What is Idle Pilot used for?

Idle Pilot is a cloud service that keeps your Slack or Microsoft Teams status available during work hours you set, even when your laptop is closed. It is a good fit for staying shown as available during set hours and keeping a schedule while away from the laptop.

How much does Idle Pilot cost?

Paid plans for Idle Pilot start at $9 per seat per month, and there is no free plan. A free trial is available.

Is Idle Pilot open source?

No. Idle Pilot is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. In the Productivity category, open-source options include PowerToys, Stirling PDF and Ladybird.

What are some alternatives to Idle Pilot?

Other SaaS products in the Productivity category include Stay Green On Slack, Deskies and Collabute.

Idle Pilot: features, pricing and alternatives

About Idle Pilot

Idle Pilot keeps your presence on Slack or Microsoft Teams set to available according to a schedule rather than your keyboard activity. You connect one platform once from a desktop browser using a setup extension, choose days and hours, and the service maintains presence from its servers even if your laptop is shut, sleeping or powered down.

Schedules can differ per day, include a lunch break and pause automatically through a Vacation Mode when your status says you are away. The service only handles presence, the extension is needed just for setup and can be removed afterward, and it stores account basics and schedule settings. Turning it off returns presence to the platform's normal behavior.

A 7-day free trial needs no credit card, and it extends to 14 days if you connect within 3 hours of signing up. Plans after the trial are listed on the pricing page, and each account can connect either Slack or Microsoft Teams, but only one at a time.

Key features

Cloud-run presence for Slack and Teams
Work hours with per-day schedules
Lunch break and Vacation Mode
Setup extension needed only once
Pause or cancel instantly
Works with a closed laptop

Good fit for

Staying shown as available during set hours
Keeping a schedule while away from the laptop

Tags: slack; microsoft-teams; presence; scheduler; remote-work; status

Idle Pilot: questions and answers

What is Idle Pilot used for?: Idle Pilot is a cloud service that keeps your Slack or Microsoft Teams status available during work hours you set, even when your laptop is closed. It is a good fit for staying shown as available during set hours and keeping a schedule while away from the laptop.
How much does Idle Pilot cost?: Paid plans for Idle Pilot start at $9 per seat per month, and there is no free plan. A free trial is available.
Is Idle Pilot open source?: No. Idle Pilot is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. In the Productivity category, open-source options include PowerToys, Stirling PDF and Ladybird.
What are some alternatives to Idle Pilot?: Other SaaS products in the Productivity category include Stay Green On Slack, Deskies and Collabute.