Modal Cron
Schedule Python functions and serverless compute jobs, including ML and container workloads.
- Free credit
- $30
- Credit window
- 30 days
- Card required
- No
Modal Cron scores 5.2/10 for free value in Schedulers. The main constraint: Starter includes recurring compute credit according to current Modal pricing; heavy jobs can exhaust it quickly.
Free value score
5.2 / 10Show the math
Key metrics
What you get
Cron schedules for Modal functions
Serverless Python and container execution
Good for compute-heavy scheduled work
Gotchas
- $30/month free compute credits
Starter plan includes $30 of compute credits each month that reset on the billing cycle; heavy GPU or CPU workloads can exhaust this quickly.
- 5 deployed crons max
Starter tier hard-caps you at 5 simultaneously deployed cron schedules; upgrading to Team ($250/mo) removes the limit.
- 8 deployed webhook endpoints
Only 8 web-function endpoints can be deployed at once on the Starter plan.
- 1-day log retention only
Logs are retained for just 1 day on the Starter plan versus 30 days on Team, making debugging scheduled jobs painful.
- 3 workspace seats included
Starter allows up to 3 collaborators; Team plan offers unlimited seats.
- 100 container / 10 GPU concurrency cap
Maximum of 100 concurrent containers and 10 simultaneous GPU containers; burst workloads above this will queue or fail.
- No custom domains or static IP
Custom domains and static IP proxy are Team/Enterprise-only features, limiting production webhook deployments.
- No deployment rollbacks
Deployment rollbacks (3 versions) are a Team-tier feature; Starter has no rollback capability.
- No SSO, audit logs, or HIPAA
Enterprise security features (Okta SSO, audit logs, HIPAA compatibility, RBAC) are unavailable on the free tier.
- Startup/academic credits need approval
Additional free compute (startup grants or up to $10k academic grants) require an application and manual approval from Modal.
Sources
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"Starter $0 + compute / month ... $30 / month free credits ... 100 containers + 10 GPU concurrency"
https://modal.com/pricing -
"Cron jobs 5 deployed crons ... Webhooks 8 deployed endpoints ... Containers 100 ... GPU concurrency 10 ... Deployed apps 200 ... Log retention 1 day"
https://modal.com/pricing -
"AI startup Modal raised $355 million in a new round of financing, valuing the company at $4.65 billion, CEO Erik Bernhardsson told Reuters."
https://www.reuters.com/business/modal-labs-valued-465-billion-ai-coding-takes-off-2026-05-21/ -
"modal.Cron gives you finer control using cron syntax: @app.function(schedule=modal.Cron("0 8 * * 1"))"
https://modal.com/docs/guide/cron