Cron Expression Generator Online — Free Visual Crontab Builder

Build standard 5-field cron expressions visually. Pick minute, hour, day, month, and weekday — get the expression, a human-readable description, and the next 5 firing times.

Presets

Visual Builder

Minute (0–59)*

Hour (0–23)*

Day of Month (1–31)*

Month (1–12)*

Day of Week (0–6)*

Output

Cron expression

* * * * *

Description

Every minute.

Next 5 firing times (your local time)

5/11/2026, 6:29:00 PM
5/11/2026, 6:30:00 PM
5/11/2026, 6:31:00 PM
5/11/2026, 6:32:00 PM
5/11/2026, 6:33:00 PM

What is a Cron Expression Generator?

A cron expression generator turns a visual schedule (every weekday at 9am, every 15 minutes, the 1st of the month) into the precise 5-field crontab string that schedulers expect: 0 9 * * 1-5. The OpenFormatter tool builds the expression as you click, shows a human-readable description, and computes the next 5 times the schedule will fire.

Standard 5-field cron syntax is supported by Unix crontab, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Vercel cron, Kubernetes CronJob, and most other schedulers. The tool runs entirely in your browser — paste the result anywhere a cron expression is accepted.

How to build a cron expression — 4 steps

Start from a preset (optional). Pick "Hourly", "Daily at midnight", "Weekdays 9am", or any of the other common schedules.
Tweak each of the five fields. Per field choose Every, a Specific value, a Range (1-5), a Step (*/5), or a comma-separated List (0,15,30,45).
Read the description. The plain-English summary updates live so you can sanity-check the schedule.
Verify, copy, paste. Inspect the next 5 firing times. Copy the expression and paste it into crontab, GitHub Actions YAML, or any scheduler.

Sample output

Cron: 0 9 * * 1-5
Description: At minute 0, hour 9, day-of-week 1-5.

Next 5 firings (local time):
  Mon, May 4, 2026, 9:00:00 AM
  Tue, May 5, 2026, 9:00:00 AM
  Wed, May 6, 2026, 9:00:00 AM
  Thu, May 7, 2026, 9:00:00 AM
  Fri, May 8, 2026, 9:00:00 AM

Visual Builder

Per field choose Every, Specific, Range, Step, or comma-separated List — no need to memorise crontab syntax.

Live Description

A human-readable summary updates as you click, so the schedule is always self-explanatory.

Next 5 Firings

See exactly when the schedule will run next — computed in your browser from the local clock for instant feedback.

Common use cases

check_circleScheduling Linux crontab entries on production servers
check_circleConfiguring GitHub Actions cron triggers in workflow YAML
check_circleSetting Kubernetes CronJob schedule fields for periodic batch work
check_circleDefining Vercel cron jobs in vercel.json
check_circleBuilding GitLab CI scheduled pipelines
check_circleScheduling Airflow DAGs with the cron-style schedule_interval
check_circleConfiguring database backups, log rotation, and TLS certificate renewals
check_circleSending recurring email digests, Slack reports, or analytics rollups

5-field vs 6-field cron, and timezone gotchas

Standard Unix cron uses 5 fields (minute, hour, day-of-month, month, day-of-week) and runs in the system timezone. Quartz Scheduler, Spring @Scheduled, and AWS CloudWatch Events use 6 fields with a leading seconds slot. GitHub Actions cron and Vercel cron run in UTC, not your local time — and GitHub Actions schedules can drift by 5–15 minutes under load and only fire on the default branch. Kubernetes CronJob accepts a per-job timezone since v1.25. The tool emits the standard 5-field form; convert by hand if your scheduler differs.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is a cron expression?

A cron expression is a 5-field string that tells a cron daemon when to run a job: minute, hour, day-of-month, month, day-of-week. For example, "0 9 * * 1-5" means "at 09:00 on weekdays". Each field accepts wildcards (*), specific values, ranges (1-5), steps (*/5), and lists (1,15,30).

What is the 5-field vs 6-field cron syntax?

The classic Unix crontab uses 5 fields. Some systems — Quartz Scheduler, Spring @Scheduled, and AWS CloudWatch Events — add a leading seconds field for 6 fields, and Quartz adds a 7th year field. This generator produces standard 5-field expressions, which work in cron, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Kubernetes CronJob, and Vercel cron.

What is the difference between * and 0 in the minute field?

A * in the minute field means "every minute"; the job fires 60 times per hour. A 0 means "at minute 0 only"; the job fires once per hour, on the hour. The most common confusion is writing * * * * * (every minute) when you wanted 0 * * * * (hourly).

How does day-of-week work — is Sunday 0 or 7?

In standard cron, day-of-week 0 and 7 both mean Sunday — Monday is 1, Tuesday 2, … Saturday 6. Most schedulers accept both. This generator emits 0 for Sunday and treats 7 as a synonym when parsing presets.

Can I use these expressions in AWS, GitHub Actions, and Kubernetes?

Yes for GitHub Actions (cron syntax) and Kubernetes CronJob (cron syntax). Note: GitHub Actions cron schedules only fire on the default branch, run in UTC, and have ~5–15 minutes of jitter. AWS uses 6-field cron in CloudWatch Events / EventBridge — convert this expression by prepending a "0 " for the seconds slot if needed.

What timezone does cron use?

Standard Unix cron uses the system timezone of the machine. GitHub Actions and Vercel cron use UTC. Kubernetes CronJob can be configured per-job. The "next firing times" shown above use your browser's local timezone — convert mentally if your target system runs in UTC.

What is the difference between */5 and 0/5?

In standard Unix cron they are equivalent — both mean "every 5 starting at 0". The 0/5 syntax is a Quartz Scheduler form (start/step). Standard cron prefers */5. This generator emits */5 since that is the form GitHub Actions, Vixie cron, and Kubernetes accept without warnings.

How do I trigger every weekday at 9am?

Use 0 9 * * 1-5 — at minute 0, hour 9, every day-of-month, every month, on Monday through Friday. Click the "Weekdays 9am" preset above to see it built. Many ops teams set their daily standup reminder this way.