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Alex Spinov
Alex Spinov

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Trigger.dev Has a Free Background Jobs Platform for TypeScript

#triggerdev #typescript #backgroundjobs #serverless

Background jobs in Node.js usually mean BullMQ + Redis + worker processes + monitoring. Trigger.dev gives you durable, long-running jobs with retries, scheduling, and observability — all in TypeScript, deployed alongside your app.

What Trigger.dev Gives You for Free

  • 50,000 runs/month on free tier
  • Durable execution — jobs survive server restarts
  • Automatic retries — with exponential backoff
  • Scheduling — cron jobs and delayed execution
  • Concurrency control — rate limiting and queues
  • Real-time logs — observe every step in the dashboard
  • Long-running tasks — up to 5 minutes on free, hours on paid

Quick Start 

npx trigger.dev@latest init
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Define a Task 

// trigger/send-welcome-email.ts
import { task } from '@trigger.dev/sdk/v3';
import { Resend } from 'resend';

export const sendWelcomeEmail = task({
  id: 'send-welcome-email',
  retry: { maxAttempts: 3 },
  run: async (payload: { userId: string; email: string }) => {
    const user = await db.users.find(payload.userId);

    const resend = new Resend(process.env.RESEND_KEY);
    await resend.emails.send({
      from: 'hello@myapp.com',
      to: payload.email,
      subject: `Welcome, ${user.name}!`,
      html: renderWelcomeEmail(user)
    });

    return { sent: true };
  }
});
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Trigger From Your App 

// In your Next.js API route or server action
import { sendWelcomeEmail } from '@/trigger/send-welcome-email';

export async function createUser(data: CreateUserInput) {
  const user = await db.users.create({ data });

  // Trigger background job — returns immediately
  await sendWelcomeEmail.trigger({ userId: user.id, email: user.email });

  return user; // User gets instant response
}
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Multi-Step Tasks 

import { task, wait } from '@trigger.dev/sdk/v3';

export const onboardUser = task({
  id: 'onboard-user',
  run: async (payload: { userId: string }) => {
    // Step 1: Send welcome email
    await sendWelcomeEmail.triggerAndWait({ userId: payload.userId, email: '...' });

    // Step 2: Wait 1 day
    await wait.for({ days: 1 });

    // Step 3: Send tips email
    await sendTipsEmail.trigger({ userId: payload.userId });

    // Step 4: Wait 3 days
    await wait.for({ days: 3 });

    // Step 5: Check engagement
    const user = await db.users.find(payload.userId);
    if (!user.hasLoggedIn) {
      await sendReEngagementEmail.trigger({ userId: payload.userId });
    }
  }
});
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Scheduled Tasks (Cron) 

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

export const dailyReport = schedules.task({
  id: 'daily-report',
  cron: '0 9 * * *', // Every day at 9 AM
  run: async () => {
    const stats = await generateDailyStats();
    await sendReportEmail(stats);
  }
});
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Concurrency Control 

export const processImage = task({
  id: 'process-image',
  queue: { concurrencyLimit: 5 },  // Max 5 parallel runs
  retry: { maxAttempts: 3 },
  run: async (payload: { imageUrl: string }) => {
    const result = await sharp(payload.imageUrl)
      .resize(800, 600)
      .toBuffer();
    await storage.upload(result);
  }
});
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Trigger.dev vs BullMQ vs Inngest

Feature Trigger.dev BullMQ Inngest
Infrastructure Managed Self-hosted Redis Managed
Language TypeScript Node.js TypeScript
Durable execution Yes No Yes
Dashboard Built-in Bull Board Built-in
Free tier 50K runs/mo Self-hosted 25K events
Long-running Yes (hours) Yes 60s limit (free)
Setup time 5 minutes 30+ minutes 10 minutes

The Verdict

Trigger.dev makes background jobs in TypeScript as easy as writing a function. Durable execution, automatic retries, scheduling, and real-time observability — no Redis, no worker management, just code.

Need help building production web scrapers or data pipelines? I build custom solutions. Reach out: spinov001@gmail.com

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