TZ Mate 🕐 — Timezone Converter & World Clock

Convert times between any IANA timezones with full DST awareness, view current time across multiple locations simultaneously, or browse all available timezone identifiers.

Coordinating across timezones is one of the most error-prone tasks in global software development, remote team coordination, and international operations. TZ Mate eliminates the mental math by converting times between any two IANA timezones with automatic daylight saving time detection, returning precise UTC offsets, DST status, timezone abbreviations (EST, EDT, BST, JST, etc.), and ISO 8601 formatted results.

Set the list_zones flag to browse all 600+ IANA timezone identifiers — useful for finding the correct zone name for your locations. Convert a specific time in ISO 8601 format, or leave the time field blank to see "now" across the timezones you care about. Reference zones (New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, Sydney, etc.) are automatically included so you always have a world clock overview.

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✨ Features

• Timezone-to-timezone conversion — Convert specific times between any two valid IANA timezone identifiers (e.g., America/New_York → Asia/Tokyo)
• DST auto-detection — Automatically detects daylight saving time for each timezone on the given date, adjusting UTC offsets and returning the correct abbreviation (EST vs. EDT, GMT vs. BST)
• Current time display — Leave the time field empty to show the current time across all target timezones — a perfect world clock dashboard
• Multi-zone batch conversion — Convert a single time to multiple target timezones in one call by comma-separating zone names in to_tz
• Automatic world clock references — The response always includes a reference_zones array with current times for 16 common timezones (UTC, North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania)
• Zone listing mode — Set list_zones: true to retrieve all 600+ IANA timezone identifiers sorted alphabetically
• UTC offset in hours — Precise hour-based offset for each timezone (e.g., -4.0 for EDT, +5.5 for IST), making it easy to calculate differences without parsing ISO strings
• Timezone abbreviation — Standard abbreviations (EST, PST, BST, CET, IST, JST, AEST, etc.) for quick recognition
• ISO 8601 output — All converted times are returned in full ISO 8601 format with timezone offset (e.g., 2026-07-17T08:00:00-04:00)

🚀 Quick Start

Convert "Now" from UTC to Multiple Timezones

Input:

{
  "from_tz": "UTC",
  "to_tz": "America/New_York,Europe/London,Asia/Tokyo"
}

Response:

{
  "mode": "convert",
  "source_time": {
    "zone": "UTC",
    "time": "2026-07-17T12:00:00+00:00",
    "utc_offset": "+00:00",
    "utc_offset_hours": 0,
    "is_dst": false,
    "dst_offset": "0",
    "abbreviation": "UTC"
  },
  "conversions": [
    {
      "zone": "America/New_York",
      "time": "2026-07-17T08:00:00-04:00",
      "utc_offset": "-04:00",
      "utc_offset_hours": -4.0,
      "is_dst": true,
      "dst_offset": "1:00:00",
      "abbreviation": "EDT"
    },
    {
      "zone": "Europe/London",
      "time": "2026-07-17T13:00:00+01:00",
      "utc_offset": "+01:00",
      "utc_offset_hours": 1.0,
      "is_dst": true,
      "dst_offset": "1:00:00",
      "abbreviation": "BST"
    },
    {
      "zone": "Asia/Tokyo",
      "time": "2026-07-17T21:00:00+09:00",
      "utc_offset": "+09:00",
      "utc_offset_hours": 9.0,
      "is_dst": false,
      "dst_offset": "0",
      "abbreviation": "JST"
    }
  ],
  "reference_zones": [
    {
      "zone": "America/Chicago",
      "time": "2026-07-17T07:00:00-05:00",
      "utc_offset_hours": -5.0,
      "abbreviation": "CDT"
    }
  ],
  "timestamp": "2026-07-17T12:00:00+00:00"
}

Convert a Specific Time

Input:

{
  "from_tz": "America/New_York",
  "to_tz": "Asia/Kolkata,Asia/Shanghai,Australia/Sydney",
  "time": "2026-07-17T14:30:00"
}

This converts 2:30 PM in New York (EDT) to India, China, and Australia simultaneously.

List All Available Timezones

Input:

{
  "list_zones": true
}

Response:

{
  "mode": "list_zones",
  "count": 609,
  "zones": [
    "Africa/Abidjan",
    "Africa/Accra",
    "Africa/Addis_Ababa",
    "Africa/Algiers",
    "..."
  ],
  "note": "Showing first 200 of 609 zones. Full list available at IANA timezone DB."
}

World Clock — No Time Specified

Input:

{
  "to_tz": "Asia/Dubai,Europe/Paris,Pacific/Auckland",
  "from_tz": "UTC"
}

Returns the current time in Dubai, Paris, and Auckland, plus reference zones for your world clock dashboard.

📋 Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
from_tz	string	"UTC"	Source IANA timezone identifier (e.g., "America/New_York", "Europe/London", "Asia/Tokyo").
to_tz	string	"America/New_York,Europe/London,Asia/Tokyo"	Comma-separated target IANA timezone identifiers for conversion.
time	string	"" (current time)	Time to convert in ISO 8601 format (e.g., "2026-07-17T14:30:00"). Leave empty to use the current UTC time.
list_zones	boolean	false	Set to true to retrieve all available IANA timezone identifiers instead of performing a conversion.

Common IANA Timezone Identifiers

Identifier	Location	UTC Offset (Winter)	DST
UTC	Coordinated Universal Time	+00:00	No
America/New_York	US Eastern	-05:00 (EST)	EDT (-04:00)
America/Chicago	US Central	-06:00 (CST)	CDT (-05:00)
America/Denver	US Mountain	-07:00 (MST)	MDT (-06:00)
America/Los_Angeles	US Pacific	-08:00 (PST)	PDT (-07:00)
Europe/London	UK / Ireland	+00:00 (GMT)	BST (+01:00)
Europe/Paris	Central Europe	+01:00 (CET)	CEST (+02:00)
Europe/Berlin	Central Europe	+01:00 (CET)	CEST (+02:00)
Europe/Moscow	Russia (Moscow)	+03:00 (MSK)	No
Asia/Dubai	UAE	+04:00 (GST)	No
Asia/Kolkata	India	+05:30 (IST)	No
Asia/Shanghai	China	+08:00 (CST)	No
Asia/Tokyo	Japan	+09:00 (JST)	No
Asia/Seoul	South Korea	+09:00 (KST)	No
Australia/Sydney	Australia (Eastern)	+10:00 (AEST)	AEDT (+11:00)
Pacific/Auckland	New Zealand	+12:00 (NZST)	NZDT (+13:00)

📤 Output Format

Conversion Mode (list_zones: false)

Field	Type	Description
mode	string	Always "convert" in conversion mode
source_time	object	Source timezone information object
source_time.zone	string	Source timezone identifier
source_time.time	string	ISO 8601 formatted time in the source timezone
source_time.utc_offset	string	UTC offset as string (e.g., "+00:00", "-04:00")
source_time.utc_offset_hours	number	UTC offset in hours (e.g., -4.0, +5.5)
source_time.is_dst	boolean	Whether DST is active in the source timezone
source_time.dst_offset	string	DST offset string (e.g., "1:00:00") or "0" if no DST
source_time.abbreviation	string	Timezone abbreviation (UTC, EDT, BST, JST, etc.)
conversions	array	Array of target timezone conversion results
conversions[].zone	string	Target timezone identifier
conversions[].time	string	ISO 8601 formatted converted time
conversions[].utc_offset	string	UTC offset as string
conversions[].utc_offset_hours	number	UTC offset in hours
conversions[].is_dst	boolean	Whether DST is active in this timezone
conversions[].dst_offset	string	DST offset string
conversions[].abbreviation	string	Timezone abbreviation
conversions[].error	string	Error message if the zone is invalid
reference_zones	array	Current times for 10+ common timezones (world clock overview)
timestamp	string	ISO 8601 UTC timestamp of when the conversion was performed

Zone Listing Mode (list_zones: true)

Field	Type	Description
mode	string	Always "list_zones" in listing mode
count	integer	Total number of available IANA timezones
zones	array	First 200 zone identifiers (alphabetically sorted)
note	string	Information notice about the complete zone list

📖 Usage Examples

cURL (Apify API)

# Convert UTC to multiple timezones
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/perryay~tz-mate/runs" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"from_tz": "UTC", "to_tz": "America/New_York,Europe/London,Asia/Tokyo"}'

# List all available timezones
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/perryay~tz-mate/runs" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"list_zones": true}'

# Convert a specific time
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/perryay~tz-mate/runs" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"from_tz": "America/New_York", "to_tz": "Asia/Kolkata", "time": "2026-07-17T14:30:00"}'

Python (Apify SDK)

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_API_TOKEN")

# Convert time
result = client.actor("perryay~tz-mate").call(
    run_input={
        "from_tz": "America/New_York",
        "to_tz": "Europe/Paris,Asia/Shanghai,Australia/Sydney",
        "time": "2026-07-17T09:00:00",
    }
)
dataset = client.dataset(result["defaultDatasetId"]).list_items()
for item in dataset.items:
    if item.get("mode") == "convert":
        print(f"Source: {item['source_time']['zone']} — {item['source_time']['time']} ({item['source_time']['abbreviation']})")
        print()
        for conv in item["conversions"]:
            offset = conv["utc_offset_hours"]
            dst = " (DST)" if conv["is_dst"] else ""
            print(f"{conv['zone']}: {conv['time']} ({conv['abbreviation']}) UTC{offset:+g}{dst}")

JavaScript / Node.js (Apify SDK)

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_API_TOKEN' });

const result = await client.actor('perryay~tz-mate').call({
  from_tz: 'America/New_York',
  to_tz: 'Europe/Paris,Asia/Tokyo',
  time: '2026-07-17T09:00:00',
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(result.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
for (const item of items) {
  if (item.mode === 'convert') {
    console.log(`Source: ${item.source_time.zone} — ${item.source_time.time}`);
    for (const conv of item.conversions) {
      console.log(`${conv.zone}: ${conv.time} (${conv.abbreviation})`);
    }
  }
}

🎯 Use Cases

• Remote team coordination — Quickly check "what time is it for everyone" when scheduling meetings across distributed teams. Convert meeting times from your timezone to all team locations simultaneously.
• Global event scheduling — Plan webinars, product launches, and live events that span multiple timezones. Convert the event time and immediately see the equivalent time in all target markets.
• Travel planning — Before traveling, check the time difference and DST status for your destination. Know whether to expect jet-lag-friendly or challenging timezone shifts.
• API and service scheduling — Convert cron job times, maintenance windows, and deployment schedules between your team's local time and the server's UTC timezone.
• International deadline management — Track submission deadlines, contract dates, and compliance cutoff times across offices in different countries and timezones.
• E-commerce timezone display — Use the conversion logic to display accurate delivery windows, flash sale start times, and customer support hours in each buyer's local timezone.
• Financial market tracking — Convert market open/close times (NYSE: 9:30 AM ET, LSE: 8:00 AM GMT, TSE: 9:00 AM JST) to your local time for cross-market trading and analysis.
• Software localization testing — Verify that your application correctly handles timezone conversions, DST transitions, and date display for users in all supported regions.

❓ FAQ

Q: What timezone database is used? A: The actor uses Python's zoneinfo module, which relies on the IANA Time Zone Database (also known as the Olson database). This is the same authoritative database used by most operating systems and programming languages.

Q: Are all IANA timezone identifiers supported? A: Yes. The actor supports all 600+ IANA timezone identifiers. Use list_zones: true to see the complete list. Common identifiers include continent/city format (e.g., America/New_York, Europe/Paris, Asia/Shanghai).

Q: How does DST detection work? A: DST is determined automatically by the IANA database for the specific date being converted. The is_dst field in the response indicates whether DST is active, and the dst_offset field shows the DST adjustment amount. The abbreviation reflects the DST-aware abbreviation (e.g., EST vs. EDT, GMT vs. BST).

Q: What happens during DST transition periods? A: The IANA database handles spring-forward and fall-back transitions correctly. During the "fall-back" period (when clocks are set back), the ambiguous hour is resolved using the standard (non-DST) time. During "spring-forward," non-existent times are adjusted forward.

Q: What time format should I use for the time parameter? A: ISO 8601 format: YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS (e.g., 2026-07-17T14:30:00). If no timezone offset is included in the input, the time is interpreted as being in the from_tz timezone. If no time is provided, the current UTC time is used.

Q: Can I convert between more than two timezones at once? A: Yes. The to_tz parameter accepts multiple comma-separated zone identifiers (e.g., "America/New_York,Europe/London,Asia/Tokyo"). Each target zone is converted independently and returned in the conversions array.

Q: What are UTC offset hours? A: The utc_offset_hours field represents the UTC offset as a decimal number of hours (e.g., -4.0 for EDT, +5.5 for IST, +9.0 for JST). This makes it easy to compute time differences without parsing ISO 8601 offset strings.

Q: Why do some timezones not have DST? A: Many countries and regions do not observe daylight saving time, including most of Asia (China, Japan, India, Korea), parts of North America (Arizona, Hawaii), Russia, and most of Africa and South America. The IANA database encodes these rules accurately.

Q: Is there a limit on how many conversions I can do? A: The to_tz field accepts any number of comma-separated zones, but response size grows with each additional zone. For practical purposes, 5-10 target zones provide a comprehensive overview without excessive output.

🛠 Tips & Best Practices

• Use UTC as the source for server-side time — Most servers and databases work in UTC. Use from_tz: "UTC" as your default to convert server timestamps into any human-readable local timezone.
• Check DST status before scheduling — Always verify is_dst when scheduling recurring events across DST transition dates. A meeting that starts at 10:00 AM EST in January becomes an 11:00 AM EDT meeting in March in UTC terms.
• Include time for precise history or future dates — Without time, the actor uses the current moment. For historical analysis or future planning, always specify the exact ISO 8601 timestamp.
• Use the reference zones as a world clock — The reference_zones array provides current times for 16 major timezones regardless of your conversion targets. Use this as a dashboard for quick global awareness.
• Validate zone names with list_zones — If you're unsure about a timezone name, run list_zones: true first to find the exact IANA identifier. Common mistakes: US/Eastern (wrong) → America/New_York (correct), Asia/Calcutta (deprecated) → Asia/Kolkata (modern).
• Combine with IP Geo for localization — Use the IP Geo actor to detect a user's timezone from their IP address, then pass that timezone to TZ Mate for personalized time displays in your application.
• Cache zone lists — The IANA timezone list rarely changes. Cache it locally and refresh monthly rather than calling list_zones on every run.

🌍 Reference Zone Coverage

The actor automatically includes current time information for these reference zones in every conversion response:

Zone	Covers
UTC	Universal Coordinated Time
America/New_York	US East Coast, Eastern Canada
America/Chicago	US Central, Central Canada, Mexico City
America/Denver	US Mountain, Western Canada
America/Los_Angeles	US West Coast, British Columbia
Europe/London	UK, Ireland, Portugal (winter)
Europe/Paris	France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Central Europe
Europe/Berlin	Germany, Central Europe
Europe/Moscow	Russia (Moscow time), Eastern Europe
Asia/Dubai	UAE, Gulf States
Asia/Kolkata	India, Sri Lanka
Asia/Shanghai	China, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines
Asia/Tokyo	Japan, Korea
Asia/Seoul	South Korea
Australia/Sydney	East Coast Australia, Tasmania
Pacific/Auckland	New Zealand, Fiji

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