Chadburn vs Gocron
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted automation & workflows options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Chadburn | Gocron |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 57 · Fair | 22 · At risk |
| Category | Automation & Workflows | Automation & Workflows |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 78 | ★ 6,264 |
| First released | 2021 | 2017 |
| Replaces | cron | cron, Rundeck |
What are Chadburn and Gocron?
Chadburn
Chadburn is a job scheduler inspired by Ofelia that runs scheduled tasks defined as Docker labels or in an INI file, designed for container environments. It is self-hosted as a single lightweight binary.
- Docker-label job scheduling
- INI file config
- Container-native
- Lightweight binary
Gocron
Gocron is an open-source, lightweight task scheduling system with a web interface for managing shell and HTTP jobs across hosts. It is self-hosted to schedule, run, and monitor recurring tasks.
- Web-based job management
- Shell and HTTP tasks
- Distributed task nodes
- Execution logs and alerts
Chadburn vs Gocron: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Chadburn is the lighter option, starting around 32 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Gocron. Gocron is the more established project (first released 2017), while Chadburn arrived in 2021. Gocron has the considerably larger community, at 6,264 GitHub stars versus 78.
Why pick each one
Choose Chadburn if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Go
Choose Gocron if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 6.3k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Chadburn or Gocron better?
Neither is universally better. Gocron has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Chadburn and Gocron free and open-source?
Yes. Chadburn is licensed under MIT and Gocron under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Chadburn and Gocron with Docker?
Chadburn: yes. Gocron: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Chadburn or Gocron?
Chadburn has the smaller minimum footprint at 32 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Gocron. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.