# Free Cron Expression Generator & Decoder | Alher Tech

> Build cron expressions visually and decode existing ones. Human-readable explanation plus the next five scheduled runs in your timezone.

- Canonical page: https://alhertech.com/en/cron-expression-generator/
- Site: Alher Tech (custom software, AI agents and SEO engineering, https://alhertech.com/)
- Contact: https://alhertech.com/en/contact/

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Build and decode cron expressions visually. See the next scheduled executions in your timezone.

Build cron expressions visually and decode existing ones. Human-readable explanation plus the next five scheduled runs in your timezone.

## Frequently asked questions

### What are the five cron fields?

Minute (0-59), Hour (0-23), Day of month (1-31), Month (1-12), Day of week (0-7, with 0 and 7 meaning Sunday). Each field accepts '*' (any), lists (1,2,3), ranges (1-5), and steps (*/5).

### What's the difference between cron and systemd timers / AWS EventBridge?

Classic cron is minute-precision with no second field and no seconds. systemd timers and modern schedulers add a seconds field (making it six fields) and support more expressive schedules like 'first Monday of the month'. Check your target platform's spec.

### Why does my cron job not run at midnight?

'0 0 * * *' runs at 00:00 in the machine's local timezone, which may not be UTC. Check TZ or tz_info on your cron config, or use explicit UTC (some schedulers like AWS EventBridge) to avoid daylight-saving surprises.

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