Cron: three ways, one fits you
A task should run regularly. There is the cron on your own server, the cron management at your host, and the call from outside. This page says which one is right when – including when that is not us. And why the difference is small with one project and decisive with twenty.
→ every five minutes, around the clock
The comparison
What sets the three apart
It is not the feature list that decides, it is the prerequisite: do you have a server you can reach over SSH? Then much is easier. If all you have is a hosting plan and an address, things look different.
| Your own servercrontab, systemd | Host's cron managerin the control panel | Call from outsideCronjob.de | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prerequisite | demandingSSH access and a server somebody maintains | depends on the planA plan that includes cron jobs at all | lowAn address a browser can open |
| Shortest interval | every minute* * * * * | often dailySome plans only know once, daily, weekly, monthly | every minuteFree plan in five-minute steps |
| Keeps running when your server is down | noThe cron sits on the same machine | noSame machine, same fate | yesThe interval comes from outside and reports the outage |
| Do you notice a failure | build it yourselfOnly with monitoring of your own | usually notA failed run stays silent | by emailWith name, address and error text, from Plus |
| Do you notice when your website stops working | noA cron on the server says nothing about the website | partlyAvailability yes, but not the content of the page | yes, set up by AIDetects error pages despite "200 OK", empty pages and missing texts like "Add to cart" – alerts by email, Slack or Teams, from Unlimited |
| Monitoring your own cron jobs | nocron does not report a run that never happened | usually notAt best a log shows whether the run took place | with a heartbeatAlso for jobs on your server or at your host: one line reports every run, and if it is missing we alert you by email – 1 heartbeat free, up to 10 with Plus. Cron job monitoring |
| What the server replied | in your logsIf you redirect the output | rarelyOften just "executed" | 20 runsTime, duration, status code, up to 5,000 characters of the reply, plus a 30 or 90-day history – from Plus |
| Managing several projects | one server at a timeTen clients, ten crontabs, ten logins | one plan at a timeEvery client has their own control panel | one listAll projects in folders, one login |
| Moving to another host | take it alongThe crontab has to move too | set up againEvery provider does it differently | nothing to doThe address stays, the interval stays |
| Cost | server rent and upPlus your time for upkeep | includedIf your plan has it | from €0Five cronjobs free forever |
Three typical situations
Which one fits you?
Use your server's own cron.
You have SSH, you have crontab -e, and no time limit. A call from outside only becomes interesting when somebody should notice that the server has stopped answering. To notice when a run is missing, there is the heartbeat.
First check what your plan offers.
If the interval your host offers is enough, you need nothing else. If its panel only knows "daily" but your shop has to advance orders, that is too rare.
That is what we are here for.
You have an address and nothing else. This is exactly why we have existed since 2003 – WordPress, Moodle and JTL-Shop all expect a trigger that hosting does not provide.
For agencies and maintainers
Twenty clients, one login
If you look after a handful of projects, the problem is not the interval but the overview: every client has a different cron, in a different panel, behind a different login. When one fails, nobody notices – because nobody has all twenty in view.
One folder per client or project, the cronjobs inside.
One login for everything. If somebody belongs to several accounts, they switch in the menu without signing in again.
On the Unlimited plan every colleague gets their own login with their own password, with a role and an audit log.
When a client moves, their cronjob stays where it is. Setting it up at the new host is simply not needed.
Honestly
When you do not need us
- Your task needs a shell.
A database dump, an
rsync, a Docker command – we call addresses, not command lines. If there is no script behind a URL, only the cron on the machine itself will do. We can still keep watch: with a heartbeat that checks in after every run. - Your host offers the interval you need. Then use it. One call less across the network is one failure less.
- You already have monitoring. If you already know when a service fails, what you gain here is mainly independence from your own server – no more than that.
- The address must not be reachable from outside.
We come from fixed IPv4 addresses and send
Cronjob.dein the user agent. If your firewall may not allow that, it will not work.
We earn nothing from you choosing the wrong way. A cronjob that is better off with you belongs with you.
If the call from outside it is
Create an account, enter the address, click the schedule. Five cronjobs are free forever, the first 14 days run on the Unlimited plan – no payment details. Afterwards the account moves to the free plan by itself.
Start for free See pricingAbout the hosts. What your plan can do is in the guide for your provider – with source and date. In the table we deliberately name no names: every host is better than us on some points and worse on others, and a selection of those would be advertising, not a comparison.
About the other services. If you use a service instead of your own server, you have a choice: Cronjob.de, cron-job.org, EasyCron, FastCron and others compared – with prices, interval, timeout and sources.
WordPress, Moodle and JTL-Shop are trademarks of their respective owners. This page comes from Cronjob.de and has no business relationship with those providers.