Slack Green vs Idle Pilot: Price, Platforms and Setup
Idle Pilot and Slack Green both keep you available from the cloud with the laptop closed. Idle Pilot covers Slack or Teams for $9 a month. Slack Green covers Slack only for $3.99. The full comparison.
Free tool, runs in this tab
Keep your screen awake and see when Slack sets you away
Press Start. This tab keeps the screen on while it stays open, and shows the minute Slack, Teams and Zoom would set you away if nothing touches the keyboard or mouse.
This tab cannot move your pointer or press keys, so on its own it cannot keep Slack or Teams active. It reads the same idle time the Slack desktop app, Teams and Zoom read. To test a jiggler, start, then take your hands off for 6 minutes: if Your computer stays green, the jiggler keeps them active.
- Your computerNot measured yetPress Start and allow idle detection.
- Slack desktop app-Away after 10 min, any input.
- Microsoft Teams-Away after about 5 min, any input.
- Zoom-Away after 15 min by default, any input.
Idle Pilot is a cloud service that keeps you available on Slack or Microsoft Teams during the work hours you set, even with your laptop closed, asleep or off. It costs $9 a month, or $60 a year, after a free trial of 7 days, or 14 days if you connect your account within 3 hours of signing up. Slack Green, which we build, works the same way for Slack: a server keeps your session active on your schedule. It costs $3.99 a month or $23.99 a year, after a 7-day free trial. The main difference is the platform. Pick Idle Pilot if you need Teams. For Slack, Slack Green does the same job for less than half the price and adds a self-hosted option.
Everything about Idle Pilot below comes from its own website, idlepilot.com, which we read on 6 October 2026, and its pricing page as it looked that day. Where its design has an advantage, we say so.
What Idle Pilot is
Idle Pilot describes itself as "Close your laptop. Stay available on Slack or Microsoft Teams." You connect one platform once from desktop Chrome with its setup extension, set your work hours, and close the laptop. Its site says the extension is needed only for setup and can be removed after you link your account. The one plan, Freedom Pass, includes:
- • availability on Slack or Microsoft Teams during your work hours, one connected platform at a time
- • per-day schedules and a lunch break
- • vacation mode, which pauses the schedule when you set a status you pick, such as Out of Office
- • an instant off switch
Its facts box adds two limits. It is presence only: it does not write a custom status message or read chats and files. And it keeps one Slack workspace or one Teams account active at a time. Setup needs desktop Chrome; you cannot link your account from a phone.
How the two compare
| Slack Green | Idle Pilot | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs from | Cloud server | Cloud server |
| Works with laptop closed or off | Yes | Yes |
| Platforms | Slack | Slack or Microsoft Teams, one at a time |
| Workspaces | Up to 3 on Pro | One Slack workspace or one Teams account at a time |
| Schedule | Blocks per weekday, lunch gap, your timezone | Per-day hours, lunch break, vacation mode |
| Setup | Copy two browser tokens, about two minutes | Chrome setup extension, once |
| Monthly price | $3.99 | $9 |
| Yearly price | $23.99 ($1.99 a month) | $60 ($5 a month) |
| Free trial | 7 days, no credit card, or 14 with a card | 7 days, or 14 if you connect within 3 hours of sign-up; no credit card |
| Self-hosted option | CLI, $78.99 once | None listed |
Both tools solve the same problem the same way. Slack sets you away 10 minutes after your last input in its window, and at once when the laptop sleeps. A tool on the laptop cannot help once the lid is closed. A server can, because Slack combines your devices and shows you active if any session is active. The full rule is in how long does Slack stay active.
Where Idle Pilot is ahead
Where Slack Green is ahead
Is Idle Pilot safe?
Idle Pilot says it stores your account basics and your schedule settings: work hours, lunch break, timezone and vacation mode. To keep you available it also has to act as your Slack or Teams session from its servers, like every cloud tool in this category, Slack Green included. Treat that as the real trade-off. You give a third party a way to act as your account, so read the vendor's security page and check your employer's policy. What an admin can and cannot see when you use a tool like this is in will I get caught using Slack Green, and it applies to any cloud presence tool.
Neither tool installs anything that runs on your laptop during the day. That is the main safety difference from a jiggler, which shows up as an app or a USB device on a managed laptop. See can a mouse jiggler be detected.
Which one to pick
Other tools in this market are compared in Slack Green vs Presence Scheduler, Slack Green vs StayGreenOnSlack and top tools to keep your Slack status green. Every method, free ones included, is in how to keep Slack active.
FAQ
What is Idle Pilot?
A paid cloud service that keeps you available on Slack or Microsoft Teams during your work hours, even when your laptop is closed or off.
How much does Idle Pilot cost?
$9 a month, or $60 a year. The free trial needs no credit card and starts when you connect Slack or Teams: 7 days, or 14 if you connect within 3 hours of signing up (pricing page, 6 October 2026).
Does Idle Pilot work with Slack?
Yes. It works with Slack or Microsoft Teams, one connected platform at a time.
What is a cheaper Idle Pilot alternative for Slack?
Slack Green does the same thing for Slack on a cloud server, for $3.99 a month or $23.99 a year, and has a self-hosted CLI for a one-time $78.99.
Do I need to keep Chrome open with Idle Pilot?
Its site says no. The Chrome extension is used only to link your account, and you can remove it afterwards.
Does Slack Green work with Microsoft Teams?
No. Slack Green is for Slack. For Teams, see how to keep Teams status available.
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