Text
Cron Builder & Parser
The Cron Builder & Parser generates a cron expression from a visual schedule and, in reverse, explains any cron expression in plain English while listing its upcoming run times. Pick a frequency such as "every day at 9", "every weekday on the hour", or "every 5 minutes" and an expression like 0 9 * * * is built for you, ready to paste into a crontab.
What this means
Runs daily at 9:00.
Field breakdown
| Field | Value | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Minute | 0 | 0–59 |
| Hour | 9 | 0–23 |
| Day of month | * | 1–31 |
| Month | * | 1–12 |
| Day of week | * | 0–6 (0=Sun) |
Next runs
No matching run times were found.
Common examples
Everything is processed in your browser and never sent to a server.
Related Tools
Character Counter
Count characters, characters without spaces, and lines in real time — a free character counter for posts, essays, and SMS limits. Runs entirely in your browser.
Text Diff Checker
Compare two texts and highlight line, word, or character-level differences. Ignore whitespace and case; copy as a unified diff. Runs entirely in your browser.
JSON Formatter & Validator
Format, beautify, and validate JSON with your chosen indent (2/4/tab), spotting syntax errors instantly. Free and ad-free. Runs entirely in your browser.
Regex Tester
Test JavaScript regex with live match highlighting, capture groups, replace preview, flag toggles, presets, and shareable URLs. Runs entirely in your browser.
Markdown Editor
Free online Markdown editor with live preview. Write Markdown, see it rendered in real time, and convert Markdown to HTML to copy or download. Supports tables, task lists, and code highlighting. Runs entirely in your browser — no login.
Password Generator
Generate strong, random passwords in bulk with custom length, character sets, and excluded characters. Nothing is stored. Runs entirely in your browser.
About Cron Builder & Parser
The Cron Builder & Parser generates a cron expression from a visual schedule and, in reverse, explains any cron expression in plain English while listing its upcoming run times. Pick a frequency such as "every day at 9", "every weekday on the hour", or "every 5 minutes" and an expression like 0 9 * * * is built for you, ready to paste into a crontab.
Any expression you enter is broken down into the five cron fields — minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week — so you can see exactly what each part does even if you are unsure of the syntax. Next run times are calculated for the time zone you choose, so you can compare how a job on a UTC server lines up with your local time. Macros like @daily, steps like */5, ranges like 1-5, and lists like 9,18 are all supported.
It is handy for double-checking a schedule before a misconfigured job fires in the middle of the night. Every expression is processed locally and never sent to a server — it runs entirely in your browser.
How to use
- Choose a frequency: every minute, hour, day, week, month, or year.
- Set the time, weekdays, or day shown for that frequency, and the cron expression is built automatically.
- To inspect an existing expression, paste it straight into the input box (e.g. 0 9 * * 1-5).
- Read the plain-English meaning and the minute/hour/day/month/weekday field breakdown below it.
- Switch the time zone to confirm the list of upcoming run times matches your expectations.
- Click Copy to grab the cron expression and paste it into your crontab or scheduler.
Use cases
- Engineers who need a crontab schedule but don't want to memorize the cron syntax.
- Ops staff who want to confirm in plain language which day and time an existing expression fires.
- Anyone checking what time a job on a UTC server actually runs in their local time zone.
- Developers validating GitHub Actions schedules or batch cron settings against real next run times.
- People learning how to write expressions with steps and ranges like "every 5 minutes" or "weekdays 9–18".
Notes
- Only the standard five-field format (minute hour day month weekday) and macros such as @daily are supported. Six-field (with seconds) and Quartz formats are not.
- Day of week is 0–6 (0 and 7 are Sunday). When both day-of-month and day-of-week are set, most cron implementations run when either matches.
- @reboot runs once at startup, so no next run times are calculated for it.
- Next run times are based on the selected time zone. Actual execution depends on your server's time zone, so verify against your production settings.
- This tool only builds and parses cron expressions; it does not register or run any jobs. Add the generated expression to your own server.