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Setting up a STRATO cronjob: when daily is not enough

At STRATO you create cron jobs in the customer login under Verwaltung › Cron-Jobs. According to STRATO they only exist on the legacy platform from Hosting Plus, and the intervals are once, daily, weekly or monthly (as of October 2026). Packages on the new platform do not have the feature yet. With Cronjob.de you call your script every five minutes or every minute in any package, without changing packages.

Updated:

Why at all

What STRATO cron jobs can and cannot do

Which packages: According to the STRATO FAQ, cron jobs are available on the legacy platform from Hosting Plus, for older package types from PowerWeb Plus, Perfect or PowerPlus L, and in all Premium packages. On the new platform the feature is not yet available, according to STRATO. By STRATO's own account, all hosting packages ordered since 31 March 2025 are on the new platform.

Which intervals: In the web interface you choose once, daily, weekly or monthly. The FAQ does not mention an interval of a few minutes. STRATO also describes cron jobs as a best-effort service: at peak times delays of up to four hours are within the normal range. One cron job per user runs at a time, others wait.

What you enter: a Unix command on the command line, such as /bin/php -f skriptdatei.php. STRATO explicitly names basic Unix skills as a requirement. A cron job runs for at most 15 minutes.

For a daily backup that is enough. WordPress, shops or Nextcloud, however, expect a call every few minutes. Cronjob.de calls your script's address from outside for that. It works in every STRATO package, including the new platform, and without a command line.

URL to call
https://ihre-domain.de/ihr-skript.php
Recommended interval
every 5 minutes
Tested with
STRATO Hosting-Pakete (Legacy- und neue Plattform)
Sufficient Cronjob.de plan
The free Cronjob.de plan covers five cronjobs on a five-minute grid, no payment details needed. Every minute, a call log with the response and email error alerts start with Plus (€17.88 a year).

Setup

Step by step

The AI does it faster

You do not have to transfer any of this by hand. Paste this guide – or the one for your own system – into the assistant, and Cronjob.de fills in address, method, schedule and headers. Where something is unclear it asks instead of guessing. At the end you see what was entered and create the job with one click.

Included in the free plan at no extra cost. You will find it after signing in under "Cronjobs" → "Create with AI".

  1. Check what your package can do

    Sign in to the STRATO customer login, select your package and click Verwaltung › Cron-Jobs on the left. If the entry is missing, your package has no cron jobs. According to STRATO you can tell whether your package is on the new platform from the webspace path in the package overview: /home/www means the new platform. If a daily run is enough and you have the menu entry, you can create a cron job there.

  2. Decide on your script address

    For the call from outside you need the address that starts your script. Many systems use a fixed file, such as wp-cron.php for WordPress or cron.php for Nextcloud.

    https://your-domain.com/your-script.php

  3. Protect the address

    The address has to be reachable from outside. So that not just anyone can trigger it, append a long random parameter and check it right at the start of your script.

    https://your-domain.com/your-script.php?key=A-LONG-SECRET

  4. Open the address in a browser once

    A status 200 response without a login is correct. Mind the runtime: Cronjob.de waits 45 seconds for the response on the free plan and 60 seconds on the paid plans. Long running work is better split into smaller chunks.

  5. Create an account at Cronjob.de

    Signing up is free and needs no payment details. New accounts get all features for 14 days, after that the account simply continues on the free plan.

    Start for free 14 days of Unlimited included, no payment details

  6. Create a cronjob with that address

    Enter the address and click the schedule together. You can also describe the interval in one sentence, such as “every 10 minutes on weekdays”, or paste your plugin's instructions. The AI assistant picks out the address and schedule.

    */5 * * * *

    You can enter this expression at Cronjob.de exactly as it is – the schedule field understands crontab notation. But you do not have to know it: simply click the schedule together instead.

What the five fields of an expression like */5 * * * * mean is explained in the crontab reference – with examples and the most common pitfalls. You can build the expression in the crontab generator. Whether you need an outside service at all is shown in the comparison of the three ways.

Verification

Is it actually running?

Within a few minutes the Cronjob.de call log shows the first calls with status code and runtime, and from Plus also your script's response. For the first test have the script write date and time into a file. Then you can see on both sides that the call arrived.

Your host runs cron jobs itself? Then monitor them with a heartbeat.

One line at the end of your script reports every run to Cronjob.de. If the check-in is missing, you get a message – even if the host's cron never started. One heartbeat is free. Cron job monitoring

FAQ

Common questions about STRATO

How often can I run a cron job at STRATO?
In the cron management of the STRATO hosting packages, STRATO lists the intervals once, daily, weekly or monthly (as of October 2026). For an interval of five minutes or every minute, call your script address from outside with Cronjob.de.
I cannot find the cron jobs entry in the customer menu.
Then your package does not include the feature. According to STRATO it exists on the legacy platform from Hosting Plus (older package types from PowerWeb Plus, Perfect or PowerPlus L, and all Premium packages), and not yet at all on the new platform. Cronjob.de works regardless.
Does my new STRATO package have cron jobs?
According to STRATO, all hosting packages ordered since 31 March 2025 are provisioned on the new platform, where cron jobs are not yet available (as of October 2026). A call from outside only needs a reachable address and therefore works there too.
When exactly does a STRATO cron job run?
STRATO describes cron jobs as a best-effort service and names delays of up to four hours at peak times as the normal range. Also, only one cron job per user runs at a time. If the exact time matters, plan for that.
What about the 15-minute limit?
According to STRATO it applies to cron jobs in the hosting packages. For calls from outside the Cronjob.de limit applies: 45 seconds on the free plan, 60 seconds on the paid ones. Long running work is best split into chunks.
Does this work with WordPress at STRATO too?
Yes. The details are in our WordPress guide: disable WP-Cron and have wp-cron.php called regularly.
Is your server rejecting our calls? Error 403 almost always comes from a firewall, a security plugin or directory protection – not from your script. All our calls carry the fixed identifier Cronjob.de in the user agent. Ask your host for an exception for it; that is more reliable than allowing IP addresses, because ours can change. Addresses and details in the FAQ. Other errors such as 401, 404 or 500 are explained in the troubleshooting guide.

Create your cronjob now

Create an account, enter the address, click the schedule. Five cronjobs are free forever, the first 14 days run on the Unlimited plan.

Start for free See pricing

More guides

Official documentation of STRATO

The details about STRATO come from their own documentation, as of October 2026. Please check there whether anything has changed since. STRATO is a trademark of its respective owner. This guide comes from Cronjob.de and has no business relationship with that provider.

By Joscha Schultze, operator of Cronjob.de · Written with AI assistance, provider details checked against their official pages.