AFK Hours compared to IdleSteam, SharpyBoost and FreeHourBoost
Four services that keep your Steam games running from their own servers, side by side: what they cost, how they sign in to your account, and what they do once they are in. The rows where we lose are in the table too.
How to read the table
- Included
- Not offered
- With a catch
Prices and features read on the public pages of each service on 10 September 2026, in US dollars as they display them. Our own column reflects the site you are on.
Where that leaves you| What you get | AFK HoursSubscriptions or a lifetime plan, QR-code sign-in, eleven languages. | IdleSteamRunning since 2015. Subscriptions, one panel for up to 100 accounts, control from a Steam bot. | SharpyBoost2026 newcomer. Hour packs with no expiry, an achievement unlocker and free-game claiming. | FreeHourBoostHour packs and a free plan that refills itself; around since at least 2020. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | ||||
| One Steam account, 32 games | $1.49 a month, or $11.99 a year | $7 a month ($71.40 a year) | $5.99 for 5,600 hours per game, about 7 months of 24/7 | $9.99 for 6,000 hours per game, about 8 months of 24/7 |
| Several Steam accounts | 5 accounts for $2.99 a month, 15 for $5.99 | 2 accounts for $13 a month; $5 per account from 3 | One pack per account | One pack per account |
| Lifetime, paid once | $29.99 for 1 account, $59.99 for 5, $119.99 for 15 | Not offered | $19.99, 1 account | $29.99, 1 account |
| Free plan | 1 account, 3 games, 8 hours a day, for as long as you like; shows afkhours.com as the game | 6-hour trial | 120 hours on 3 games, refillable | 100 hours on 1 game, refillable |
| How you pay | Subscription (monthly, 6 months, yearly) or once for life | Subscription | Hour packs that never expire, or lifetime | Hour packs that never expire, or lifetime |
| Payment methods | Card, PayPal; crypto and CS2 / TF2 keys by hand | PayPal and PaySafeCard; no cards | Card, PayPal, crypto | Card, PayPal, crypto |
| Your Steam account | ||||
| Signing in to Steam | IncludedQR code with the Steam app; nothing typed | Not offeredYour password, plus the shared_secret extracted from your phone | IncludedQR code or credentials | Not stated on their site |
| Your Steam password | Never seen | Required | Optional | Not stated |
| Revoke access from Steam in one click | IncludedSteam → Authorized devices | Not offeredYou would change your password | With a catchWith the QR sign-in | Not stated |
| Public status page | Included | IncludedUptime logs | Not stated | Not stated |
| Idling | ||||
| Up to 32 games at once | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Appear offline while idling | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Pauses when you play, restarts by itself | Included | IncludedChecked every 15 minutes; needs your shared_secret with mobile Steam Guard | Included | Included |
| Custom “now playing” text | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Auto-reply to messages | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Friend requests handled for you | IncludedAccept, decline or ignore | Included | Included | Included |
| Idle on a schedule (hours of the day) | IncludedPro and Ultra | Not offeredNot on their feature list | Not offeredNot on their feature list | Not offeredNot on their feature list |
| Hour goals that stop by themselves | IncludedPro and Ultra | Not offered | Not offeredTheir “Auto Stop” is the pause when you play | Not offeredTheir “Auto Stop” is the pause when you play |
| Achievement unlocker | IncludedPro and Ultra | Not offered | IncludedPaid plans | Not offered |
| Trading-card farmer | IncludedPaid plans, per account | Included | Included | Included |
| Alerts when a session drops | IncludedEmail, Discord webhook, Telegram | IncludedEmail, Telegram | Not stated | Not stated |
| Ranking with a monthly prize | Included | Not offered | Not offered | Not offered |
| Service | ||||
| Interface languages | English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, Turkish, Chinese, Korean | English | Several | English |
| Support | Tickets in the app, Discord | Telegram, Instagram, Discord | Discord, tickets, email | Discord |
| Around since | 2026 | 2015 | 2026 | 2020 at least |
Where that leaves you
- For one account, AFK Hours is the cheapest subscription on this table, more than four times under IdleSteam. Hour packs cost less up front but run out: 5,600 hours on SharpyBoost is about seven months of round-the-clock idling.
- For 5 or 15 accounts, one AFK Hours plan covers them all. The others sell one plan per account.
- For one account for life, Starter costs the same as FreeHourBoost and ten dollars more than SharpyBoost; Pro and Ultra cover 5 and 15 accounts, which nobody else sells for life.
- We never see your Steam password. IdleSteam needs it, together with your Steam Guard secret.
- Every service on this table farms trading cards, ours included: on AFK Hours it is a switch per account, on the paid plans.
Try it on one account, free
One Steam account, three games, eight hours a day, no card asked. Scan the QR code and the hours start.
Data from the public pages of idlesteam.com, sharpyboost.com and freehourboost.com on 10 September 2026, in US dollars as displayed there. The names belong to their owners, who took no part in this page. Spotted something that changed? Tell us and we correct it.