Amphetamine alternative for Mac: what matters on macOS
Anyone looking for an alternative already has an app and a reason. The reason is rarely „it does too little" — usually it is „it does too much".
First: the reason, not the feature list
A feature list does not answer the question. People who switch have a specific sentence in mind: „I don't want to walk through three menus every time." Or: „I want the machine to keep running with the lid closed." Or: „I don't want to pay monthly."
So there is no checkmark table here. What another app can do is written in its own documentation and changes with every release. What is written here is what Toxin does — and what it does not.
The four questions
One: does it keep the machine awake with the lid closed, and under what condition? Two: can it stop by itself, or do I have to remember? Three: how often do I see it when I don't need it? Four: what does it cost, once or again and again?
The fourth is the only one that answers in numbers, and it gets asked the most. The third decides whether you are still using the app two weeks later.
What Toxin answers
Toxin lives in the menu bar: no dock icon, no window, one pill icon that is filled while a session runs and outlined when none does. It starts at login and asks for nothing after that.
Free, it keeps your Mac awake indefinitely. Pro adds fixed spans — from five minutes to twenty-four hours — a custom timer down to the minute, the time remaining in view, and lid mode. Pro is bought once, for €4.99, and stays.
What Toxin does not do
It has no triggers that react to apps, drives or networks. It does not dim your display, does not move the pointer and does not pretend you are at the machine when you are not. If that is what you need, you need a different app, and that is fine.
And Toxin is not on the Mac App Store yet. This site carries no download link — not even in the article that would have the most reason to.
A checklist for switching
- Write down your own reason before comparing apps.
- Check whether a closed lid actually comes up in your own week.
- Check whether the app stops by itself — or only when you remember.
- Look at the one-off price and the running price separately; they are not the same number.
Common questions
Is Toxin free?
Keeping your Mac awake indefinitely is free, along with the menu bar icon, launch at login and the appearance setting. Fixed spans, the custom timer, time remaining and lid mode are Pro, a one-time €4.99.
Can I download it yet?
Not yet. The app is not released on the Mac App Store and there is no download link. When that changes, the home page will say so.
If the four questions above come out at „fewer buttons, but lid mode, and pay once", Toxin is the right direction. The full feature list is on the home page.