KeepingYouAwake vs Microsoft PowerToys

KeepingYouAwake

• Mac users who need the computer to stay awake for a set time
• People who used Caffeine and want a maintained replacement
• Anyone who wants a small single-purpose utility at no cost

Microsoft PowerToys

• Windows users who want window layouts, a launcher and key remapping from one free install
• Developers and power users who work mostly from the keyboard
• People who prefer open-source tools published by the maker of the operating system

KeepingYouAwake

• macOS only. Version 1.6.8 supports macOS 10.13 and newer, and the changelog says the next release, 1.6.9, raises the minimum to macOS 12.
• It does not keep a MacBook awake with the lid closed: it works on desktop Macs and on portable Macs with an open lid.
• It only prevents sleep, by wrapping Apple's caffeinate tool; the developer says it is provided with no guarantee and used at your own risk.

Microsoft PowerToys

• Windows only: it needs Windows 11 or Windows 10 version 2004 or newer on a 64-bit x64 or ARM64 processor.
• Paste with AI is off by default and needs a model provider; online providers require your own API key and may charge for usage.
• Keyboard Manager remaps apply only while PowerToys is running, do not work on the log-in screen and cannot differ between keyboards.
• FancyZones cannot snap some listed apps, and apps running elevated need PowerToys to run as administrator.

KeepingYouAwake

One-click activation

One click on the menu bar icon stops the Mac from going to sleep, and it stays that way until the app is deactivated or a chosen duration ends.

Activation durations

Sleep can be blocked for a pre-defined length of time instead of indefinitely, and the list of durations can be customized in the settings.

Battery safeguards

The app can deactivate itself when the battery level is low, and its Battery settings support Low Power Mode on compatible Macs.

Automatic activation rules

Advanced settings activate it when an external display is connected, deactivate it while another user account is active, or quit the app when a duration ends.

URL scheme

Links such as keepingyouawake:///activate and keepingyouawake:///toggle switch it on or off from scripts and other apps.

Display sleep and notifications

An option lets the display sleep while the Mac itself stays awake, and on macOS 11 or newer the app can post notifications.

Microsoft PowerToys

FancyZones

A window manager for custom zone layouts. Hold Shift while dragging a window to snap it into a zone, or let Win+arrow keys move windows between zones. Layouts are built in a grid or canvas editor.

Command Palette

A launcher opened with Win+Alt+Space that starts apps, runs commands, searches files and the web, calculates and switches windows. Community extensions install from a built-in Extension Gallery.

Keyboard Manager

Remaps single keys and shortcuts, globally or for one app, and can map a key or shortcut to a text sequence, an app launch or a URI.

Advanced Paste

Pastes clipboard content as plain text, Markdown, JSON or a file, extracts text from images with local OCR, and can transform text through an optional AI provider that you configure.

File Explorer tools

PowerRename renames files in bulk with search and replace or regular expressions, Image Resizer resizes images from the right-click menu, and File Locksmith shows which processes are using a file.

Screen and text tools

Color Picker samples colors anywhere on screen, Text Extractor copies on-screen text with OCR, Screen Ruler measures pixels, and ZoomIt zooms, annotates and records the screen for presentations.

KeepingYouAwake

• KeepingYouAwake$0

  The complete utility with every setting, as a direct download with no account or license key. MIT licensed.

Microsoft PowerToys

• PowerToys$0

  All utilities, installed from GitHub, the Microsoft Store or WinGet. Free and open source under the MIT license.