Base64EncoderDecoder.com

Cron Expression Generator

Build, parse, and explain cron schedules visually — with live next-run previews, all in your browser.

* * * * *

Runs at every minute, every hour, on every day-of-month, in every month, on every weekday.

Every minutes (0–59).

Every hours (0–23).

Every day of month (1–31).

Every month (1–12).

Every day of week (0–6).

  • Wed, May 27, 2026, 04:47 PM
  • Wed, May 27, 2026, 04:48 PM
  • Wed, May 27, 2026, 04:49 PM
  • Wed, May 27, 2026, 04:50 PM
  • Wed, May 27, 2026, 04:51 PM

Visual builder

Click to compose each field — every minute, specific values, ranges, or steps — and see the expression update instantly.

Next-run preview

The next 5 scheduled execution times are computed live in your local time zone for any valid expression.

Private & offline

All parsing and scheduling logic runs locally. Nothing is sent to a server — your expressions stay on your device.

Understanding cron expressions

A standard cron expression has five space-separated fields that together describe when a job should run.

┌───────────── minute (0–59)
│ ┌───────────── hour (0–23)
│ │ ┌───────────── day of month (1–31)
│ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1–12 or JAN–DEC)
│ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of week (0–6 or SUN–SAT)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *
  • * — any value
  • 1,15,30 — list of specific values
  • 9-17 — range of values
  • */5 — every 5th value starting from the minimum
  • 0-30/10 — every 10th value within a range

Where cron is used

The 5-field format is the lingua franca of job scheduling. It works with Unix crontab, Kubernetes CronJobs, GitHub Actions schedule triggers, Vercel Cron, GitLab CI scheduled pipelines, AWS EventBridge, and most CI/CD or orchestration platforms.

Frequently asked questions

›Is this cron expression generator free?

Yes, it is completely free with no sign-up or limits. All parsing, description, and next-run computation happens locally in your browser.

›Is my data safe?

Absolutely. Cron expressions are processed entirely in your browser — nothing is sent to a server.

›What cron format does this support?

The standard 5-field POSIX/Vixie cron format: minute, hour, day-of-month, month, and day-of-week. Day-of-week uses 0=Sunday through 6=Saturday, and month/weekday name aliases (JAN-DEC, SUN-SAT) are accepted.

›Does it support step values (e.g. */5)?

Yes. You can use *, lists (1,15,30), ranges (1-5), step values (*/5 or 0-30/2), and combinations across all five fields.

›Does it support special strings like @daily or @hourly?

Not directly — the equivalents are available as presets. @hourly is 0 * * * *, @daily is 0 0 * * *, @weekly is 0 0 * * 0, @monthly is 0 0 1 * *, and @yearly is 0 0 1 1 *.

›How are the next run times computed?

The tool iterates minute-by-minute from the current time, checking each field against the parsed expression. When both day-of-month and day-of-week are restricted, a minute matches if either condition is satisfied — the standard POSIX behavior.

›What time zone are the next runs shown in?

Your local browser time zone. Cron expressions themselves are time-zone-agnostic — most servers evaluate them against the system clock or a configured TZ.

›Does it support Quartz (6 or 7 fields with seconds)?

No. This generator targets standard 5-field cron used by Unix cron, crontab, GitHub Actions, Kubernetes CronJobs, and most schedulers. Quartz-style seconds and L/W/# tokens are not supported.

›Can I paste my own expression to verify it?

Yes. Switch to the Parse / Describe tab, paste any 5-field cron expression, and the tool will validate it, describe it in plain English, and show the next 5 scheduled runs.

›Where can I use the generated cron expressions?

Anywhere standard cron syntax is accepted: Linux/macOS crontab, GitHub Actions schedule triggers, Kubernetes CronJob specs, Vercel Cron Jobs, AWS EventBridge rate expressions, and most CI/CD or job-scheduling systems.

More free developer tools

Part of our growing tool belt — all client-side, all free.

JWT Encoder & Token Generator

Generate and sign JSON Web Tokens (HS256/384/512) locally in your browser.

Open tool

Regex Generator

Build regular expressions visually with blocks, quantifiers, presets, and live match preview — all in your browser.

Open tool

Regex Tester & Debugger

Test regular expressions with real-time match highlighting, capture groups, and replacement preview — all in your browser.

Open tool