CronEngine vs cron-job.org
Both call your URL on a schedule. cron-job.org is free and runs every minute; CronEngine adds heartbeats for scripts on your own servers, longer timeouts, retries and branded status pages, as a paid service with a free plan.
Checked against cron-job.org's own pages on 22 October 2026
Choose cron-job.org if
You need a free scheduler that runs every minute, and 30 seconds is enough time for your requests.
Choose CronEngine if
Your requests need more than 30 seconds, you want retries or jobs that start after another one, heartbeats for scripts on your own servers, or a status page with your own branding and address.
About cron-job.org
cron-job.org is a free, donation-funded scheduler that has been running for over 15 years. It calls your URL as often as every minute, and also offers status monitors, status pages and certificate expiry notifications.
Side by side
"Not listed" means cron-job.org's own pages do not mention it, not that it is impossible.
| cron-job.org | CronEngine | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs your scheduled requests | Yes: method, headers and body of your choice | Yes: any method, headers, body and authentication |
| Fastest schedule | Every minute, free | Every 15 minutes on Free, every minute on Business |
| Request timeout | 30 seconds | 20 seconds on Free, up to 600 on Enterprise |
| Run history | Last 50 runs, replies kept 2 days | 5 to 50 runs per job, with 10 KB of each reply |
| Heartbeats for your own scripts | Not listed | Yes: start, success and fail pings, and the run time. 2 on Free |
| Website uptime checks | Status monitors | Yes: 1 on Free, checks every minute from Pro |
| SSL certificates | Expiry notifications per job | Expiry warnings at the countdowns you choose, from Starter |
| Status pages | Yes, with incidents and badges | From Starter: 1 page, 3 on Pro, with email subscribers, RSS and a badge |
| Status page branding | Not listed | Logo, colours, dark mode and 5 languages from Starter; your own address from Pro |
| Alert channels | Email, webhooks, Slack, Telegram, Discord and more, on failure and recovery | Email, webhooks (also in Slack and Discord format) and Telegram |
| Team members | Not listed | One login per account |
| API | Yes, a REST API | No public API |
| Free plan | Everything is free, funded by donations | 5 cron jobs, 2 heartbeats, 1 uptime check, no card |
| Paid pricing | Free | Flat monthly plans from €5.99, in euros |
Where cron-job.org is stronger
Worth knowing before you switch:
- Completely free, including runs every minute.
- No fixed limit on the number of jobs (fair use).
- A REST API to manage jobs from your own code.
- Open source under the GPL.
- The last 50 runs kept per job.
Pricing
cron-job.org
Free. Free plan: everything is free, funded by donations.
cron-job.org is free. CronEngine's free plan runs every 15 minutes; every minute starts on the Business plan.
CronEngine
- Free €0: 5 active cron jobs
- Starter €5.99/month: 25 active cron jobs
- Pro €12.99/month: 50 active cron jobs
- Business €24.99/month: unlimited cron jobs
Switching from cron-job.org
- Use Import in the CronEngine job form: paste the request as a cURL command and the form fills itself in.
- Copy the schedule; both use standard cron expressions.
- Once a few runs succeed, disable the job on cron-job.org so it does not run twice.
Questions
Why pay when cron-job.org is free?
If cron-job.org does what you need, you do not have to. People switch for longer timeouts, retries, heartbeats for their own scripts, or status pages with their own branding and address.
Can CronEngine run a job every minute?
Yes, from the Business plan. The free plan runs as often as every 15 minutes, Starter every 5 and Pro every 2.
How long can a request take?
cron-job.org stops after 30 seconds. CronEngine waits 20 seconds on the free plan and up to 300 seconds on Business.
Sources, checked 22 October 2026
Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will correct it.
Other comparisons