Trigger.dev

Trigger.dev

Open-source background jobs for TypeScript — write async code with no timeouts, deploy without infrastructure.

Developer Toolsfreemium
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What is Trigger.dev?
Trigger.dev lets TypeScript developers write long-running background tasks as ordinary async functions — in the same repo as their app — and run them with no timeouts, automatic retries, queues, and full observability, without managing servers. Tasks deploy to Trigger.dev's cloud (or your own infrastructure — the platform is open source under Apache 2.0), and a real-time dashboard shows every run with logs, replays, and versioned deployments. It pairs naturally with serverless stacks like Vercel where function timeouts make heavy work impossible: video processing, AI agent loops, web scraping, payment retries, scheduled jobs. Realtime APIs stream task progress to your frontend, and built-in concurrency and rate-limit controls tame third-party APIs. The free tier covers experimentation; usage-based paid plans start cheap. For Node/TS teams, it has become the modern default answer to 'where do background jobs live?'
Key Features

Write tasks as plain TypeScript functions with no timeouts

Automatic retries, queues, concurrency, and rate limiting

Open source (Apache 2.0) with self-hosting option

Run dashboard with logs, replays, and versioned deploys

Realtime API streaming task progress to frontends

Use Cases
  • Long-running AI/LLM workflows behind serverless apps
  • Scheduled jobs and cron replacements with observability
  • Media processing pipelines (video, images, PDFs)
  • Reliable webhook processing with retries
How to Use Trigger.dev
  1. 1Install the SDK and initialize Trigger.dev in your repo
  2. 2Define a task as an async TypeScript function
  3. 3Trigger it from your app code or on a schedule
  4. 4Watch runs, retries, and logs in the dashboard
Best For
TypeScript teams on Vercel and serverless stacksStartups that want jobs without queue infrastructureDevelopers preferring open-source with managed-cloud option
FAQ

Is Trigger.dev free?

Yes to start: the free cloud tier includes monthly run credits, and paid plans begin around $10/month scaling by usage. Self-hosting the open-source platform is free.

How is Trigger.dev different from a queue like BullMQ?

BullMQ gives you queue primitives you host with Redis and workers; Trigger.dev gives you the whole system — execution, retries, scheduling, observability — as a platform, in your codebase.

Does Trigger.dev work with Next.js on Vercel?

Yes — that's its sweet spot. Your Vercel functions trigger tasks that run on Trigger.dev's infrastructure without timeout limits, with progress streamable back to the UI.

Tags
Open SourceWorkflowAPI
Quick Info
CategoryDeveloper Tools
Pricingfreemium
Platformsweb
Websitetrigger.dev

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