Skip to content

Cron Expression Builder

Write it, read it back in plain English, and see when it actually fires.

At the top of every hour.

Next runs — UTC

  1. Fri, 31 Jul 2026, 00:00
  2. Fri, 31 Jul 2026, 01:00
  3. Fri, 31 Jul 2026, 02:00
  4. Fri, 31 Jul 2026, 03:00
  5. Fri, 31 Jul 2026, 04:00

Five fields. Runs in the server's local timezone.

Cron uses the server’s timezone, which is often not yours. Check before you trust a time.

Fields

  • minute0–59
  • hour0–23
  • dom1–31
  • month1–12
  • dow0–7

Cron every hour

0 * * * *

0 * * * * fires at the top of every hour. The shortcut @hourly means exactly this and is easier to read, but not every system accepts shortcuts — GitHub Actions rejects them outright, so the explicit form is the portable one.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between 0 * * * * and @hourly?
Nothing, where both are supported: @hourly expands to 0 * * * *. Kubernetes CronJob accepts it, GitHub Actions does not, and Quartz and AWS EventBridge have no shortcuts at all.
How do I run every 2 hours instead?
Put the step in the hour field: 0 */2 * * * fires at 00:00, 02:00, 04:00 and so on.
Why does my hourly job run at :00 rather than an hour after I added it?
Cron schedules against the clock, not against when the entry was created. The minute field is what decides the offset within the hour.

Other cron schedules