Gocron vs Jobber
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted automation & workflows options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Gocron | Jobber |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 22 · At risk | 15 · At risk |
| Category | Automation & Workflows | Automation & Workflows |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,264 | ★ 1,415 |
| First released | 2017 | 2015 |
| Replaces | cron, Rundeck | cron |
What are Gocron and Jobber?
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
Jobber
Jobber is an open-source replacement for cron written in Go, adding job execution history, automatic retries, and error notifications. It is self-hosted to run scheduled tasks more reliably.
- Cron with retries
- Job execution history
- Error notifications
- Lightweight
Gocron vs Jobber: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Jobber is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Gocron. Jobber is the more established project (first released 2015), while Gocron arrived in 2017. Gocron has the considerably larger community, at 6,264 GitHub stars versus 1,415. Gocron lists first-class Docker deployment; Jobber does not.
Why pick each one
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
Choose Jobber if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Gocron or Jobber 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 Gocron and Jobber free and open-source?
Yes. Gocron is licensed under MIT and Jobber under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Gocron and Jobber with Docker?
Gocron: yes. Jobber: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Gocron or Jobber?
Jobber has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Gocron. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.