At a glance (as of Oct 2026)
| Lidwork | KeepingYouAwake | |
|---|---|---|
| Lid closed, no monitor | Yes | No — open lid or desktop only (per its README) |
| How it works | Sandboxed background part sets macOS's lid-sleep switch for apps | Wrapper around caffeinate |
| Password | None | None |
| If it crashes | Background part turns lid sleep back on: at once after a crash, within 30 s after a hang | Nothing to restore (caffeinate assertion ends) |
| Battery cutoff | 10 / 20 / 30%, always on | Yes, low-battery cutoff |
| Install | Mac App Store | brew install --cask keepingyouawake or GitHub |
| Source | Closed | Open source, MIT |
| macOS | 14+ | 10.13+ |
| Price | $9.99 once | Free |
Sources: the KeepingYouAwake README and clamshell.dev's comparison, checked 29 Oct 2026.
Choose KeepingYouAwake if…
- Your lid stays open, or you're on an iMac or Mac mini.
- You want free and open source, with no background part installed.
- You like Homebrew installs.
Choose Lidwork if…
- You close the lid and leave, with no external display.
- You want a battery floor that also applies with the lid shut.
- You want an app that can't leave sleep disabled if it crashes: the app checks in with its background part every 10 seconds, and the background part turns normal lid sleep back on within 30 if the check-ins stop.
Can you use both?
Yes. They work at different layers: KeepingYouAwake holds a caffeinate assertion against idle sleep, Lidwork manages the lid-close switch. Many people keep KeepingYouAwake for open-lid sessions and switch Lidwork on only when the lid closes. For the command-line equivalent, see caffeinate explained.