Comparison
Perked vs Amphetamine
Looking for a Amphetamine alternative to keep your Mac awake while your coding agents work? Here's an honest look at how Perked and Amphetamine compare — what each is best at, and which one fits your workflow.
What is Amphetamine?
Amphetamine is a free, hugely popular keep-awake app on the Mac App Store. Its strength is a flexible trigger system: you can keep your Mac awake while a specific app runs, while you are on AC power, or on a schedule — once you set those triggers up yourself.
The main difference
Amphetamine can stay awake while an app runs, but you build each trigger by hand. Perked skips the setup: it recognises Claude Code, Cursor and other coding agents automatically and switches on the moment one starts — no triggers to configure — then layers on battery rules, clamshell and Lock & Leave.
Perked vs Amphetamine, feature by feature
| Feature | Perked | Amphetamine |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-detects AI coding agents (zero setup) | Manual setup | |
| Power-aware (AC / battery threshold) | Manual setup | |
| Clamshell / lid-closed keep-awake | ||
| Timed sessions | ||
| Lock & Leave (lock screen, stay awake) | — | |
| Runs entirely on-device (no account) | ||
| Open source | — | — |
| Price | One-time from €1 | Free |
“Manual setup” means the app can do it, but you configure it yourself. Last reviewed June 2026.
Which should you pick?
Choose Amphetamine if…
- You want a free, do-everything keep-awake utility.
- You are happy to configure triggers by hand.
- Your needs go beyond coding agents (any app, schedules, and more).
Choose Perked if…
- You run AI coding agents and want it to just work, with zero setup.
- You want power-aware behaviour and Lock & Leave without building triggers.
- You would rather pay once for a focused tool than wire up a general one.
FAQ
Is Amphetamine free? +
Yes — Amphetamine is free on the Mac App Store. Perked is a one-time purchase; it trades the price for zero-config agent detection, power awareness, and Lock & Leave.
Can Amphetamine keep my Mac awake while Claude Code runs? +
Yes, if you create a trigger tied to your terminal or the agent process. Perked detects Claude Code, Cursor, Aider and others automatically, with no trigger to set up.
Does Amphetamine support clamshell (lid-closed) mode? +
Yes, Amphetamine can keep the Mac awake with the lid closed — and so can Perked.
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