cronuru
Tool

Cron Expression Builder

Construct a Unix cron expression by picking values for each field — every / every-Nth / specific value / list / range. Watch the expression assemble in real time with a plain-English description and the next ten scheduled run times. Multi-dialect output is handled by the separate converter.

Presets
Minute
0–59
Hour
0–23
Day of month
1–31
Month
1–12 or JAN–DEC
Day of week
0–6 (Sun=0) or SUN–SAT
Generated expression
*/5****

Every 5 minutes

Next 10 runs
  1. 012026-07-03T16:55:00.000Z
  2. 022026-07-03T17:00:00.000Z
  3. 032026-07-03T17:05:00.000Z
  4. 042026-07-03T17:10:00.000Z
  5. 052026-07-03T17:15:00.000Z
  6. 062026-07-03T17:20:00.000Z
  7. 072026-07-03T17:25:00.000Z
  8. 082026-07-03T17:30:00.000Z
  9. 092026-07-03T17:35:00.000Z
  10. 102026-07-03T17:40:00.000Z

How to use it

  1. 01

    Start with a preset (optional)

    Pick one of the preset patterns at the top to fill in a common schedule, then tweak from there. Or skip presets and start from scratch.

  2. 02

    Pick a mode for each field

    For each of the five fields (minute, hour, day-of-month, month, day-of-week), choose how that field should be set: Every, Every Nth, Specific value, List, or Range.

  3. 03

    Enter the value

    Type the value matching the chosen mode — a number for Specific, a comma-separated list for List, a hyphenated range for Range, or a step number for Every Nth.

  4. 04

    Read the generated expression

    The full cron expression assembles in the box below, color-coded by field. A plain-English description appears underneath.

  5. 05

    Verify the next runs

    The next 10 scheduled run times appear at the bottom, in your local timezone. Adjust the fields until the schedule matches your intent.

Frequently asked questions

What cron dialect does this builder use?
Standard 5-field Unix cron — the dialect used by Linux crontab, Kubernetes CronJob, GitHub Actions, Vercel cron, and Cloudflare Workers cron triggers. To convert the result to Quartz, AWS EventBridge, or Spring syntax, use the converter tool.
What's the difference between Every and Every Nth?
Every (`*`) means the job fires on every valid value of that field. For the minute field, that's every minute (1440 times per day). Every Nth (`*/N`) means the job fires every Nth value — `*/5` in the minute field fires at :00, :05, :10, …, :55 (12 times per hour). Use Every Nth for high-frequency schedules; use Every only for "unrestricted" fields.
Can I use day names like MON or FRI in the builder?
Yes. In the day-of-week field, set the mode to Specific or List and enter `MON`, `FRI`, `MON-FRI`, etc. Names work in every Unix-family cron dialect and avoid the off-by-one numbering issue when porting to Quartz or AWS EventBridge.
Does the builder cover all cron syntax?
It covers the standard `*`, `*/N`, `1,2,3`, and `1-5` patterns — the patterns you'll use 95% of the time. Special characters like `L` (last), `W` (nearest weekday), and `#` (nth weekday) are Quartz/EventBridge extensions and aren't in standard Unix cron. For those, write the expression directly and verify it in the parser tool.