Developer guide

node-cron in Node.js: Schedule Jobs With Cron Syntax

Node.js has no built-in cron. The simplest answer is node-cron — a tiny library that runs functions on the exact cron expressions you already know. This guide covers install, every-minute and hourly schedules, timezones, the alternatives (node-schedule, the cron package), and the production traps that silently kill jobs.

Written by Benjamin Rotshtein

Updated August 14, 2026

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How do I schedule a job in Node.js with cron syntax?

Install node-cron and call Cron.schedule(expr, fn) with a standard cron expression — for example * * * * * for every minute or 0 0 * * * for midnight. Pass an options object with a timezone to control when it fires. Keep the process alive and handle errors, because a crashed process silently stops the schedule.

Install

npm install node-cron

Every minute

cron.schedule('* * * * *', fn)

Timezone

cron.schedule('0 9 * * *', fn, { timezone: 'Asia/Kolkata' })

Install and first job

npm install node-cron

const cron = require("node-cron");

// every minute
cron.schedule("* * * * *", () => {
  console.log("tick at", new Date().toISOString());
});

That is the whole API surface you need for 95% of cases. The expression is standard cron: minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week, with the 6-field seconds form also supported.

Common schedules

cron.schedule("0 * * * *", () => syncData());        // every hour
cron.schedule("*/30 * * * *", () => ping());         // every 30 minutes
cron.schedule("0 0 * * *", () => dailyReport());     // every day at midnight
cron.schedule("0 0 * * 0", () => weeklyCleanup());   // every Sunday midnight
cron.schedule("0 9 * * 1-5", () => openMarket());    // weekdays at 9 AM
cron.schedule("*/10 * * * * *", () => probe());      // every 10 seconds

Note the seconds example: node-cron accepts the 6-field format in the first position, so sub-minute intervals are native here even though Linux cron cannot do them.

Running in a specific timezone

By default node-cron uses the server’s local time — which is UTC on most cloud hosts, whatever your laptop says. Pass a timezone to pin the schedule to a real timezone:

cron.schedule("0 9 * * *", () => sendDigest(), {
  timezone: "Asia/Kolkata",   // 09:00 IST regardless of server TZ
});

cron.schedule("0 0 * * *", () => nightlyTask(), {
  timezone: "Etc/UTC",        // pin to UTC explicitly
});

Use an IANA identifier ( America/New_York, Europe/Berlin, Asia/Kolkata) — not abbreviations like IST, which are ambiguous and break around DST. The cron timezone guide covers this in depth.

node-cron vs node-schedule vs the cron package

All three schedule jobs in Node; they differ in scope. node-cron is the lightest — cron syntax, timezone option, zero dependencies, perfect for typical periodic jobs. node-schedule shines for one-off runs (scheduleJob(new Date(...))) and recurrence rules that are awkward in cron. The cron package is the heavyweight with more features (including timezone-aware parsing and multiple events). For most services, node-cron is the right default; switch only when you hit its limits.

Production safety: keep the process alive and catch errors

Two rules prevent the classic “node-cron not working in production” reports. First, node-cron is in-process: if the Node process exits, the schedule is gone. Uncaught exceptions are the usual killer, so every callback should fail loudly without crashing:

cron.schedule("0 * * * *", async () => {
  try {
    await syncData();
  } catch (err) {
    console.error("hourly sync failed", err);
    // alert: notify, push to queue, etc.
  }
});

Second, keep the process supervised. Run under PM2 or systemd with auto-restart so a crash or a deploy brings the scheduler back. If you need the job to survive even a dead process, prefer an external scheduler — a real crontab, a Kubernetes CronJob or a cloud function timer.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

Build a schedule that survives

Generate the cron expression in plain English and preview the next fire times before pasting it into node-cron — the same syntax works everywhere.