Webcron

Webcron is a cloud service for scheduling web-accessible scripts and monitoring servers, websites, and routers. Jobs can run once or on a schedule as often as every minute, with timeouts up to one hour. Users can choose notifications when jobs succeed or fail. Monitoring checks whether targets are reachable from more than one location, using HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, or ping at intervals from 1 to 60 minutes. Monitors can compare page content, look for a specified string, and send custom request headers. The maker lists monitoring stations in locations including the United States, Japan, Singapore, Ireland, Brazil, Germany, France, South Korea, and Australia. An API communicates directly with the Webcron engine, and its documented methods cover jobs and monitors. A PHP class is provided for API connections and is stated to support PHP 5.0 and later. Webcron has no free plan and offers a 14-day trial; monitoring can be tested free for one week or until credits run out. Listed charges are per launch or alert: cron timeouts range from free for 180 seconds to €0.25, paid once for 3600 seconds, while email alerts cost €0.01, paid once and SMS alerts €0.15, paid once.

Webcron combines scheduled script runs with configurable monitoring and alerts. There is no free plan, and charges vary by job timeout and alert type.

Webcron suits users who need scheduled or one-off script runs alongside remote availability checks for servers, sites, or routers. Its API and PHP class may suit users connecting jobs and monitors programmatically.

Webcron is a cloud service for running web-accessible scripts and checking the availability of online infrastructure. It is best suited to developers and small operations teams that want scheduling and uptime monitoring in one API-accessible tool. The deciding question is whether per-launch and per-alert billing fits the workload better than a fixed subscription.

Overview

Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Lesparre-Médoc, France, Webcron combines online cron jobs with monitoring for servers, websites, and routers. Jobs can run on a schedule or as one-off launches, while monitoring checks whether a target remains reachable from more than one location. That pairing is practical for a team automating web tasks while keeping an eye on the endpoints those tasks depend on.

The service is cloud-deployed and accessible through both a web interface and an API. Its metered approach is the major trade-off: execution and notification charges are attached to individual events rather than a simple recurring package. That can work well for occasional or carefully controlled jobs, but makes high-frequency activity harder to forecast than subscription pricing.

Key features

Scheduled jobs and API

Webcron can launch web-accessible scripts every minute, or run them once on demand. Timeout choices reach one hour, covering short maintenance calls and scripts that need substantially more execution time. The cost rises with the selected timeout, so a generous limit should be reserved for jobs that genuinely need it.

The API communicates directly with the Webcron engine and has documented methods for both cron jobs and monitors. A supplied PHP class provides another route into the API and is stated to support PHP 5.0 and later. This combination favors teams that want to create or manage schedules programmatically instead of relying solely on a dashboard.

Monitoring and alerts

Monitoring supports HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, and ping checks at intervals from one to 60 minutes. It can compare returned page content, verify that a required string appears, and attach custom request headers. Those checks can detect a technically reachable page that is nevertheless returning the wrong content, which is more useful than a basic up-or-down test for many websites and services.

Webcron says its monitoring stations span locations including the United States, Japan, Singapore, Ireland, Brazil, Germany, France, South Korea, and Australia. Alerts are issued when a server, site, or router is unreachable from more than one location. Users can also request notifications when jobs succeed or fail, with email and SMS offered as separately billed alert types.

Pricing

Webcron is paid, with pricing from €2 and a 14-day trial. There is no free plan. Monitoring can be tested free for one week or until monitoring credits are exhausted, whichever comes first. Published usage prices are charged per launch or per alert:

The 180-second tier is the economical choice for short scripts, while the 600-second option adds a longer window for a small per-run charge. Jobs needing 30 or 60 minutes cost considerably more each time, and SMS is much costlier than email per alert. Anyone scheduling frequent runs should calculate launch volume and notification frequency before committing; the trial is useful for measuring that pattern, but it is not a continuing free tier.

Platforms

Webcron runs in the cloud and is available through web and API interfaces. It is therefore suited to browser-based administration and integrations from software that can call its API, rather than to a self-hosted deployment.

Who it's for

Webcron fits developers, agencies, and small operations teams that need recurring web jobs alongside multi-location endpoint checks. It is particularly sensible when schedules are intermittent, scripts are short, or a single service for automation and monitoring is more valuable than a fixed monthly bill. It is a weaker match for heavy, high-frequency workloads whose per-launch costs would be difficult to control, or for organizations requiring self-hosting.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Jobs can run every minute, with timeout choices up to one hour.
• Pros: Monitoring combines protocol checks, content and string validation, custom headers, and geographically distributed stations.
• Pros: A documented API covers jobs and monitors, with a PHP client class for legacy PHP environments.
• Cons: There is no free plan, and charges accumulate per launch and per alert.
• Cons: Longer timeout tiers and SMS notifications materially increase each event's cost.
• Cons: Monitoring's free test is limited to one week or consumed credits, not ongoing usage.

Alternatives

Choose ActiveBatch when you need a broader cross-platform job-automation product with a free trial and quote-based pricing. BMC Control-M is the alternative for organizations prepared for a $$2,400-per-month annual SaaS commitment and cloud or hybrid orchestration features.

For self-hosted, no-license-cost scheduling, Slurm Workload Manager, HTCondor, or OpenPBS are the more natural choices. AWS Batch and Google Cloud Batch have no additional batch-service charge, although their underlying compute and storage resources remain billable. JS7 JobScheduler offers a GPLv3 open-source option, with high-availability clustering excluded from its open-source license.

Verdict

Webcron is a good choice for teams that want minute-level web scheduling, configurable monitoring, and API control in one cloud service. Its main reason to choose it is the breadth of checks and timeout options without running monitoring infrastructure yourself. Look elsewhere if predictable fixed pricing, a permanent free tier, or self-hosted execution matters more than combining jobs and alerts in a metered service.