is MIT-licensed. It does not aim to match Amphetamine's breadth of automation.
A practical way to decide
- External display and power: try Apple's supported closed-display setup first.
- Lid open, no extra app: try
caffeinate. - Lid open, prefer a menu: look at KeepingYouAwake.
- Want triggers and sessions: look at Amphetamine and its current closed-display requirements.
- Prefer Stay Awake's timer and cutoff workflow: test the free trial on your own Mac.
For any closed-lid tool, use ventilation and a timer. Avoid enclosed bags. A sleep override cannot fix lost network connectivity, and cutoffs do not guarantee that a Mac stays cool.