Fcron
Enhanced cron for systems that are not running continuously
What is Fcron?
Fcron is a drop-in replacement for traditional cron that combines the precision of cron with the missed-job recovery of anacron. It can schedule jobs using standard cron expressions down to the minute, but it also tracks whether jobs were actually executed and runs them as soon as the system comes back online if they were missed. This makes it suitable for both servers and workstations.
Fcron introduces several features beyond standard cron: it supports frequency-based scheduling (e.g., "run every 3 hours of uptime"), job serialization to prevent overlapping executions, nice values for CPU priority, and email notifications. Its configuration format extends the familiar crontab syntax with additional directives for these features.
Best For
- Workstations and development machines that are not always on
- Scenarios requiring both minute-level precision and missed-job recovery
- Systems where you need to prevent overlapping job executions
- Replacing both cron and anacron with a single unified tool
Limitations
- Not installed by default on most Linux distributions
- Configuration syntax differs slightly from standard crontab
- Smaller community and less documentation compared to cron or systemd
- No web dashboard, monitoring, or HTTP-based job triggering
Fcron vs CronJobPro
Fcron improves on traditional cron by adding missed-job recovery and overlap prevention, but it remains a local system tool with no remote management capabilities. CronJobPro provides all of these features through a web dashboard, plus HTTP-based triggering that works with any web endpoint, automatic retries with exponential backoff, and team-oriented alerting — capabilities that no local scheduler can offer.
Official Website
http://fcron.free.fr/Frequently Asked Questions
What is Fcron?
Fcron is a drop-in replacement for traditional cron that combines the precision of cron with the missed-job recovery of anacron. It can schedule jobs using standard cron expressions down to the minute, but it also tracks whether jobs were actually executed and runs them as soon as the system comes back online if they were missed. This makes it suitable for both servers and workstations.
What is Fcron best for?
Workstations and development machines that are not always on. Scenarios requiring both minute-level precision and missed-job recovery. Systems where you need to prevent overlapping job executions. Replacing both cron and anacron with a single unified tool.
How does Fcron compare to an external cron service?
Fcron improves on traditional cron by adding missed-job recovery and overlap prevention, but it remains a local system tool with no remote management capabilities. CronJobPro provides all of these features through a web dashboard, plus HTTP-based triggering that works with any web endpoint, automatic retries with exponential backoff, and team-oriented alerting — capabilities that no local scheduler can offer.
Related Alternatives
Try CronJobPro for Free
Schedule HTTP requests with monitoring, retries, and alerts — no infrastructure needed.
Get started free →