EasyCron

Best Self Hosted Alternatives to EasyCron

A curated collection of the 4 best self hosted alternatives to EasyCron.

Cloud service for scheduling and executing recurring jobs via HTTP requests, callbacks or scripts. Offers a web UI to create cron schedules, logs, monitoring, retries and alerting to run scheduled tasks without managing servers.

Alternatives List

#1
Cronicle

Cronicle

Open-source Node.js distributed task scheduler with web UI, real-time logs, multi-server failover, REST API and plugin support for arbitrary scripts.

Cronicle screenshot

Cronicle is a multi-server task scheduler and runner that provides a web-based UI for scheduling, executing and monitoring jobs. It supports scheduled, recurring and on-demand jobs across many worker servers, with real-time status, live logs and historical metrics.

Key Features

  • Multi-server architecture with auto-discovery, primary/backup roles and automatic failover
  • Visual date/time selector for single or recurring schedules with multi-timezone support
  • Support for targeted runs (single server, groups, random selection) and chaining events
  • Real-time job status, live log viewer and graphical performance metrics (CPU/memory, custom metrics)
  • Plugin API: plugins are plain executables (any language) communicating via JSON
  • External JSON REST API and API keys for remote triggering and automation
  • Storage-by-filesystem (JSON) by default; optional shared storage/backends supported for clusters
  • Simple install and Node.js/npm-based distribution with packaged CLI/control scripts

Use Cases

  • Run and monitor automated system maintenance, backups and periodic administration tasks
  • Orchestrate multi-step data processing workflows across multiple servers with chained events
  • Provide a lightweight replacement for cron with centralized logs, retries and real-time monitoring

Limitations and Considerations

  • Requires a POSIX environment (Linux/macOS); Windows is not a supported platform
  • Designed to run on Node.js Active LTS releases; may not work on current/non-LTS Node channels
  • Multi-primary clusters require shared storage (e.g., shared filesystem or supported storage backend) for reliable failover

Cronicle is a pragmatic, open-source scheduler focused on operability and extensibility. It emphasizes simple plugin integration, real-time visibility and predictable multi-server behavior for production task orchestration.

5.3kstars
468forks
View Details
#2
Dagu

Dagu

Portable, file-backed workflow orchestrator that defines DAGs in declarative YAML, runs anywhere as a single binary, and includes a modern Web UI for monitoring and control.

Dagu screenshot

Dagu is a lightweight workflow orchestration engine that runs as a single self-contained binary and provides a modern Web UI. Workflows are defined in a declarative YAML format and can execute local commands, SSH commands, and containerized steps with scheduling and retries.

Key Features

  • Single-binary installation with zero required external dependencies; uses file-based storage for definitions, logs, and history
  • Declarative YAML DSL for DAGs with scheduling (cron), timezones, conditional steps, retries, and repeat policies
  • Built-in Web UI: visual DAG view, real-time monitoring, execution history, log search, and an integrated YAML editor
  • Executors for shell commands, Docker containers, SSH remote execution, and HTTP steps
  • Distributed execution: coordinator/worker model and built-in queueing to scale across machines
  • Nested/sub-DAG support for reusable composition and inspectable sub-runs in the UI
  • Integrations and platform features: GitHub Actions executor, API key management and RBAC, webhooks, email notifications
  • Newer features include human-in-the-loop approvals and a Chat Executor for integrating LLMs into workflows

Use Cases

  • Replace scattered cron jobs with a visual, auditable DAG system for server maintenance and operational scripts
  • Orchestrate multi-step CI/maintenance workflows that mix local scripts, SSH calls, and containerized tasks
  • Run distributed data-processing pipelines across multiple worker nodes with centralized monitoring and retries

Limitations and Considerations

  • Secrets management is not provided as a full built-in secret store; references and integrations (KMS/Vault/OIDC) are discussed/tracked as planned features
  • While Dagu supports distributed runs and queueing, very large cloud-native deployments may require external orchestration or custom scaling strategies

Dagu is designed for teams that want powerful orchestration with minimal operational overhead and straightforward local-first deployment. It emphasizes portability, simple YAML-based definitions, and an integrated UI for everyday workflow operations.

3kstars
223forks
View Details
#3
CronMaster

CronMaster

Self-hosted web UI for managing cron jobs with human-readable schedules, script editing, live log streaming, and REST API with optional OIDC and API keys.

CronMaster is a self-hosted web interface for creating, viewing, and managing system cron jobs from a modern dashboard. It adds optional execution logging and live status updates, making cron-based automation easier to monitor and maintain.

Key Features

  • Create, view, clone, and delete cron jobs, including comments/notes
  • Human-friendly schedule presets and standard cron format support
  • Optional job execution logging with stdout/stderr, exit codes, timestamps, and automatic cleanup
  • Live updates via Server-Sent Events (SSE) for job status and long-running log streaming
  • Built-in script management for bash scripts and reusable snippets
  • System information dashboard (uptime, CPU, memory, network, and GPU when available)
  • Authentication options: password protection and SSO via OpenID Connect (OIDC)
  • REST API for cron management and system information, with optional API key auth

Use Cases

  • Manage and audit maintenance tasks (backups, cleanup jobs, renewals) on servers and homelabs
  • Centralize creation and monitoring of cron-driven automation with execution history
  • Provide a safer operational workflow for teams that need visibility into scheduled jobs

Limitations and Considerations

  • Docker-based setup commonly requires elevated privileges/root and direct host access to crontab files for full functionality
  • Jobs without logging are executed synchronously with a timeout, which may not suit long-running tasks

CronMaster is a practical option when you want cron scheduling to be approachable, observable, and API-accessible. It fits well for administrators who rely on cron but want better visibility, easier edits, and optional SSO-protected access.

943stars
21forks
View Details
#4
gocron

gocron

Lightweight scheduler written in Go with a Vue.js web UI, YAML-based job configuration, cron expression support, per-job environment variables, and Docker deployment.

gocron is a lightweight task scheduler that executes recurring jobs defined in a YAML configuration. It combines a Go backend with a Vue.js frontend, supports cron expressions for timing, and exposes an API for job management.

Key Features

  • YAML configuration file to define defaults, multiple jobs, cron schedules, environment variables, and sequential commands per job
  • Cron expression support for precise scheduling and per-job overrides
  • Per-job environment variables passed into executed commands
  • Web UI built with Vue.js for viewing and managing jobs, plus API documentation and endpoints
  • Docker and Docker Compose friendly deployment with a ready container image
  • Ability to include and manage common backup tools via configuration (apprise, borgbackup, restic, rclone, rsync, kopia, etc.)

Use Cases

  • Schedule regular system maintenance tasks, updates, and cleanup scripts on a single host
  • Run automated backup jobs using configured backup tools at defined intervals
  • Execute periodic data collection, reporting, or integration scripts in homelabs and small server environments

Limitations and Considerations

  • Not designed as a distributed or highly-available scheduler; primarily single-node operation
  • Job execution runs commands on the host where the service is deployed, so isolation and security depend on container/host configuration
  • Lacks built-in enterprise features like clustering, advanced retry/backoff policies, and multi-tenant RBAC

gocron is suited for users who need a simple, file-driven scheduler with a web UI and Docker deployment. It is practical for homelabs, single-server automation, and scheduled backup workflows where lightweight configuration and local command execution are sufficient.

495stars
15forks
View Details

Why choose an open source alternative?

  • •Data ownership: Keep your data on your own servers
  • •No vendor lock-in: Freedom to switch or modify at any time
  • •Cost savings: Reduce or eliminate subscription fees
  • •Transparency: Audit the code and know exactly what's running