Quick comparison
| Feature | Shake It On | Amphetamine |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 one-time | Free |
| How it prevents sleep | Mouse movement | System API |
| Smart conditions | ✓ (12+ conditions) | ✓ (triggers system) |
| Camera-in-use detection | ✓ | ✗ |
| Focus/DND detection | ✓ | ✗ |
| Day-of-week scheduling | ✓ | ✗ |
| Snooze | ✓ | ✗ |
| Session stats | ✓ | ✗ |
| Shortcuts integration | ✓ | AppleScript only |
| Allow display to sleep | ✓ | ✓ |
| USB/Bluetooth triggers | ✗ | ✓ |
| VPN detection | ✗ | ✓ |
| AppleScript support | ✗ | ✓ |
How they actually work
This is the most important difference. Amphetamine uses the macOS system API to tell your Mac not to sleep. It's effective, but your Mac isn't generating any real activity.
Shake It On takes a different approach: it moves your mouse with subtle, natural-looking motion. macOS sees this as genuine user activity and resets the idle timer. This matters more than you'd think.
If your IT department has locked Energy Saver settings with an MDM profile, system-level commands might be blocked. Mouse movement isn't, because macOS can't distinguish it from you actually using the computer. Similarly, remote desktop sessions, Slack, Teams, and other apps that check for user activity will see mouse movement as real input. Amphetamine's system-level approach doesn't register with those apps.
Where Amphetamine wins
Amphetamine is free. That's a real advantage. If you're a student or just need basic sleep prevention, it's hard to argue with free.
Its trigger system is also deeper than anything else on the market. Triggers for specific USB and Bluetooth devices, VPN connections, IP address ranges, mounted volumes. If you need "keep awake when my external hard drive is connected via USB-C and I'm on my home Wi-Fi," Amphetamine can do that.
It also has full AppleScript support, which is more flexible for scripting than Shortcuts integration.
Where Shake It On wins
The mouse movement approach is Shake It On's biggest advantage. If you work in a corporate environment, use remote desktop, or need messaging apps to show you as "active," system-level sleep prevention doesn't help. Mouse movement does.
Beyond that, Shake It On has several features Amphetamine doesn't:
- Camera detection — Automatically pauses when your camera is on, so it doesn't interfere with video calls
- Focus/DND awareness — Pauses when macOS Focus is active
- Day-of-week scheduling — Run only on weekdays, or only on specific days
- Snooze — Quick pause with presets (15m, 30m, 1h, 2h) or custom duration
- Stats — See how many shakes today, all-time, and your longest session
Which should you choose?
Choose Amphetamine if you want free, need deep USB/Bluetooth/VPN triggers, or do a lot of AppleScript automation. It's a solid app with a long track record.
Choose Shake It On if you're in a corporate environment with locked-down settings, use remote desktop, need messaging apps to show you as active, want camera-aware pausing, or just want something that works without thinking about it. The $9.99 one-time price funds ongoing development.