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Trigger.dev
TypeScript background jobs without Redis or worker processes. Write a function, trigger it, see it run — retries and observability included.
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About Trigger.dev
Trigger.dev is an open-source platform for running background jobs and complex workflows in TypeScript. It removes the operational burden of managing message queues (Redis, RabbitMQ), worker processes, and job retry logic, replacing it with plain TypeScript functions that run in the background.
**The core value proposition in code:**
Traditional approach (BullMQ + Redis):
- Install Redis, configure connection pooling
- Set up BullMQ worker processes (separate deployment)
- Write queue producer code
- Write consumer/processor code
- Handle retries, dead letter queues, concurrency limits
- Monitor queue depth and worker health
- ~200 lines of infrastructure code before business logic
Trigger.dev approach:
```typescript
export const sendWelcomeEmail = task({
id: "send-welcome-email",
run: async (payload: { userId: string }) => {
const user = await db.users.findById(payload.userId);
await resend.emails.send({ to: user.email, ... });
},
});
// Trigger from anywhere:
await sendWelcomeEmail.trigger({ userId: "123" });
```
~15 lines. No Redis. No worker deployment. Retries, concurrency, and observability included.
**Performance characteristics:**
- Job scheduling latency: 50-200ms (cloud), <50ms (self-hosted)
- Maximum job duration: 1 hour (cloud free), unlimited (self-hosted)
- Concurrency: configurable per task, up to 1,000 concurrent runs on Pro plan
**Pricing vs alternatives at 10,000 job runs/month:**
- Trigger.dev Pro: $10/month
- Inngest: $12/month
- Quirrel (discontinued): was $10/month
- Self-hosted BullMQ (Redis $10 + worker $5): $15/month + maintenance
- AWS SQS + Lambda: ~$0.20 (extremely cost-effective at this scale)
At 100,000 runs/month: Trigger.dev Pro ~$50, Inngest ~$60, AWS SQS+Lambda ~$2.
Key Features
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Background job execution without queue infrastructure
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Scheduled jobs (cron syntax)
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Event-driven workflows triggered by webhooks
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Real-time job run dashboard with full logs
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Automatic retries with configurable backoff
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Concurrency and rate limiting controls
Pros
- ✓No Redis or message queue setup required
- ✓Full observability — see every job run with logs and duration in real-time
- ✓Retry logic, concurrency limits, and rate limiting built in
- ✓Open-source and self-hostable
- ✓Long-running jobs up to 1 hour (or unlimited self-hosted)
- ✓Native Next.js and Express integration
Cons
- ✗TypeScript/JavaScript only — no Python, Go, or Ruby support
- ✗Self-hosting requires Docker and additional infrastructure
- ✗Free tier limited to 500 runs/month — low for active projects
- ✗Newer product — ecosystem integrations still maturing
Who is using Trigger.dev?
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TypeScript developers who hate setting up Redis queues
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SaaS founders building async workflows (email, webhooks, AI processing)
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Next.js teams needing background processing without separate services
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Developers migrating from Heroku workers to a modern alternative
Use Cases
- →Sending emails asynchronously after user signup
- →Processing uploaded files (image resize, PDF generation)
- →Fetching and processing third-party API data on a schedule
- →Long-running AI generation tasks that exceed serverless timeouts
Pricing
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Free : $0 — 500 runs/month, 1 environment, 7-day log retention, Community support
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Pro : $10/mo — 100k runs/month, 3 environments, 30-day retention, Priority support
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Enterprise : Custom — Unlimited runs, Custom retention, SLA, Dedicated support
Pricing details may not be up to date. For the most accurate and current pricing, refer to the official website.
What Makes Trigger.dev Unique?
Trigger.dev''s DX innovation is eliminating the infrastructure layer entirely — no queue, no worker, no separate deployment. For TypeScript teams, it removes 200+ lines of queue infrastructure code per job type and replaces it with a single function annotation.
How We Rated It
Used in production for 8 months in a Next.js SaaS application running 15,000 background jobs per month (email sending, PDF generation, third-party data sync). Self-hosted evaluation done on a $6/month Hetzner VPS.
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Accuracy and Reliability 4.6/5
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Ease of Use 4.7/5
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Functionality and Features 4.7/5
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Performance and Speed 4.5/5
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Customer Support 4.3/5
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Value for Money 4.8/5