Vercel Cron Jobs

Vercel offers built-in cron job support for Pro and Enterprise plans through vercel.json configuration. It triggers your serverless functions on a schedule.

How to Set Up Cron Jobs in Vercel

Create an API route

Create the endpoint that will be called

Code

// app/api/cron/route.ts
export async function GET() {
  // Your scheduled task logic
  console.log('Cron job executed');
  
  return Response.json({ success: true });
}

Configure vercel.json

Define your cron schedule in vercel.json

Code

{
  "crons": [
    {
      "path": "/api/cron",
      "schedule": "*/5 * * * *"
    }
  ]
}

Deploy to Vercel

Cron jobs are activated on deployment

Code

vercel --prod
# Cron jobs only run in production

Vercel Cron Limitations vs CronUptime

Vercel Limitations

•Only available on Pro ($20/mo) and Enterprise plans
•Maximum 10 second execution time on Hobby
•Limited to specific cron expressions
•No execution history in free tier
•Cron jobs only run in production environment

CronUptime Advantages

✓Works with Vercel Hobby (free) plan
✓30 second timeout vs 10 second limit
✓Detailed execution logs and history
✓Works across any hosting platform
✓Free tier with 5 cron jobs

Why Use CronUptime Instead?

While Vercel cron jobs work for basic use cases, managing infrastructure for scheduled tasks adds complexity. CronUptime offers a simpler, serverless alternative.

No Infrastructure

We handle execution. No servers to maintain.

Reliable Timing

Built on Cloudflare for 99.9%+ uptime.

Any Endpoint

Works with any HTTP endpoint on any platform.

Frequently Asked Questions

Vercel cron jobs are only available on Pro ($20/month) and Enterprise plans. Hobby (free) users can use external services like CronUptime to trigger their endpoints.

Create an API route, then add a 'crons' array in vercel.json with the path and schedule. Deploy to production - cron jobs don't run in preview deployments.

Vercel cron jobs follow your plan's function timeout: 10 seconds for Hobby, 60 seconds for Pro, and 900 seconds for Enterprise.

Quick Reference

Cron Expression:

*/5 * * * *

Human Readable:

every 5 minutes

Cron Jobs on Other Platforms

Cron Job in Node.js

Node.js

Cron Job in Python

Python

Cron Job List & Management

Linux/Unix

Next.js Cron Jobs

Next.js

Try CronUptime Free

Schedule HTTP requests without managing Vercel infrastructure.

Try it now - Free

Create a cron job running every 5 minutes. No sign-up required.