Comparison
Perked vs Owly
Looking for a Owly alternative to keep your Mac awake while your coding agents work? Here's an honest look at how Perked and Owly compare — what each is best at, and which one fits your workflow.
What is Owly?
Owly (FIPLAB) is one of the more automated free keep-awake apps: a countdown, two modes, an app-launch trigger, and power connect / disconnect plus battery-threshold protection.
The main difference
Owly can trigger when a GUI app launches and is genuinely power-aware — but it keys off apps opening, not the background CLI agents Perked watches. Perked detects coding agents directly (and custom processes) and adds clamshell and Lock & Leave.
Perked vs Owly, feature by feature
| Feature | Perked | Owly |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-detects AI coding agents (zero setup) | Manual 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 |
“Manual setup” means the app can do it, but you configure it yourself. Last reviewed June 2026.
Which should you pick?
Choose Owly if…
- You want a capable free app with power and app-launch triggers.
- Your keep-awake needs are tied to GUI apps, not CLI agents.
- You do not need lid-closed sessions or Lock & Leave.
Choose Perked if…
- You run CLI coding agents that Owly’s app-launch trigger will not catch.
- You want clamshell / lid-closed support and Lock & Leave.
- You want detection plus a battery threshold tuned for agent runs.
FAQ
Can Owly detect Claude Code or Cursor? +
Owly triggers when a GUI app launches, not when a background CLI agent runs, so it will not reliably catch Claude Code or Cursor. Perked watches the agent processes directly.
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