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Trigger.dev alternative

Spooled Cloud vs Trigger.dev

Trigger.dev excels at long-running, code-first background tasks in TypeScript, including human-in-the-loop steps. Spooled is a leaner queue service: second-precision cron, a Postgres + Redis architecture, per-queue controls, and a protocol-first API usable from any language.

Start free Full comparison matrix Trigger.dev website ↗

Where Spooled wins

  • + 5- or 6-field cron with second precision
  • + Incoming webhook ingestion endpoints
  • + Queue pause/resume and priority boosts
  • + Language-agnostic REST + gRPC surface

When Trigger.dev is the better pick

  • – Very long-running tasks without timeout pressure
  • – Human-in-the-loop workflow features
  • – Deep TypeScript developer experience

Our own read of public docs, last reviewed 2026-07-16 — not an independent benchmark, and we're biased. Apache-2.0 core · free tier available.

Where Spooled goes further than Trigger.dev

Spooled leads on 6 of 26 capabilities · they match on 20/26. See the full matrix for every row side by side.

Capability Trigger.dev
  • gRPC API Trigger.dev: Partial
  • 6-Field Cron (Seconds) Trigger.dev: No
  • Incoming Webhooks Trigger.dev: Partial
  • Queue Pause/Resume Trigger.dev: Partial
  • Prometheus Metrics Trigger.dev: Partial
  • PostgreSQL Data Plane Trigger.dev: Partial

Pricing at a glance

Spooled's numbers come from the pricing page. Competitor pricing is badge-only so we don't invent precision.

Spooled Cloud

1,000 jobs/day · Starter $19 USD/mo (10,000/day) · Pro $49 USD/mo (100,000/day)

Free: Yes Flat
Pricing ↗
Trigger.dev
Free: Self-host only Usage-based
Site ↗

Switching from Trigger.dev?

Moving from Trigger.dev: replace the TypeScript task SDK with Spooled’s REST or gRPC enqueue, and run your task bodies as workers in any language. Cron, retries, and the dead-letter queue carry over directly.

Quickstart · SDKs · All comparisons

FAQ

Spooled vs Trigger.dev — FAQ

Is Spooled Cloud a good Trigger.dev alternative?
It is if you want a language-agnostic queue rather than a TypeScript-first task framework. Spooled speaks REST and gRPC from Node.js, Python, Go, PHP, or plain HTTP, and adds second-precision cron and incoming webhooks. Trigger.dev is the better fit for very long-running tasks and deep TypeScript ergonomics.
Does Spooled support long-running tasks like Trigger.dev?
Spooled stores jobs durably in Postgres and your workers run them on your own infrastructure, so there is no serverless timeout. Trigger.dev is purpose-built around very long-running, human-in-the-loop tasks and offers more tooling specifically for that case.
When should I choose Trigger.dev over Spooled?
Choose Trigger.dev for very long-running tasks without timeout pressure, human-in-the-loop workflow steps, or a deep TypeScript developer experience.
Get started

Put one real workload on a durable queue.

Try hosted Spooled with 1,000 jobs a day, or run the Apache-2.0 core against your own PostgreSQL.

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  • Open source — Apache-2.0