Schedule Python Scripts with Cron and Render

Local cron

On Linux or macOS, crontab -e lets you schedule any command.

# every day at 08:00
0 8 * * * /usr/bin/python3 /home/me/clean.py

Render free web service

A small Flask app can expose a /run endpoint. An uptime monitor pings /health so the service stays awake, and a scheduler calls /run.

from flask import Flask
app = Flask(__name__)

@app.get('/health')
def health():
    return {'ok': True}

Remember

Free tiers sleep when idle and have limits. Never store secrets in code; use environment variables.