Idle Pilot vs Move Mouse

Move Mouse is a free, open-source Windows app that simulates user activity. Its developer says it was designed to stop Windows from locking the session or going to sleep, and that its most common use is keeping remote sessions alive while working from home. Idle Pilot is a cloud service that keeps one Slack workspace or one Microsoft Teams account Available or Active during the Work Hours you save. Idle Pilot is not a mouse jiggler and does not move your mouse.

By default Move Mouse moves the cursor every 30 seconds. It can also click, scroll, bring an app to the front, or run a command or PowerShell script, and a Stealth option resets idle time without visible movement. Its README and wiki do not say whether it keeps Teams or Slack Available. In a 2022 GitHub issue, a user saw Teams show Away while Move Mouse ran; the developer confirmed that idle time was being reset and attributed the problem to Teams itself. Microsoft says Teams presence on a computer becomes Away after a few minutes of inactivity.

Move Mouse runs on your PC, so the PC must be on and awake. By default it stops when you lock your session. In a 2025 issue the developer said that nothing at the lock screen can interact with software in the locked session, and Microsoft says Teams shows Away when the computer is locked and Offline when it sleeps. Idle Pilot keeps working with the laptop closed, asleep or off, after you link your account once.

Move Mouse is free under GPL-3.0, with optional donations. The Microsoft Store version needs Windows 10 version 14393 or later and updates itself; the portable zip from GitHub needs .NET Framework 4.7.2 and offers command-line options. Its wiki notes that the Store is often unavailable on work machines. Idle Pilot costs $9 per month or $60 per year (USD), with a 3-day free trial and no credit card. The trial starts at your first Slack or Teams connection, and it lasts 7 days if you connect within 3 hours of sign-up. You link once in desktop Google Chrome with the Idle Pilot extension and can remove the extension afterward.

Scheduling is a real strength of Move Mouse. It has simple schedules by time and weekday, advanced cron schedules, and blackout windows, and its wiki shows how to run it only during working hours. Idle Pilot has per-day Work Hours, a Lunch Break, and Vacation Mode, which pauses the schedule when you set a status you choose, such as Out of Office.

Your employer may be able to see either tool. Device management and monitoring software can log running processes and input patterns, including simulated mouse movement. Teams and Slack admins and security tools can inspect sessions, devices and network origins, which applies to Idle Pilot. Idle Pilot manages presence only; it does not write status messages or read chats or files. Check your employer's rules before you use either.