SHSelfHostIndex

Chadburn vs go-crond

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted automation & workflows options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
CH Chadburn Job scheduler for Docker environments using container labels VS GO go-crond Lightweight cron daemon for containers and minimal systems
FeatureChadburngo-crond
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score57 · Fair5 · At risk
CategoryAutomation & WorkflowsAutomation & Workflows
LicenseMITMIT
LanguageGoGo
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM32 MB32 MB
Deploymentdocker, binarydocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 78★ 143
First released20212017
Replacescroncron

What are Chadburn and go-crond?

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

go-crond

go-crond is a small cron daemon written in Go that runs scheduled jobs from crontab-style files, designed for use inside containers and minimal environments. It is self-hosted as a single binary.

  • Container-friendly cron
  • Single static binary
  • Crontab-compatible
  • Run jobs as users

Chadburn vs go-crond: key differences

Both projects are written in Go. Go-crond is the more established project (first released 2017), while Chadburn arrived in 2021.

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
Chadburn details

Choose go-crond if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in Go
go-crond details

Frequently asked questions

Is Chadburn or go-crond better?

Neither is universally better. go-crond has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Chadburn and go-crond free and open-source?

Yes. Chadburn is licensed under MIT and go-crond under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Chadburn and go-crond with Docker?

Chadburn: yes. go-crond: yes.

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