Comparison
Perked vs Macchiato
Looking for a Macchiato alternative to keep your Mac awake while your coding agents work? Here's an honest look at how Perked and Macchiato compare — what each is best at, and which one fits your workflow.
What is Macchiato?
Macchiato is a small, free menu-bar utility with a single job: flip one switch and the Mac stays awake, including with the lid closed. Under the hood it uses the same approach as Perked — an IOKit assertion plus the pmset disablesleep flag, applied through a privileged helper installed with SMAppService. There is no detection, no scheduling and no conditions; it is a manual toggle you turn on before a long task.
The main difference
Macchiato is the honest minimum: you decide, it holds, you turn it off. Perked is the automatic version of the same mechanism — it switches on when it sees a coding agent running, off when the work finishes, and refuses to hold the Mac awake on a low battery or when it is running hot. Its README tells you to keep an eye on battery and heat yourself; Perked is the app that watches those for you.
Perked vs Macchiato, feature by feature
| Feature | Perked | Macchiato |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-detects AI coding agents (zero setup) | — | |
| Power-aware (AC / battery threshold) | — | |
| 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 (Apache-2.0, open source) |
“Manual setup” means the app can do it, but you configure it yourself. Last reviewed June 2026.
Which should you pick?
Choose Macchiato if…
- You want something free and open source, and you are happy toggling it yourself.
- Your needs are occasional — one long task now and then.
- You would rather read the source than trust a closed-source app.
Choose Perked if…
- You forget to turn things off, and want it to end the session by itself.
- You want battery and thermal limits enforced rather than remembered.
- You want your coding agents detected automatically, with a journal of what happened.
FAQ
Does Macchiato detect Claude Code or Cursor?+
No. It is a manual toggle — you switch it on before starting work and off afterwards. Perked watches for agents and switches itself on and off around them.
Do they work the same way underneath?+
Broadly yes: both take an IOKit power assertion and use the pmset disablesleep flag via a privileged helper for lid-closed sessions. The difference is the policy on top — when to hold it, and when to refuse.
Is Macchiato safe to leave on?+
Its own README advises watching battery and heat during long lid-closed sessions, because nothing in the app does it for you. Perked pauses when the Mac runs hot and can require AC power or a battery floor, so an overnight run is bounded by rules rather than attention.
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