Trigger.dev
Revolutionize background job management with seamless, scalable automation.. [Freemium]
Last verified:
What is Trigger.dev?
Trigger.dev is an open-source background jobs framework for building reliable workflows in plain async TypeScript. It is designed for long-running tasks, AI agents, scheduled jobs, and other work that would normally run into serverless timeouts. The platform provides a CLI and SDK for adding tasks directly into an existing codebase, plus a dashboard for monitoring and managing runs.
Its core appeal is that you write normal code and Trigger.dev handles the execution layer for you. The website emphasizes built-in queues, automatic retries, checkpointing, concurrency controls, durable waits, and elastic scaling, so tasks can pause, resume, and continue without losing state. It also supports cron schedules, batch triggering, idempotency keys, priorities, run metadata, and advanced filtering.
Trigger.dev is especially aimed at developers building AI products and automation-heavy systems. The site highlights AI agents with tool calling, human-in-the-loop approval flows, streaming responses, and integrations with existing Node.js SDKs and frameworks. It also includes realtime updates, React hooks, and an MCP server so AI assistants can interact with projects, docs, deployments, and run monitoring.
The product is built for teams that want managed infrastructure without giving up control. It supports self-hosting, multiple environments, preview branches, Vercel and GitHub integrations, observability and tracing, custom build extensions, Python support, static IPs, and AWS PrivateLink. In short, it is for developers who need reliable background execution with strong operational tooling and minimal infrastructure management.
Trigger.dev pricing
Pricing model: Freemium
Trigger.dev Cloud has a Free plan at $0/month with $5 free monthly usage, 5 team members, Dev and Prod environments, 1-day log retention, and community support. The Hobby plan is $10/month with $10 monthly usage included, 5 team members, Dev/Preview/Prod environments, 7-day log retention, and community support. The Pro plan is $50/month with $50 monthly usage included, 200+ concurrent runs, 25+ team members, Dev/Preview/Prod environments, 30-day log retention, and dedicated Slack support. Enterprise is custom and adds things like custom log retention, priority support, role-based access control, a SOC 2 report, and SSO. Usage is billed separately for compute time and run invocations; the site also says runs in DEV are not charged.
Trigger.dev pros
- Open-source and Apache 2.0 licensed
- Write tasks in plain async TypeScript
- Built for long-running tasks
- Automatic retries for failed runs
- Checkpointing for durable execution
- No serverless timeouts
- Managed queues included
- Concurrency controls with custom rules
- Durable cron schedules
- Realtime run status updates
- Streaming support for AI responses
- Human-in-the-loop approval flows
- Strong observability and tracing
- Bulk replay and run management
- Advanced filtering for run search
- Elastic infrastructure that auto-scales
- Self-hosting available
- MCP server for AI assistant integration
- Python support through build extensions
- Vercel integration for automatic deploys
Trigger.dev cons
- Pricing can grow with usage
- Free plan has limited API requests
- Free plan has limited concurrency
- Run invocation fees add another cost layer
- Compute is billed by machine size and seconds
- Some advanced features are plan-gated
- Enterprise features require contact sales
- Sandboxing is listed as coming soon
Frequently asked questions about Trigger.dev
What is Trigger.dev used for?
Trigger.dev is used to build and run reliable background jobs, scheduled workflows, and AI agents in plain async code. It is meant for work like long-running processing, retries, queues, monitoring, and workflows that need to survive restarts and avoid timeouts.
Does Trigger.dev support AI agents?
Yes. The site highlights production-ready AI agents with tool calling, automatic retries, observability, human-in-the-loop checkpoints, and realtime streaming. It also shows examples for autonomous agents, prompt chaining, routing, parallelization, orchestrators, and evaluator-optimizer workflows.
How do tasks run without timing out?
Trigger.dev runs tasks on managed infrastructure instead of relying on short-lived function execution. The platform supports long-running tasks, checkpointing, waits, and elastic workers, so work can pause and resume without being cut off by serverless limits.
Can I use Trigger.dev with my existing codebase?
Yes. The docs say you add it with the CLI and SDK inside your existing project, create a /trigger folder, and define tasks from there. It is designed to work with existing Node.js code and normal async programming patterns.
What kind of monitoring does it provide?
Trigger.dev includes a live run page, OpenTelemetry-powered tracing, logs, run metadata, advanced filters, dashboards, and alerts. The site also mentions bulk actions for replays and cancellations, plus realtime status views for tasks.
Can Trigger.dev send task progress to the frontend?
Yes. The platform offers Realtime updates and React hooks so you can subscribe to run status, stream responses, send input into active runs, and build reactive UIs around background work. The site specifically mentions hooks like useRealtimeRun and useRealtimeStream.
Does Trigger.dev support scheduled jobs?
Yes. Durable cron schedules are a featured capability, and the docs say schedules can be created in task code or from the dashboard. The platform also supports regular tasks and scheduled tasks side by side.
Can I self-host Trigger.dev?
Yes. The website says Trigger.dev is open source and self-hostable, and the docs mention both Trigger.dev Cloud and self-hosting. Cloud is presented as the fully managed option, while self-hosting is available for teams that want to run it themselves.
How is Trigger.dev priced?
Pricing is based on plans plus usage. The site says the Free plan includes $5 of monthly usage, the Hobby plan includes $10 of monthly usage, and the Pro plan includes $50 of monthly usage, while compute is billed by machine size and execution time and each run also has an invocation cost.
What integrations does Trigger.dev support?
The site highlights Vercel integration, GitHub integration, MCP server support for AI assistants, React hooks, Python build extensions, static IPs, and AWS PrivateLink. It also supports custom build extensions, multiple environments, and preview branches for branch-based workflows.