Amphetamine is free, and it's the most complete keep-awake app on the Mac: sessions by time or until a set hour, and triggers for nearly any condition, from a connected display to a Wi-Fi network or CPU use. If you need one of those triggers, keep Amphetamine. Toolnotch's Staywake is narrower and more automatic. It keeps the Mac awake while a command in your terminal is actually working, a build, a download or an AI agent, lets go two minutes after, and tells you when a long job finished. It also has a simple timer in the notch. Staywake isn't sold alone: it comes with Toolnotch's clipboard history, window manager and eye breaks, for one price.
I make Toolnotch, so keep that in mind. Amphetamine's details come from its Mac App Store listing, checked on 20 October 2026.
What each app does
| Amphetamine | Toolnotch (Staywake) | |
|---|---|---|
| Keep awake for a set time | Yes, any duration, or until a set time | Yes: 30 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours, or until you stop it |
| Keep the screen on, or let it sleep | Yes | Yes |
| Stop at low battery | Yes, optional | Yes, on by default |
| While a file downloads | Yes | Yes, when the download runs in a terminal command |
| While a specific app runs | Yes | Yes, for apps you add (export, render, backup), only while they actually work |
| While a terminal command is working | Through an app trigger on the terminal, which holds the Mac awake as long as the terminal is open | Yes, automatic, per command, then lets go two minutes after |
| Tells you when a long job is done | No | Yes, « claude finished · 42 min » |
| Triggers: display, USB or Bluetooth device, Wi-Fi, IP, VPN, DNS, power, battery, audio output, drive, CPU, idle | Yes | No |
| Keep a MacBook awake with the lid closed | Yes, as an option | No |
| Move the cursor, lock the screen after inactivity, Drive Alive | Yes | No |
| AppleScript, hotkeys, custom menu bar icons | Yes | Shortcut to the hub (⌃⌥N) |
| Clipboard history, window manager, eye breaks | No | Yes (Pasteback, Wyndow, Bodybreak) |
Price and licence
| Amphetamine | Toolnotch | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, no in-app purchases, no ads | $19.99 ($4.99 for the first 10 buyers, then $9.99 for the next 100) |
| Where | Mac App Store | toolnotch.app |
| Macs | Any | 3 per licence |
| Future tools | n/a | Every future Toolnotch tool included |
| Trial | Free | None; 14-day refund, no questions |
| macOS | 10.13 or later | 15 Sequoia or later |
Nobody should pay to replace Amphetamine on keep-awake alone. The case for Toolnotch is the other tools, plus a keep-awake that needs no setup for terminal work.
The terminal case
The search for an Amphetamine alternative often starts in a terminal: a long build, a big download, an AI coding agent working for an hour while you step away, and the Mac goes to sleep in the middle.
With Amphetamine, you start a session before you leave or set a trigger on your terminal app. A session runs for the time you chose, whether the job finished or not. A trigger on Terminal is coarse: Terminal is open all day, so the Mac never sleeps.
Staywake watches each command instead. A command counts as working when it, and everything it started, uses a few percent of a processor core or reads and writes the disk steadily. Claude Code waiting for your input uses about 1 % of a core, so it doesn't hold the Mac awake; thinking, it does. It works in Terminal, iTerm, Ghostty, Warp, kitty, Alacritty, WezTerm and the terminals of VS Code, Cursor and Zed. When the last command stops working, the Mac stays awake two more minutes, then your normal sleep settings apply.
If the job ran five minutes or more while you were away, the notch tells you when you come back: « claude finished · 42 min », with a button that brings the terminal forward. The full guide: keep your Mac awake during long builds.
For anything else, click the notch, click Notchi in the hub's footer and pick a duration. See keep a Mac awake for a set time.
What Amphetamine does better
Almost everything a keep-awake app can do. Any duration, and an end time. Triggers on displays, devices, networks, VPN, power, battery level, audio, drives, CPU and idle time. Keeping a MacBook awake with the lid closed, which Staywake doesn't do. Moving the cursor so chat apps don't mark you away, locking the screen after inactivity, keeping external drives spinning. AppleScript support. It's free, has no ads or tracking, and runs on old versions of macOS.
Staywake's limits, for balance: three fixed durations plus open-ended, no lid-closed mode, and commands inside tmux or screen aren't seen.
What Toolnotch adds
The same licence includes Pasteback, a clipboard history under the notch with search inside screenshots and masked secrets; Wyndow, a window manager that puts your windows back when you replug a display; and Bodybreak, eye breaks that wait for calls. One licence covers three Macs and every tool Toolnotch adds later.
Can you run both?
Yes. Both only ask macOS to hold off sleep, and the Mac stays awake as long as either one asks. Keep Amphetamine for its triggers and let Staywake handle terminal jobs, or turn Staywake off in Toolnotch's settings.
Which one to choose
Choose Amphetamine if you need triggers, the lid-closed mode or custom durations, and want it free.
Choose Toolnotch if your long jobs run in a terminal and you want the Mac to stay awake for exactly as long as they work, and if you'd use the clipboard history, window manager and eye breaks too.
Try the demos on toolnotch.app, or see pricing.
FAQ
Is Amphetamine still free?
Yes. Its App Store listing says it's 100 % free, with no in-app purchases, no ads and no pro version.
Is there a built-in way to keep a Mac awake?
Yes: caffeinate in Terminal. caffeinate -i ./build.sh keeps the Mac awake until the script ends, and caffeinate -t 3600 for an hour.
Does Staywake keep my MacBook awake with the lid closed?
No. Closing the lid sleeps a MacBook unless it's on power with an external display. Amphetamine has an option for that.
Does Staywake drain my battery?
With « Stop when the battery is low » on, the default, it pauses at 20 % on battery and resumes on power.