This article spotlights alternative tools to cron.
The software featured here is free and open source. All tools provide a command-line interface (CLI) unless otherwise stated.
Cronie contains the standard UNIX daemon crond that runs specified programs at scheduled times and related tools.
| Alternatives to cron | |
|---|---|
| cronie | Modern day version of cron and associated tools |
| fcron | Designed for systems which are not continuously running or regularly |
| Cronicle | Multi-server task scheduler and runner |
| systemd | Suite of basic building blocks for a Linux system |
| Supercronic | Crontab-compatible job runner designed for container environments |
| Ofelia | Low-footprint job scheduler for Docker environments |
| Dkron | Distributed job scheduling system for cloud native environments |
| mcron | 100% compatible replacement for Vixie cron |
| Dagu | Lightweight workflow orchestration engine |
| anacron | Designed for systems which are not continuously running |
| Jobber | Run commands to a schedule |
| bcron | Designed with secure operations in mind |
| Chadburn | Modern job scheduler for Docker environments |
| runcron | Minimal cron alternative for automated and container-friendly environments |
Have we missed any open source alternatives to cron?
Please let us know!
All the CLI tools in this series.
| Alternatives to CLI tools |
|---|
| age // awk // bc // cal // cat // cd // chmod // cksum // cloc // cmp // compress // cp // cron // curl // cut // date // dd // df // diff // dig // du // fdisk // file // find // free // ftp // grep // gzip // hexdump // history // jq // kill // less // locate // ls // lsof // make // man // more // mv / ping // ps // psql // rename // rm // sed // split // ssh // stow // strings // sudo // sysctl // tail // talk // tar // telnet // time // top // touch // traceroute // tree // uname // uniq // uptime // vi // watch // Wget // who // whois // xargs |
 Explore our comprehensive directory of recommended free and open source software. Our carefully curated collection spans every major software category.This directory is part of our ongoing series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. It features hundreds of detailed reviews, along with open source alternatives to proprietary solutions from major corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. You’ll also find interesting projects to try, hardware coverage, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Know a useful open source Linux program that we haven’t covered yet? Let us know by completing this form. |
There’s also the mature mcron as well as Jobber you could add.
Thanks for all the work putting this all together. LinuxLinks is a great resource.
Thanks Kile. I’ve never heard of Jobber before, but will test both of them.
Both are now included.