Keeps your Mac awake, even with the lid shut and no external monitor. If your Mac has fans, Helmlet keeps it cool while it runs. All from the menu bar, no Terminal.
One-time payment · no subscription · free updates
The most useful things are the ones macOS makes needlessly hard, or blocks entirely.
You close it to free up some space and the upload drops, the render stalls. Without an external monitor, Apple won't let it run.
Apple lets the fans spin up late. You only hear them once it's long been hot, and with the lid shut the heat builds up even more.
One to stay awake, one for the fans, plus cryptic Terminal commands, and none of them cares about the heat.
Flip the switch, close the lid, done. Your MacBook keeps running, even without an external monitor and on battery. The long export, the overnight upload, the little server, all of it keeps going while you simply set the Mac aside.
One switch for the overnight export. Helmlet keeps the Mac, network and drives awake, sets the fans to Balanced if your Mac has them, and dims the screen to a calm full-screen monitor that shows only what matters: elapsed time, temperatures and progress.
Helmlet puts the controls that matter right in your menu bar: clear, safe, instant.
Automatic fan curves instead of a fixed speed. Pick a profile and the Mac runs as cool as you want, instead of only getting audible once it's already hot.
CPU and GPU temperature in real time, with a history curve and a warning the moment macOS throttles. One glance is enough.
Set it once: “While Final Cut is running, stay awake and cool on Max.” Helmlet reacts on its own, you never have to think about it.
Keeps the system, display or network awake, with a timer. No more dropped download or a dark screen at the worst moment.
A tidy control panel in the menu bar, every feature exactly one click away.
Awake, lid closed: the Mac keeps running with the lid shut.
Keep-awake apps can't control fans. Fan tools can't keep your Mac awake. Helmlet does both, and brings them together safely.
| Helmlet | Keep-awake apps | Fan tools | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Run with the lid closed | ✗ | ||
| Control fans & curves | ✗ | ||
| Auto-cool with the lid closed | ✗ | ✗ | |
| Auto-shutdown on heat | ✗ | rarely | |
| Live CPU & GPU temperature | ✗ | ||
| Everything in one app | keep-awake only | fans only | |
| Price | €3.99 one-time | free–€10 | €15–30 |
Helmlet uses the official macOS interfaces, nothing that breaks with the next update.
Staying awake and closed-lid mode run through Apple's own power mechanics, no kernel hack, no system extension.
A tiny, secured background service controls the fans and closed-lid mode. Password once during install, then never again.
In closed-lid mode it watches temperature and battery continuously. If things get dicey, Helmlet shuts off on its own and lets the Mac sleep.
Should the app ever crash, the background service hands fans and sleep back to macOS within seconds. Your Mac never gets stuck.
Export overnight, lid shut, the Mac runs through it instead of dozing off.
Builds, a little server, long tasks, even with the lid closed and no Terminal commands.
Finish big transfers safely without the network and system going to sleep.
Put the fans on Max before you start playing, instead of hearing it get hot at 95 °C.
The fan slider is a minimum, not a cap. You can only cool better, never worse, especially in closed-lid mode.
Helmlet detects chip quirks automatically and runs on Macs with Apple silicon (M1 and later). Only fan control needs fans, and the MacBook Air has none.
Helmlet keeps your settings, readings and automations locally and uploads none of it.
No accounts, no logins, no profiling, no telemetry.
Helmlet only goes online for a small version file on launch and for your license. To activate, your key and hardware UUID go to Lemon Squeezy through the activation service license.helmlet.app (Cloudflare). Nothing else leaves your Mac.
Automatically scanned for malware by Apple, so there's no Gatekeeper warning.
The price of a coffee to go, one-time. No subscription, no hidden costs. Free updates included.
Pay by card or PayPal, securely via Lemon Squeezy. Unlocked instantly via code.
Already bought? Download the app & unlock with your code.
Yes. Helmlet keeps your Mac awake through the official macOS power management, even with the lid shut and no external monitor. Because a closed lid traps heat, Helmlet keeps an eye on things: if it gets too hot or the battery is at 15% or less without a charger, the mode ends on its own. Best on power.
No. You can only cool more than macOS would, never less. From around 72 °C the heat protection ramps up, at 95 °C it runs full cooling, and in the critical range Helmlet hands control completely back to Apple. Apple's hardware throttling always runs underneath.
An automatic fan curve. You pick a profile, Silent, Balanced or Max, and Helmlet adjusts the fans continuously by temperature. That keeps the Mac as cool as you want instead of only getting audible once it's already hot. Turn off the “Fans” switch in the menu and macOS takes over again with its standard curve, unless closed-lid mode, Render Mode or an app automation is cooling at the time.
Macs with Apple silicon (M1 and later) running macOS 13 (Ventura) or newer. Keep-awake and the temperature readings work on all of them, including the MacBook Air. Fan control needs a Mac with fans, such as a MacBook Pro, Mac mini, Mac Studio or iMac. The MacBook Air has none. Intel Macs are not supported.
No. Double-click the installer, click through, done. Helmlet then lives up in your menu bar.
Not about how you use it. There's no tracking, no telemetry and no account, and what you do on your Mac stays there. Helmlet only goes online for updates and your license: on launch it fetches a small version file from helmlet.app and checks your license with Lemon Squeezy, the payment provider. When you activate, your license key and your Mac's hardware UUID go to Lemon Squeezy through Helmlet's activation service (license.helmlet.app). More in the privacy policy.
Fan control, CPU and GPU temperatures and closed-lid mode on battery need a small background service with system privileges that talks to the hardware directly. Apple doesn't allow that kind of service in the App Store. That's why the full Helmlet, with every feature, comes as a direct download, notarized by Apple.
One license activates one Mac. You can move it to another Mac any time, or buy an additional license for a second Mac.
Awake with the lid shut, temperatures in view, fans under control. All in one small menu bar app.
One-time payment · no subscription · free updates