An Amphetamine alternative for running with the lid closed

Short answer: Amphetamine, the free keep-awake app by William Gustafson, keeps a MacBook awake with the lid closed through Closed-Display Mode; on Apple silicon its maker offers a separate add-on, Power Protect, which installs a sudo rule. As of October 2026 its newest Mac App Store version is 5.3.2, from November 10, 2023. Choose Amphetamine for a free app with many automatic Triggers; choose Keep Mac Awake when a closed lid with no display is the whole job and you want AC power by default, a watchdog, a thermal cutoff on battery and a command for agents.

What is Amphetamine?

Amphetamine is a menu bar app for macOS that keeps a Mac, and optionally its display, awake from a switch or automatically through Triggers. As of October 2026 its Mac App Store listing says it is free, with no in-app purchases, no ads and no tracking.

Sessions run indefinitely, for a set time, while a file downloads or while an app runs. Triggers start them when a display is connected, an app runs, the battery charges, the Mac is on a given Wi-Fi network, and more. The listing also names AppleScript, an automatic end at low battery, and "Keep your MacBook awake while its display/lid is closed".

How does Amphetamine keep a MacBook awake with the lid closed?

Through Closed-Display Mode. On Apple silicon, the maker's notes for version 5.3 say each Closed-Display Mode session runs a script "whenever a Closed-Display Mode session starts/ends", which asks for Touch ID or an administrator password; Power Protect, added in 5.3.1, removes that prompt.

From the maker's release notes and pages, as of October 2026:

• Without the script, Closed-Display Mode still works, but "you will experience a Closed-Display Mode session failure if you connect/disconnect your Mac to/from an external power source".
• Power Protect is "not included directly in Amphetamine and requires a separate download and installation". Its installer asks for your password once and places powerProtect.scpt in ~/Library/Application Scripts/com.if.Amphetamine/ and a file at /private/etc/sudoers.d/amphetamine_powerProtect (Power Protect page). The maker writes that Apple does not let Amphetamine install these files itself.
• The display. On Apple silicon, Amphetamine "will force the built-in display on MacBooks to sleep when folded closed", and the Mac stays awake.

The configuration file in the maker's repository is this sudo rule (amphetamine_PowerProtect):

Cmnd_Alias PMSET_AMPHETAMINE= /usr/bin/pmset -a disablesleep 1, /usr/bin/pmset -a disablesleep 0
%admin ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: PMSET_AMPHETAMINE

It lets administrator accounts turn the system-wide disablesleep setting on and off without a password, the same setting Keep Mac Awake changes (what pmset disablesleep does). The trade-off of a sudo rule: any program running under an administrator account can run those two commands too.

Is Amphetamine still updated?

As of October 2026, the Mac App Store lists 5.3.2, released November 10, 2023, as Amphetamine's newest version, and the Power Protect repository was last changed in December 2023. The newest release notes mention macOS Sonoma; we did not test Amphetamine on later versions.

It has been on the Mac App Store since November 2014, per Apple's App Store record, and is still listed. Before an unattended run, check that Closed-Display Mode works on your macOS.

When is Amphetamine the right choice?

When you want a free, long-established app with automatic Triggers, or your Mac is outside Keep Mac Awake's range. As of October 2026:

• It is free on every Mac and requires macOS 10.13 or later, so it also covers Intel Macs and older macOS versions.
• Triggers start and end sessions by themselves; a Keep Mac Awake session never starts by itself.
• It does more than the lid: display sleep, screen saver, Drive Alive, screen locking.
• Power Protect and Amphetamine Enhancer, a helper from January 2020 that "adds a fail-safe for the closed-display mode feature", are open source under the MIT license.

When does Keep Mac Awake fit better?

When a MacBook with Apple silicon has to stay awake with the lid closed and no display while something runs unattended, such as an AI agent overnight. It is built around that case:

• Sessions you start. No limit, 1 hour, 8 hours or a custom number of hours up to 168, from the menu bar or keepmacawake start, with no display, keyboard or mouse. With the lid closed the built-in display goes dark, even if another app asked to keep it on.
• No sudo rule. A small system service changes the pmset disablesleep setting for one session, then puts it back. The installer asks for your password once.
• A watchdog. A separate service supervises the app and restores the normal sleep setting if anything stops or hangs. Quitting restores it too, and a timed session ends on time.
• Power and heat. AC power by default; unplug, and the session waits for power. Battery use is optional, down to a floor you pick, and on battery a session also ends at a serious thermal state.
• Agents. keepmacawake start --hours N --json, status --json and stop --json return one JSON object and a documented exit code, so Claude Code, Anthropic's coding agent, can start and stop a session itself (keep Claude Code running with the lid closed).

Its limits: Apple silicon and macOS 26 or later only, no Triggers, 9 USD once per Mac plus tax after a 3-day free trial, and it does not keep Wi-Fi alive or wake a sleeping Mac.

How do Amphetamine and Keep Mac Awake compare?

Amphetamine is free and broader; Keep Mac Awake is paid and narrower, built for a closed lid nobody watches. The table shows what each maker documents as of October 2026; we did not test Amphetamine for this post.

Can you keep a MacBook awake with the lid closed without an app?

Yes. Apple supports a closed lid when the Mac is on power with an external display, keyboard and mouse (Apple Support), and sudo pmset disablesleep 1 turns sleep off for the whole Mac until you run sudo pmset disablesleep 0.

The pmset way has no timer, battery floor or heat check, and stays on if you forget it; caffeinate does not cover the lid (why caffeinate stops at the lid). More in clamshell mode without an external monitor. Either way, a closed Mac makes heat: keep it on a hard surface with airflow, never in a bag (is it safe to run a MacBook with the lid closed?).

Which one should you use?

Use Amphetamine if you want a free app with automatic Triggers, or your Mac has an Intel chip or a macOS version older than 26; use Keep Mac Awake if you want a MacBook with Apple silicon to stay awake with the lid closed and no display for a session you start, on AC power by default, with a watchdog that restores normal sleep and a command your agent can run.

As of October 2026, Lidless by Nghia Luong is a free, open-source option with a watchdog; see the comparison of keep-awake apps for AI agents. Or see how Keep Mac Awake can keep a MacBook awake with the lid closed.

FAQ

Does Amphetamine work with the lid closed on Apple silicon?

Yes, according to its maker as of October 2026: Closed-Display Mode keeps the Mac awake with the built-in display asleep. The maker offers the Power Protect add-on so sessions survive power changes.

What is Amphetamine Power Protect?

A script and a configuration file, installed separately, that let Closed-Display Mode run without Touch ID or a password. The configuration file is a sudo rule for pmset -a disablesleep 1 and 0 in /private/etc/sudoers.d/.

Why does Amphetamine's Closed-Display Mode fail when I unplug the charger?

The maker's 5.3 notes say that without the Closed-Display Mode script, a session on Apple silicon fails when you connect or disconnect power. Installing the script, or Power Protect, is the maker's fix.

How do I remove Power Protect?

Choose Uninstall Scripts... in Feedback & Support under Amphetamine's menu bar icon, per its 5.3.1 notes. Then check that /private/etc/sudoers.d/amphetamine_powerProtect is gone.

Sources

• Amphetamine on the Mac App Store (description and release notes, checked October 2026)
• Apple's App Store record for Amphetamine
• Power Protect for Amphetamine
• Power Protect repository
• Power Protect configuration file
• Amphetamine Enhancer
• Apple Support: If your external display is dark or low resolution
• Keep Mac Awake: command line