Trigger.dev: Serverless Background Jobs Without Timeouts | hokai.io
Trigger.dev is an open-source TypeScript platform for durable background jobs without serverless timeout limits. Up to 14 days, 100+ integrations, $10/month. 14.6k GitHub stars.
Trigger.dev, founded in 2022 in London and backed by $20.3M in funding (Series A led by Standard Capital), is an open-source TypeScript platform for durable background jobs without serverless timeout limits. Tasks run up to 14 days with automatic retries, 100+ integrations, and real-time traces. Plans start free with 20 concurrent runs, then $10/month (Hobby) and $50/month (Pro). 14.6k GitHub stars on Apache 2.0 license.
Pricing
Free tier: $0/month, 20 concurrent runs, 10 schedules, 1 day log retention. Hobby: $10/month, 50 concurrent runs, 100 schedules, 7 day logs. Pro: $50/month, 200+ concurrent runs, 1000+ schedules, 30 day logs, 25+ team members. Enterprise: custom pricing. All tiers: compute costs $0.0000169-$0.0006800 per second plus $0.000025 per run invocation. Additional concurrent runs or seats available as add-ons.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Trigger.dev and what does it do?
Trigger.dev is an open-source durable execution platform founded in 2022 and based in London that solves the serverless timeout problem for TypeScript developers. AWS Lambda, Vercel Functions, and Google Cloud Functions all enforce 15-minute (or less) timeout limits, making them unsuitable for AI agent tasks, long-running data pipelines, and multi-step workflows. Trigger.dev allows tasks to run for up to 14 days without timing out using a checkpoint-resume architecture that snapshots state and resumes on recovery. The platform includes automatic retries, 100+ native integrations (Slack, Stripe, Linear, GitHub, OpenAI, etc.), real-time OpenTelemetry traces, and fully managed infrastructure with no Redis or Kubernetes required.
How much does Trigger.dev cost?
Trigger.dev offers a Free tier ($0/month) with 20 concurrent runs, 10 schedules, and 1-day log retention. Hobby costs $10/month with 50 concurrent runs, 100 schedules, and 7-day logs. Pro costs $50/month with 200+ concurrent runs, 1000+ schedules, 30-day logs, and 25+ team members. Beyond the subscription, execution costs $0.0000169 to $0.0006800 per second depending on machine size, plus $0.000025 per run invocation. Enterprise pricing is custom. Additional concurrent runs and team seats available as add-ons for higher tiers.
What are the main features of Trigger.dev?
Trigger.dev's core features are durable execution up to 14 days without serverless timeouts, plain async TypeScript code with no special DSLs, automatic retries with exponential backoff, idempotency deduplication, real-time OpenTelemetry traces and live debugging dashboard, 100+ native integrations (Slack, Stripe, Linear, GitHub, OpenAI, Deepgram, Twilio), queue-based concurrency control, webhook-triggered tasks, human-in-the-loop approval gates, and zero infrastructure to operate (fully managed SaaS or self-hosted via Docker/Kubernetes).
Is Trigger.dev free to use?
Yes, Trigger.dev has a free tier supporting 20 concurrent runs, 10 schedules, and 1-day log retention at no cost. This tier is suitable for hobby projects, prototypes, and low-traffic personal workflows. For production workloads, the Hobby tier at $10/month increases limits to 50 concurrent runs and 100 schedules with 7-day logs. Per-execution costs apply on all tiers: $0.0000169-$0.0006800 per second depending on machine size. The free tier never times out tasks within the 14-day limit, but has lower concurrency than paid plans.
What are the best alternatives to Trigger.dev?
The main alternatives are Temporal (enterprise-grade durable execution with event replay, steep learning curve, requires infrastructure management), Inngest (event-driven workflow platform that schedules jobs but requires separate job workers), and BullMQ (open-source queue but requires Redis and worker management). Choose Temporal when your organization needs enterprise reliability and has the DevOps resources for setup. Choose Inngest when event-driven architecture is your primary pattern. Choose BullMQ when you already operate Redis and need minimal cost. Choose Trigger.dev when developer experience, speed to market, and zero infrastructure are priorities.
Who is Trigger.dev best for?
Trigger.dev is best for full-stack TypeScript developers, Next.js SaaS founders, and AI product teams building long-running workflows that exceed serverless timeout limits. It excels for AI agent platforms, LLM-powered automation, customer onboarding workflows, data pipelines, webhook processing, and scheduled tasks. It is not suited for Python-first teams without TypeScript expertise, teams requiring execution durations longer than 14 days without custom negotiation, or developers needing fully offline local development without internet connectivity.
Does Trigger.dev have an API and integrations?
Yes. Trigger.dev is built on a REST API and TypeScript SDK (npm package trigger.dev). It includes 100+ native integrations with Slack, Stripe, Linear, GitHub, SendGrid, Notion, OpenAI, Deepgram, Twilio, Airtable, and more, eliminating the need to write custom API calls or handle authentication. The platform supports webhook-triggered tasks for external systems to kick off workflows. It also provides React hooks for frontend integration with real-time status updates. Documentation is at trigger.dev/docs/introduction with examples for every integration. The codebase is open source at github.com/triggerdotdev/trigger.dev (Apache 2.0 license, 14.6k stars).