Trigger.dev Has a Free Background Jobs Platform — Cron, Queues, and AI Tasks for TypeScript

Background jobs in JavaScript have always been painful. BullMQ needs Redis. Cron needs infrastructure. Trigger.dev just works — write a function, it runs in the background.

What is Trigger.dev?

Trigger.dev is an open-source platform for running background jobs, scheduled tasks, and long-running workflows in TypeScript. Think of it as "Vercel for background jobs."

Why Trigger.dev Solves Real Problems

1. Define Jobs as TypeScript Functions

import { task } from "@trigger.dev/sdk/v3";

export const processVideo = task({
  id: "process-video",
  run: async (payload: { videoUrl: string; userId: string }) => {
    // Download video
    const video = await downloadVideo(payload.videoUrl);

    // Generate thumbnail
    const thumbnail = await generateThumbnail(video);

    // Transcribe
    const transcript = await transcribeAudio(video);

    // Save results
    await db.videos.update({
      where: { userId: payload.userId },
      data: { thumbnail, transcript, status: "processed" },
    });

    return { success: true };
  },
});

2. Trigger from Your App

// From your Next.js API route, Express handler, etc.
import { processVideo } from "@/trigger/process-video";

export async function POST(req: Request) {
  const { videoUrl, userId } = await req.json();

  // Trigger background job
  const handle = await processVideo.trigger({ videoUrl, userId });

  return Response.json({ jobId: handle.id });
}

3. Scheduled Tasks (Cron)

import { schedules } from "@trigger.dev/sdk/v3";

export const dailyReport = schedules.task({
  id: "daily-report",
  cron: "0 9 * * *", // 9 AM daily
  run: async () => {
    const stats = await db.getYesterdayStats();
    await sendSlackMessage(`Daily report: ${stats.revenue} revenue, ${stats.signups} signups`);
  },
});

4. Long-Running Tasks (Up to 5 Hours)

export const aiPipeline = task({
  id: "ai-pipeline",
  maxDuration: 300, // 5 minutes
  run: async (payload: { documents: string[] }) => {
    const results = [];

    for (const doc of payload.documents) {
      // Each step can take minutes
      const embedding = await generateEmbedding(doc);
      const analysis = await analyzeWithGPT4(doc);
      results.push({ embedding, analysis });
    }

    return results;
  },
});

5. Retry and Error Handling

export const sendEmail = task({
  id: "send-email",
  retry: {
    maxAttempts: 3,
    factor: 2,
    minTimeoutInMs: 1000,
    maxTimeoutInMs: 30000,
  },
  run: async (payload: { to: string; subject: string; body: string }) => {
    await emailService.send(payload);
  },
});

6. Dashboard and Observability

Real-time dashboard shows:

• Job status (running, completed, failed)
• Execution timeline
• Logs and errors
• Retry history
• Performance metrics

Trigger.dev vs BullMQ vs Inngest

	Trigger.dev	BullMQ	Inngest
Infrastructure	Managed/self-host	Redis required	Managed/self-host
Language	TypeScript	Node.js	TypeScript
Cron	Built-in	Via separate setup	Built-in
Dashboard	Built-in	Bull Board (separate)	Built-in
Max duration	5 hours	Unlimited	1 hour
Retries	Built-in	Built-in	Built-in
Self-hosted	Yes	Yes	Yes

Free Tier

Feature	Free
Runs/month	10,000
Concurrent jobs	5
Log retention	7 days
Cron jobs	5

Getting Started

npx trigger.dev@latest init
npx trigger.dev@latest dev

The Bottom Line

Trigger.dev makes background jobs as easy as writing a function. No Redis, no queue infrastructure, no cron servers. Write TypeScript, it runs in the background.

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