11 Best Cron Job Scheduler and CronJob Scheduler Alternatives

Looking for a powerful Cron Job Scheduler to schedule and automate your tasks? Here are the top CronJob Schedulers with alternatives to fulfill all your business requirements:

Cron is used to scheduling recurring jobs to run at fixed intervals or at a fixed date or time. An example of a CronJob is scheduling a data backup every Sunday.

Scheduling jobs allows businesses to focus on other important tasks. Apart from job scheduling, Cron job schedulers offer tools for monitoring jobs, detecting issues, and sending alerts. This helps in minimizing downtime.

The legacy Cron job schedulers run on Linux and Unix devices and are usually difficult to use and limited in functions. But they are available at more affordable rates. So, we have provided details of some more advanced, more secure, unified solutions for job scheduling as well.

Understanding Scheduling Software for Cron Job

The modern job schedulers that offer complete Workload Automation solutions have great benefits over the legacy Cron job schedulers, for example:

1. Easier to use
2. Advanced, event-driven job scheduling
3. Tools for tackling complex business models and scheduling millions of jobs with ease
4. Deep visualization tools
5. Job history, auditing, reporting, SLA management, and more useful features.

[image source]

Who is this article for?

This article is for startups and businesses of sizes and types, who are looking for software for job scheduling and monitoring. Go through the details provided in the review section to get full information about each service provider, so that you can choose the most suitable one for your business model.

Suggested Read => Best JDE Scheduler Alternatives

List of the Best CronJob Schedulers

Pick one of these popular lists that matches your requirements:

1. ActiveBatch
2. RunMyJobs by Redwood
3. Tidal
4. JAMS Scheduler
5. Better Stack
6. Cronhub
7. Cronitor
8. Hyperping
9. Healthchecks
10. Dead Man’s Snitch
11. Web Gazer

Comparing the Top CronJob Scheduler Alternatives

Detailed reviews:

#1) ActiveBatch

Best for being a feature-rich and easy-to-use CronJob scheduler.

ActiveBatch is loaded with features for end-to-end workload orchestration across your organization. The platform has simple, easy-to-use tools for advanced job scheduling, thus helping businesses outgrow their CronJob Scheduler. You can request the software’s demo from their site.

It is an award-winning platform that has successfully migrated over 100 companies, delivering a smooth migration process.

Their user-friendly interface, unlimited connectivity with your tech stack, and pre-built job steps are the main plus points. Access their site to discover ActiveBatch videos for various use cases.

Features:

• Advanced job scheduling tools including event-based triggers.
• SLA management, auditing, reporting tools, and more.
• Load balancing, dependency checking, notifications, and much more.
• Offers an integrated cron jobs library with several pre-built actions for common processes in file transfers.

Pros:

• A 30-day free trial
• 100+ pre-built job steps
• Infinite extensibility is offered with the help of its low-code Super REST API adapter
• 24/7 expert support
• Tools for automatically remediating issues
• Low code GUI
• Onboarding training, installation, and configuration guidance

Cons:

• Pricing is a bit high for small businesses.

Why we chose ActiveBatch for the #1 spot: ActiveBatch is a leading, highly trusted CronJob scheduler by companies such as FirstRate, Bosch, Subway, XcelEnergy, Graymont, and more.

It has tools for advanced job scheduling, change management, load balancing, SLA management, access management, auditing & compliance, and more. It is a highly scalable platform with a usage-based pricing structure. I would highly recommend it for mid to large-sized businesses.

Price: Request a custom price quote from here.

#2) RunMyJobs by Redwood

Best for being a complete workload optimization software.

Another powerful CronJob scheduler, or you can say, an alternative to the basic CronJob schedulers is RunMyJobs by Redwood. This SaaS-based secure and intuitive platform provides tools for monitoring and managing applications and servers from a single platform.

With impressive customer reviews and a successful migration track record, RunMyJobs has proven to be a reliable alternative to the CronJob scheduler. You can trust their professional service team for planning and implementation of the software during migration to prevent any disruptions.

This is the video tutorial for migrating to RunMyJobs – essential information you should know:

Features:

• Tools for managing business data, and SLA monitoring.
• Tools for orchestrating the CI/CD processes.
• Offers a library of job steps, sequences, and calendars and allows you to create re-usable job steps, to be used thereafter.
• Schedule jobs based on data and time or in response to real-time events.
• Source control, audit trails, and more useful features.

Pros:

• Connects with any tool, server, or service in your environment.
• Guarantees 99.95% uptime.
• Low code UI.
• Predictive SLA monitoring, data encryption, ISO 27001 certification, permission controls, and more security features.
• Helps in maintaining compliance.
• 24×7 SEV-1 Support.
• A proven migration methodology.
• End-to-end visibility.

Cons:

• Small businesses would find the platform a bit costly.

Why we like RunMyJobs by Redwood: RunMyJobs is a popular name and some of the biggest companies in the world like Mercedes, Airbus, UBS, Xerox, Wells Fargo, and more are their clients. It has recently been termed as a ‘High Performer’, ‘Best Meets Requirements’, ‘Users Most Likely To Recommend’, and more by G2.com.

This modern, native SaaS IT automation platform lets you automate anything and connect seamlessly across your enterprise. Their security features are praiseworthy.

Price: Contact them to get a price quote.

#3) Tidal

Best for simplifying the management of complex workflows.

Tidal is famous for its simplified, low-code approach to orchestrating complex workflows. The software is a powerful CronJob scheduler that provides tools for automating tasks on-premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid environment.

Check out a video that offers a tour of Tidal Workload Automation:

This American company is a recognized industry leader. It offers 24/7 support and delivers a better, more improved product every 3 months, after taking into consideration the reviews from its customers and its advisory board.

Features:

• Advanced IT task scheduling options including time and event-based scheduling, and calendars.
• Audit logs, compliance management, SLA monitoring, and reporting tools.
• Monitoring, alerts, and recovery tools.
• Built-in load balancing.
• Customize your dashboard.

Pros:

• Lets you schedule tasks across time zones.
• Over 60 pre-built integrations.
• No code/Low code approach.
• Flexible pricing, depending on your specific needs.
• Highly scalable.
• A free trial for 30 days.
• Standard security features like access controls.

Cons:

• Can be a bit difficult to use at the beginning.

Why we like Tidal: Tidal’s pre-built integrations allow quick, seamless integration with enterprise software and systems. Plus, their flexible deployment options are also a plus point. Leading companies including Adobe, Merkle, and Pratt & Whitney use Tidal for managing their IT workloads.

You can use their free trial to check the suitability of the platform for your business model. Their flexible pricing options make the platform suitable for diverse business requirements.

Price: Contact them to request customized pricing information.

#4) JAMS Scheduler

Best for end-to-end workflow orchestration.

JAMS Scheduler, with its advanced batch scheduling capabilities, is a powerful platform to replace your CronJob Scheduler. It has some prestigious awards in its bucket and the customer reviews are also nice.

The software is capable of scheduling jobs based on events (like file transfers, system startup, etc.); and offers file transfer capabilities, complete job visibility, reporting, alerting, and standard data security.

You can go through their website to find short videos about JAMS architecture, how to install, how to create a job, how to run and modify jobs, and more.

Features:

• Offers tools for complex, event-driven job scheduling.
• Security features like role-based access, data encryption, and more.
• Maintains job history, and audit trails, and sends customized notifications.
• Offers reports about job history.

Pros:

• A free trial for 14 days.
• Offers API access and useful integrations.
• Code-driven as well as low-code automation options.

Why we like JAMS Scheduler: JAMS Scheduler is compatible with all operating systems, lets you connect with API endpoints in any system, has impressive customer reviews, has a free trial, and many more attractive features.

This customer-centric platform is highly scalable and saves a lot of time. They have a 6-step, proven, painless migration process, so go ahead if you are thinking of switching to JAMS to simplify job scheduling complexities.

Price: Get a personalized price quote from them.

Website: https://www.jamsscheduler.com/product/platforms/linux-unix/

Check our JAMS Scheduler Detailed Review

#5) Better Stack

Best for infrastructure monitoring.

Better Stack is an affordable, secure, feature-rich, intuitive, and trusted platform for scheduling, alerts, log management, uptime monitoring, website monitoring, incident management, and many more use cases.

Their beautiful-looking dashboards give you a complete, summarised picture of metrics from all sources. The software is suitable for businesses of all sizes.

Features:

• Tools for scheduling on-call rotations.
• Lets you check uptime, SSL, ports, DNS, and more.
• Provides actionable alerts, while preventing false positives.
• Tools for customizing who will be notified of the occurrence of a certain incident.
• Provides a second-by-second incident timeline.

Pros:

• A 60-day money-back guarantee.
• Standard security features include two-factor authentication, role-based access controls, and more.
• GDPR, SOC 2 Type II compliant platform.
• Phone, and email support.
• Mobile apps for iOS and Android.
• Many highly useful integrations.

Cons:

• Lacks advanced event-driven job scheduling tools.

Why we picked Better Stack for this spot: Better Stack offers a good set of features at significantly lower prices. Though it lacks some advanced features, you will get great value for money.

With Better Stack, you can just start scheduling within minutes, or even seconds. Accenture, Decathlon, UNICEF, and Brave are some of their clients.

Price: Their price plans are as follows:

• Basic: $0 per month
• Freelancer: $25 per month
• Small Team: $85 per month
• Business: $170 per month per team
• Enterprise: Contact them for a customized price quote.

Please note that the Basic and Freelancer plans do not offer On-call Calendar and Scheduling features.

Website: https://betterstack.com/incident-management

Check our Better Stack Detailed Review

#6) Cronhub

Best for quick job scheduling tools.

Cronhub is known for its fast job scheduling and monitoring tools. They do not have a free version, but a free trial is offered, which can be used to test the platform for your business model.

I found the platform provides a nice range of features. Prices are a bit higher than some alternatives, but there are other plus points like ease of use, team collaboration tools, and multiple alert options.

Features:

• Tools for scheduling jobs for any time interval or cron expression.
• Tools for monitoring uptime and runtime for recurring jobs.
• Instant alerts on detecting any issues with a job’s run-time.
• Share your dashboard with your team and collaborate therein.
• Offers analytics about jobs.
• Access logs.

Why we like Cronhub: Cronhub’s job scheduling process is simpler and easier than most of its competitors. They send you alerts on job failures through Email, Slack, SMS, Webhook, and PagerDuty.

They have a 7-day free trial. Their Enterprise plan lets you schedule and monitor unlimited jobs at reasonable prices.

Price: Their price plans are as follows:

• Developer: $19 per month
• Startup: $49 per month
• Business: $99 per month
• Enterprise: $299 per month

Check Our Cronhub Review Here

#7) Cronitor

Best for monitoring tools for Cron jobs and website performance.

Cronitor is a trusted Cron job scheduling software. It allows you to set up a job and start monitoring it in a few minutes. They offer easy integrations and their support services are also good.

The tools they offer include Cron job monitoring, Website & API monitoring, Heartbeat monitoring, Analytics for developers, and Beautiful Status pages.

Features:

• Reports and job status to help you know about job progress and downtime.
• Integration with Slack, Telegram, Microsoft Teams, Discord, PagerDuty, Opsgenie, Splunk On-Call, and Webhooks.
• Sends quick alerts, to the right person.
• Tools for incident resolution.

Why we like Cronitor: Reddit, Johnson & Johnson, Gov.uk, Square, and Cisco are some of the clients of Cronitor. Cronitor offers a free trial for 14 days. Their quick alerts, real-time performance metrics, and easy setup are the main plus points. The platform offers good value for money, which makes it highly recommended for businesses of all sizes.

Price: Their price plans are as follows:

Check our Cronitor Review Here

#8) Hyperping

Best for monitoring and alerting tools.

Hyperping is trusted by some great organizations from all across the globe, including Beatport, IPinfo.io, October, the French Government, and more.

They have some easy-to-use tools for job scheduling. Plus, they offer advanced monitoring features including scheduled website and API checks, SSL monitoring, scheduled maintenance, and more. You will also get REST API for seamless integration.

Features:

• Cron expressions for scheduling jobs for any time zone.
• Tools for measuring job execution time.
• Tools for collaborating and sharing alerts with teammates.
• Tools for monitoring cron jobs, SSL, and uptime.

Pros:

• A free version
• A free trial for 15 days
• Easy to use
• Seamless integration with your favourite apps, using their REST API.
• A GDPR-compliant platform.

Why we like Hyperping: Hyperping has amazing customer reviews. It is simple and has a beautiful UI. Their price structure is also good. A free trial and the free version for young startups are the plus points. Businesses of all sizes can trust Hyperping for their advanced monitoring capabilities.

Price: Their price plans are as follows:

• Free: $0
• Hobby: $14 per month
• Startup: $29 per month
• Pro: $89 per month
• Business: $199 per month

Website: https://hyperping.io/cron-job-monitoring

#9) Healthchecks

Best for offering several options for getting notified as soon as a job fails.

Built for monitoring cron jobs and keeping you updated about the health of each scheduled job, Healthchecks is trusted by thousands of developers for detecting silent failures in the system.

I found that Healthchecks is offering more value with each plan, than most of its close alternatives. Plus it is an open source platform and self-hosting is possible with it. But it lacks website uptime monitoring tools.

Features:

• Schedule jobs, and track their run times.
• Generate a unique ping URL so that you can schedule a job for a specific date or time and get alerts whenever the job does not run.
• Offers several ways to notify.
• Supports different time zones.

Why we like Healthchecks: Healthchecks offers discounts for open-source projects and non-profits. They have a useful free version for small startups, that allows you to monitor a maximum of 20 jobs. With a clean UI, reliable APIs, and affordable price plans, Healthchecks can be called one of the best Cron jobs monitoring platforms out there.

Price: Their price structure is as under:

• Hobbyist: $0 per month
• Supporter: $5 per month
• Business: $20 per month
• Business Plus: $80 per month

Website: https://healthchecks.io/

#10) Dead Man’s Snitch

Best for monitoring crons, Heroku scheduler, or other scheduled tasks.

Dead Man’s Snitch is a simple cron jobs monitoring platform that alerts you whenever a job is not executed on its specified interval or time. They call their periodic task monitoring ‘snitches’. With Dead Man’s Snitch, you can create snitches (for a specific task), give them names, and specify the alert type and the interval. You will have to provide email addresses on which you want to get alerts.

How to create a snitch with Dead Man’s Snitch:

Features:

• Create tasks like backups, import, etc., for specified intervals
• Lets you get alerts on multiple emails whenever a snitch fails
• Integrates with Slack, PagerDuty, and VictorOps for sending alerts
• Offers 2-year history of snitches
• Offers mobile apps for iOS and Android users

Why we like Dead Man’s Snitch: Microsoft, Firebase, Wave, and Harvest are some of the esteemed companies that rely on Dead Man’s Snitch for monitoring their cron jobs. The platform offers affordable plans, a free trial, a quick setup, API access, and encrypts your data in transit.

Price: Their pricing structure is as follows:

• SMALL Little Birdy: $5 per month
• MEDIUM Private Eye: $19 per month
• LARGE Surveillance Van: $49 per month

Larger plans are available on request.

Website: https://deadmanssnitch.com/

#11) Web Gazer

Best for immediate issue detection capabilities.

Web Gazer allows you to monitor your business website, REST API, and Cron jobs. The platform is highly useful in increasing uptime, boosting performance, and increasing customer retention and satisfaction.

They have an attractive status page, and let you get started in minutes. Businesses from across the globe, including FormHealth, Opticks, Ampcontrol, and FortyTwo Studio are their clients.

Features:

• Tools for easily setting up jobs and intervals.
• Tools for monitoring jobs like file and database backup, daily/weekly/monthly reports, cron jobs, or scheduled tasks.
• Sends instant notifications on a job failure, through emails, webhook, PagerDuty, Slack, SMS, and phone calls.
• Lets you set parameters for sending alerts, for example, you can set a rule of sending alerts when a job takes more than 5 minutes to complete.
• Gives detailed, real-time reports.

Why we like Web Gazer: Web Gazer offers a good range of features like SSL monitoring, root cause analysis, performance monitoring, comprehensive reports, incident notifications, up to 1-year data retention, email/Live chat/priority support, multiple alert types, and much more. This makes the platform suitable for businesses of all sizes.

Price: Price plans offered by Web Gazer are as follows:

• Hobbyist: $0
• Basic: $19 per month
• Pro: $69 per month
• Business: $179 per month

Website: https://www.webgazer.io/pulse

How We Picked These Platforms

We have included some platforms with advanced scheduling capabilities, deployment options, and other related features, and some are simpler with basic features and more affordable prices. You can go through the detailed reviews to find the most suitable cron job scheduler.

We examined the following main aspects of the leading cron job schedulers to find the best of them:

1. Feature-set
2. Ease of use
3. Customer support
4. Deployment options
5. Free Trial
6. Scalability
7. Security features
8. Customer reviews

Further Reading => List of the TOP Open Source Job Scheduler of the Year

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Our research suggests that ActiveBatch, RunMyJobs by Redwood, Tidal, and JAMS Scheduler are the best Con jobs scheduling platforms out there, because of the range of features, scalability, security, and ease of use that they offer.

These can handle jobs in the most complex of business environments, but because of their costs, most small businesses won’t be able to use them.

There are some more affordable, trusted software in this field like Better Stack, Hyperping, Cronitor, Healthchecks, Cronhub, Dead Man’s Snitch, and Web Gazer. Most of them are offering free trials and even free versions. Their job monitoring and alerting capabilities are praiseworthy.

You should check the integrations offered by the software you have chosen so that it can schedule and monitor jobs across all the apps you use.

Further Reading => Top Cron Scheduler Alternatives to Look for

Research Process:

• Time taken to research this article: We spent 27 hours researching and writing this article to get a useful summarised list of tools with a comparison of the top 5.
• Total CronJob Scheduler researched online: 36
• Top tools shortlisted for review: 11