Dead Man's Switch for Cron Jobs

Know when your
cron jobs fail.

Add one line to your crontab. CronMonitor pings you the moment a job stops running — before your users notice.

Add to your cron job:

*/5 * * * * /path/to/job.sh && curl -fsS https://cronmonitor.swiftlabs.dev/api/ping/YOUR_TOKEN

Free plan includes 3 monitors. No credit card required.

One curl command

Add a curl to the end of your cron job. If the job runs, we get a ping. If it doesn't, you get an alert.

Email + webhook alerts

Get notified by email or send alerts to Slack, Discord, PagerDuty — any webhook endpoint.

Grace periods

Set a grace period so short delays don't trigger false alarms. Only alert when something is genuinely wrong.

Ping history

See exactly when each job last ran, how often it runs, and when it's missed. Full audit trail.

How it works

Step 1

Create a monitor

Name it, set the expected interval (every 5 min, hourly, daily), and where to send alerts.

Step 2

Add the curl

Copy the one-line curl command and append it to your cron job. Takes 10 seconds.

Step 3

Get alerted

If a ping is missed, you get an email or webhook alert within 60 seconds. Fix it before users notice.

Simple pricing

Start free. Upgrade when you need more.

Free

£0

  • 3 monitors
  • Email alerts
  • 5-minute check interval
  • 24h ping history

Pro

£8/month

  • Unlimited monitors
  • Email + webhook alerts
  • 1-minute check interval
  • 90-day ping history
  • Slack/Discord integration
Start free

FAQ

How is this different from a health check?

Health checks poll your service. CronMonitor works the other way — your cron job pings us. If we don't hear from it, something's wrong. Perfect for scheduled tasks that run in the background.

What if my cron job takes longer than expected?

Set a grace period. If your job usually takes 5 minutes, set a 10-minute grace period. We only alert if the job genuinely missed its window.

Can I monitor jobs on multiple servers?

Yes. Each monitor has its own unique URL. Set up as many as you need across any number of servers.

What about false alarms?

Grace periods and configurable intervals prevent false alarms. We also track ping history so you can see patterns over time.