The Trigger.dev Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about Trigger.dev in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
Trigger.dev
The Insider’s Guide
Open-source platform for long-running background tasks and AI agents
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among automation tools, read from Trigger.dev’s own pages.
Made by API Hero Ltd. · checked Nov 12, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from Trigger.dev’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Trigger.dev’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Nov 12, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2.2
GPA, above 21 of the 71 other automation tools we grade
Trigger.dev runs background tasks and AI agents that developers write as code in their own repository. Tasks run on its managed workers with no maximum duration, or on your own servers using the open-source version. Cloud billing is a monthly plan with usage credits, plus charges for compute seconds and runs.
To get you started, here are 9 things to know about Trigger.dev, taken from its own pages and our grades.
Tasks are TypeScript in your own codebase, and self-hosting is an option, so you need to be a developer to start.
- 1
Best for running long background jobs in code
Trigger.dev runs long background tasks and AI agents that you write in TypeScript in your own codebase.
- 2
Paid plans start at $10 a month
As its pricing page puts it: $10 per month (Hobby), with $10 of usage credits included.
- 3
There is a free plan
$5 of monthly credits, 20 concurrent runs, 5 team members, 10 schedules, 1 day of log retention and community support.
- 4
It runs on Web
Web.
- 5
Tasks with no maximum duration
Tasks are code that run on managed workers with no set time limit, so a single run can last minutes, days or longer. Waiting on a subtask or a long delay does not count toward compute.
- 6
AI agents and chat
Agent runs can last minutes or hours and survive crashes. Responses and tool calls can be streamed to a frontend through Realtime, and it works with the Vercel AI SDK.
- 7
Schedules and webhooks
Cron-style scheduled tasks and verified webhooks start runs. Schedules are capped by plan, from 10 on Free to 1,000 on Pro.
- 8
A 2.2 GPA, above 21 of 71
That is against the other automation tools we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 9
Keep it
To replace Trigger.dev you would be making connections to other products, each kept working as those products change. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
Trigger.dev at a glance
- Pricing
- Free plan, from $10 per month (Hobby), with $10 of usage credits included
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- None stated
- Runs on
- Web
- Made by
- API Hero Ltd.
- Category
- Automation
- Our grade
- 2.2 GPA, fair
The report card
Best for running long background jobs in code
Trigger.dev runs long background tasks and AI agents that you write in TypeScript in your own codebase. The free plan stops running tasks once its $5 of monthly credits are used, and there's no visual builder, so it's for developers only.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B | Hobby is $10 a month with $10 of usage credits, which is the edge of the cheapest quarter ($10) in this category. Compute is billed per second on top, and a signed HIPAA BAA is $500 a month extra. |
| Free plan and trial | C | A free plan with $5 of monthly credits, 20 concurrent runs, 5 team members and 1 day of log retention. When the credits run out, tasks stop. |
| Features | C | Tasks with no time limit, schedules, queues, webhooks, a dashboard and open-source self-hosting. There's no visual workflow builder, and schedules are capped from 10 on Free to 1,000 on Pro. |
| Ease of use | D | No store rating on record. Tasks are TypeScript in your own codebase, and self-hosting is an option, so you need to be a developer to start. |
| Platforms and integrations | B | Web dashboard, with an API, webhooks, streaming to a frontend through Realtime and a self-hosting guide. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who Trigger.dev is for
- Fits if you write TypeScript and need jobs that run for minutes or days
- Works for developers building AI agents that must survive crashes
Who it is not for
- Not for you if you want a visual builder, as everything is code in your own project
- Tight if you stay free: $5 of credits a month, 10 schedules and 1 day of logs, and tasks stop when the credits are gone
- Pricey if you need more runs, since extra concurrency is $10 a month per 50 and Pro seats beyond 25 are $20 each
- Watch out: compute is billed per second by machine size plus $0.25 per 10,000 runs, so the bill is hard to predict
- Watch out: a HIPAA BAA is a $500 a month add-on
Good to know
Good for
- Developers who want background jobs written in code, not a visual builder
- Teams running long AI agent or LLM workloads that outlast serverless timeouts
- Companies that want the option to self-host an open-source job runner
Worth knowing
- Tasks are written in TypeScript in your own codebase; there is no visual workflow builder.
- Compute is billed per second by machine size, plus $0.25 per 10,000 runs; a Small 1x machine costs $0.0000338 a second.
- A signed HIPAA BAA is a $500 a month add-on on the Hobby and Pro plans.
- The Free plan stops running tasks once its $5 of monthly credits is used up.
Part 02 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
$10
A month to start. There is a free plan too
Trigger.dev has a free plan. Paid plans start at $10 per month (Hobby), with $10 of usage credits included.
Free
$0
$5 monthly credits, 20 concurrent runs, 5 team members, 10 schedules and 1 day of log retention.
Hobby
$10
per month, with $10 of usage credits included
50 concurrent runs, 5 team members, 100 schedules, 7 days of log retention and 3 alert destinations.
Pro
$50
per month, with $50 of usage credits included
200+ concurrent runs, 25+ team members ($20 per extra seat), 1,000+ schedules, 30 days of logs and Slack support.
Enterprise
Custom
Everything in Pro plus custom log retention, priority support, role-based access control, SSO and SOC 2 and pen-test reports.
The free plan
$5 of monthly credits, 20 concurrent runs, 5 team members, 10 schedules, 1 day of log retention and community support.
Read from trigger.dev on Nov 12, 2026.
Part 03 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
1
Place it runs: Web
Open-source platform for long-running background tasks and AI agents. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: open source, self-hostable, workflow automation, AI agents.
Tasks with no time limit, schedules, queues, webhooks, a dashboard and open-source self-hosting.
- Tasks with no maximum duration
- Tasks are code that run on managed workers with no set time limit, so a single run can last minutes, days or longer. Waiting on a subtask or a long delay does not count toward compute.
- AI agents and chat
- Agent runs can last minutes or hours and survive crashes. Responses and tool calls can be streamed to a frontend through Realtime, and it works with the Vercel AI SDK.
- Schedules and webhooks
- Cron-style scheduled tasks and verified webhooks start runs. Schedules are capped by plan, from 10 on Free to 1,000 on Pro.
- Concurrency and queues
- Queues control how many runs execute at once. Limits only count while code is running, and extra concurrency on Pro is sold in bundles of 50 for $10 a month.
- Self-hosting
- The platform is open source under the Apache 2.0 license, and the vendor publishes a self-hosting guide for running it on your own infrastructure.
- Observability
- Runs are monitored and traced in a dashboard, with billing alerts at set share-of-budget levels. Log retention runs from 1 day on Free to 30 days on Pro.
Where it runs
- Web
What it works with
- Vercel AI SDK
- Claude Agent SDK
- Next.js
Trigger.dev is made by API Hero Ltd.
Part 04 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
21/71
Other automation tools it is graded above
Trigger.dev's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 21 of the 71 other automation tools we grade, and level with 18.
It stands best on value for money (B, above 51 of 71) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $10 a month, against a middle price of $19 for the category: 8 of the 38 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. 5 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 72 automation tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Trigger.dev’s own letter is outlined.
- BValue for moneyAbove 51 of 71
- CFree plan and trialAbove 15 of 71
- CFeaturesAbove 1 of 71
- DEase of useAbove 0 of 71
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 19 of 71
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 43 automation tools. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Trigger.dev is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
To replace Trigger.dev you would be making connections to other products, each kept working as those products change. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 32 of the 71 other automation tools grade higher. It costs $120 a year. Trigger.dev is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself.
What you could not
- Connections to other products, each kept working as those products change.
- An AI agent, with the models and the safeguards behind it.
What this rests on. Trigger.dev’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
Part 05 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
Inngest, Windmill, Kestra and Camunda
The 4 tools Trigger.dev is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 2.4GPA
Inngest
Free plan · from $99/mo
Durable execution for background jobs, event-driven apps and agents.
- Trigger.dev is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- 2.6GPA
Windmill
Free plan · from $10/mo
Open-source platform for scripts, workflows and internal apps.
- Windmill also covers app builder.
- 2.4GPA
Kestra
Free plan
Open-source workflow orchestration platform defined in YAML.
- Trigger.dev also covers AI agents.
- 2.2GPA
Camunda
Free plan
BPMN process orchestration, self-hosted or as a cloud service.
- Trigger.dev is open source, according to its own site.
- Camunda also covers dashboards.
Part 06 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
12
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is Trigger.dev free?
Trigger.dev has a free plan. $5 of monthly credits, 20 concurrent runs, 5 team members, 10 schedules, 1 day of log retention and community support.
How much does Trigger.dev cost?
Trigger.dev lists 4 plans. Free: $0.
What platforms does Trigger.dev work on?
Trigger.dev is available on Web.
Does Trigger.dev have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Trigger.dev is listed for Web.
Does Trigger.dev have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Trigger.dev is listed for Web.
Is Trigger.dev open source?
Yes. Trigger.dev is open source, according to its own site.
What does Trigger.dev integrate with?
Trigger.dev's listing names Vercel AI SDK, Claude Agent SDK and Next.js.
Who makes Trigger.dev?
Trigger.dev is made by API Hero Ltd.
What are the alternatives to Trigger.dev?
The closest alternatives to Trigger.dev in our directory are Inngest, Windmill, Kestra and Camunda.
How does Trigger.dev compare with other automation tools?
Trigger.dev's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 21 of the 71 other automation tools we grade, and level with 18.
Is Trigger.dev good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Trigger.dev B for value for money. Its paid plans start at $10 a month, against a middle price of $19 for the category: 8 of the 38 others that charge start lower.
Could I make my own version of Trigger.dev?
To replace Trigger.dev you would be making connections to other products, each kept working as those products change.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from Trigger.dev’s own pages on Nov 12, 2026, and the grades were given on Nov 12, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Trigger.dev's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by API Hero Ltd. Prices change, so check trigger.dev before you buy.
Part 07 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
5,038
Tools graded, in 95 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
5,038
tools graded
95
categories
739
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- Trigger.dev, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/trigger-dev
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "Trigger.dev: The Insider's Guide", checked Nov 12, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/trigger-dev
Know someone choosing between automation tools?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/trigger-dev/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded automation tools after Trigger.dev, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- Automation Insider's GuideEvery one of the 72 automation tools we grade, compared
- IFTTT Insider's GuideSimple trigger-and-action automations for apps and smart devices3.0 GPA
- Node-RED Insider's GuideOpen-source, flow-based programming tool for event-driven apps3.0 GPA
- Ui.Vision Insider's GuideOpen-source browser and desktop automation with computer vision3.0 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what Trigger.dev’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Trigger.dev is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by API Hero Ltd. Prices and plans change: check trigger.dev before you buy.