Vercel Cron Jobs Schedule
Vercel Cron Jobs are defined in vercel.json with standard 5-field cron. Each entry maps a schedule to a serverless/route path that Vercel calls. Times are UTC. The example hits /api/cron every day at 05:00 UTC.
vercel.json
{
"crons": [
{ "path": "/api/cron", "schedule": "0 5 * * *" }
]
}Vercel sends a GET request to path on the schedule. The route runs as a normal function.
It runs in UTC
All Vercel cron schedules are UTC. Convert your local time before setting the hour.
Plan limits
On the Hobby plan cron jobs are limited (roughly daily granularity and a small number of jobs); Pro allows finer schedules like */5 * * * *. Check current plan limits in Vercel's docs.
Secure the endpoint
Verify the request came from Vercel by checking the Authorization header against a CRON_SECRET environment variable, so the endpoint can't be triggered by anyone.
FAQ
How do I schedule a Vercel cron job?
Add a crons array in vercel.json with a path and a 5-field schedule, e.g. { "path": "/api/cron", "schedule": "0 5 * * *" }. Vercel calls the path on schedule.
What timezone do Vercel cron jobs use?
UTC only. Convert your local time to UTC when setting the hour.
Can Vercel crons run every minute on the free plan?
No. The Hobby plan is limited to roughly daily runs; finer schedules like */5 * * * * require Pro. Check Vercel's current limits.