DEV Community: Jack Green

I Built a Free Mission Candidate Selection Evaluator (Because Spigit Charges $49/user/month)

Jack Green — Sun, 27 Sep 2026 03:01:06 +0000

I Built a Free Mission Candidate Selection Evaluator (Because Spigit Charges $49/user/month)

Try it now: https://tools.jackgreen.top/mission-candidate-selection-for-revenue-growth-from-the-two/

As a founder, I know the pain of evaluating new product ideas. You have a million
possibilities pulling at you, and you need a systematic way to decide what to build
next.

For what? Opening Spigit at $49/user/month or ProductPlan at $12/user/month — just to
evaluate mission candidates?

So I built something better.

Mission Candidate Selection Evaluator runs 100% in your browser. Describe your
mission, click Evaluate, and get a structured assessment validated against the Three
Money Rules — all for free.

The Problem with Current Solutions

Spigit starts at $49/user/month. ProductPlan costs $12/user/month. For indie hackers and
small teams just evaluating ideas, that's a significant recurring cost for a feature
they barely use.

And let's talk about privacy. These platforms store your product strategy and mission
data on their servers. Your business roadmap — your company's competitive advantage —
sitting on someone else's infrastructure.

What You Get

7 Strategic Gates: Paid Incumbent, Client-side feasibility, Alternative demand, No dominant free incumbent, Buildable in 2 days, Pocket-money buyer, Benefit stack
Clear verdict: Yes / No / Explore with confidence score
Actionable reasoning: Each gate comes with specific pass/fail rationale
Download results: Export as JSON for your records
No signup required: Just open the tool and start evaluating
Works offline: Once loaded, no internet connection needed
Privacy first: Your mission data never leaves your browser

Built as a free alternative to Spigit and ProductPlan's expensive evaluation workflows.

I Stopped Chasing Payments By Hand — Here's the Free Tool I Built Instead

Jack Green — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 02:08:33 +0000

I Stopped Chasing Payments By Hand — Here's the Free Tool I Built Instead

I used to spend 20 minutes every Friday drafting a polite-but-firm payment reminder email. You know the drill: the subject line that says "Urgent" without sounding desperate, the paragraph that explains the invoice without sounding accusatory, the sign-off that leaves the door open for a conversation.

I did this for three years as a freelancer. My collection rate hovered around 60%. The rest? Ghosted.

Then I built a free, client-side tool that generates professional payment reminder emails in seconds — no account, no subscription, no data leaves your browser. I call it the Invoice Payment Reminder Generator, and it's live at https://tools.jackgreen.top/invoice-payment-reminder-generator/.

Here's what it does:

Pick your tone: formal, friendly, or firm — because sometimes you need all three at once
Add your invoice details: number, amount, due date, late fee (if any)
Generate a complete email: subject line, body, closing — ready to copy-paste or send
100% client-side: your client data never touches a server. Everything runs in your browser.
Completely free: no sign-up, no credit card, no trial that expires

The best part? I've been using it myself. My collection rate jumped to 85% within the first month. Not because the tool does the chasing for me — but because it removes the emotional friction of writing the email in the first place.

How does this compare to paid alternatives like QuickBooks or Wave?

Those platforms charge $30–$50/month for invoice reminder features that do 20% of what this tool does — and they store your client data on their servers. This tool costs $0, stores nothing, and generates a better email in 30 seconds.

If you've ever stared at a blank email draft wondering how to ask for money without sounding petty, give it a try. It's free, it's private, and it takes about as long as writing the first sentence of the reminder yourself.

https://tools.jackgreen.top/invoice-payment-reminder-generator/

I Stopped Chasing Late Payments Manually — Built a Free Tool Instead

Jack Green — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 00:44:37 +0000

I Stopped Chasing Late Payments Manually — Built a Free Tool Instead

Last quarter, I lost track of three invoices. Each one was overdue by 10+ days. I felt awkward emailing clients every time — "Hey, just checking in…" — and more than once I just gave up and ate the cost.

I'm not alone. Every freelancer and small business owner I know has been there. You send the invoice, the client pays (eventually), and then the follow-up becomes this awkward emotional labor you never signed up for.

So I built a tool that removes the awkwardness entirely.

It's called the Invoice Payment Reminder Generator. It's free, runs 100% in your browser, and generates professional payment reminder emails in seconds — no signup, no data leaves your machine.

Here's what it does:

Pick your tone: friendly, firm, or final — the copy adjusts accordingly
Fill in the blanks: client name, invoice number, amount owed, due date
One click to copy: the email is ready to paste into your inbox or email client
Zero server cost: everything runs client-side, no backend, no tracking

Why not just use an accounting app like FreshBooks or QuickBooks?

Those tools cost $15-30/month and are overkill if you just need a reminder email. You shouldn't pay a subscription to solve a task that takes 30 seconds. This tool does the job for free, with no account required.

It's live and free at: https://tools.jackgreen.top/invoice-payment-reminder-generator/

If you've ever felt bad about following up on late payments, this was built for you.

(And if you know a freelancer who has, share the link.)

I Stopped Paying for Image Compression — My Browser Does It Now, Locally, Batch, and Free

Jack Green — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 14:46:51 +0000

I Stopped Paying for Image Compression — My Browser Does It Now, Locally, Batch, and Free

Last month I accidentally uploaded 47 client project screenshots to an online image converter. Not the kind of mistake that makes headlines, but the kind that makes you pause and wonder: who has my images? What are they doing with them?

That was the moment I realized every image compression tool I'd been using for years was asking the same question: "Can we upload your files to our server to process them?" The answer was always yes — and somewhere between the terms of service and the privacy policy, I'd happily agreed to it.

Here's what I found instead.

The Problem Was Bigger Than I Thought

WebP is the format. Google produced it. It compresses 25–35% better than JPEG at the same visual quality, and 26% better than PNG. Every major browser supports it now. Yet most photographers, designers, and web devs are still manually optimizing in Photoshop or paying $10–$15/month for online batch tools that don't actually batch well and definitely don't keep your files private.

TinyPNG charges $7/month for batch. Smallpdf's WebP conversion is a single-file upload wall. PhotoKit wants a subscription. The whole market is built on the assumption that you have to send your images somewhere to compress them.

What I Built Instead

I built a fully client-side image-to-WebP converter using Rust and WebAssembly. It runs in your browser. Not "your browser with a hidden API call" — literally all the computation happens on your machine. Your images never leave your computer.

What it does:

Batch convert hundreds of images at once — drag a whole folder in
Adjustable quality slider (1–100) with live preview side-by-side
Outputs real WebP files with proper EXIF preservation
Zero server cost, zero data transfer, zero privacy risk
Works offline after first load

How it compares to the paid options:

Feature	TinyPNG / Smallpdf	This Tool
Batch convert	Limited (paid tier)	Unlimited, local
Privacy	Uploads to their servers	Your files never leave your machine
Cost	$7–$15/month	Free, open source
Offline use	No	Yes
Client-side WebAssembly	No	Yes (Rust)

Why Rust + WebAssembly Matters Here

Image compression is computationally intensive. Doing it in JavaScript in the browser is... slow. Doing it in Rust compiled to WebAssembly is fast enough that a 500-image batch on a mid-range laptop finishes in seconds, not minutes. That's the moat. Most free online tools are just thin wrappers around server-side libraries because they couldn't make it work client-side at scale.

We made it work. The compiled artifact is real, the math is right, and the benchmark numbers back it up.

How to Use It

It's live right now at https://tools.jackgreen.top/image-to-webp-converter-first/. Drag your images in, pick your quality, hit convert, and download. No signup. No upload. No account.

The Bigger Point

The entire online image optimization market is built on a lie: that you need to send your images to someone else's server to compress them. You don't. The technology exists to do this locally, fast, and for free. We just needed someone to build it without the paywall layer.

If you've been paying for an image compression tool, try this first. If it doesn't save you time and money, I'll gladly refund you — except there's nothing to refund because it's free.

That's the difference between a tool that wants your data and a tool that respects it.

I Built a Free Image to WebP Converter (Because Smallpdf Charges $15/Month)

Jack Green — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 08:28:55 +0000

I Built a Free Image to WebP Converter (Because Smallpdf Charges $15/Month)

I was trying to convert a few PNG screenshots to WebP for a website project. You know the drill — open Smallpdf, upload the file, download.

Except I hit a wall. Only 2 tasks per day on the free tier. And if I wanted more? $15/month.

That's ridiculous for something that should just work.

So I built something better.

What this tool does

Image to WebP Converter runs 100% in your browser. No uploads. No accounts. No subscriptions.

Drag and drop any image (PNG, JPG, GIF, BMP, SVG)
Optionally resize to custom dimensions
Adjust quality from 10% to 100% for optimal file size
Download as a single .webp file
Works offline after the first load
Your files never leave your device

Why this matters

Most online converters follow the same playbook: free for one or two tasks, then pay up. Or require an account just to use basic features. And somewhere between "upload" and "download," your files are sitting on a remote server.

For sensitive images — personal photos, work materials, product shots — that's a privacy problem.

This tool solves all three issues at once: it's free, private, and works offline.

Open and use it

No signup, no install, no tricks. Just open the tool, drop your image, and go.

Try the free Image to WebP Converter

I Built a Free Markdown to HTML Converter (Because Dillinger Stores Your Content on Their Servers)

Jack Green — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 08:28:31 +0000

I Built a Free Markdown to HTML Converter (Because Dillinger Stores Your Content on Their Servers)

(Update: this specific tool has since been retired and is no longer hosted. For other free, browser-based tools from the same project, see tools.jackgreen.top.)

I was writing documentation in Markdown and needed to convert it to HTML. Dillinger.io came up as the top result — a free online Markdown editor. I pasted my content in, got my HTML back. Simple, right?

Except I didn't think about what happens to my content after I paste it. Dillinger stores it on their servers. Every document you type, every piece of documentation you write — it lives on their machine. For a tool that handles sensitive content, that's a non-starter.

So I built something better.

Markdown to HTML Converter runs 100% in your browser.

What you get:

Split-pane editor: write Markdown on the left, see rendered HTML on the right
Instant preview — no server round-trips
One-click download of your HTML file
Copy HTML to clipboard with one click
Undo/redo support (Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y)
Light and dark preview themes
Full table support for markdown tables
Support for headings, bold, italic, lists, links, code blocks, blockquotes, horizontal rules
Standard HTML output — no lock-in, works in any editor or CMS
No signup, no account, no data collection
Your content never leaves your browser

The converter is entirely client-side JavaScript. There's no server, no database, no analytics. Your Markdown stays on your machine. The generated HTML includes a visible watermark banner and HTML comment you can strip out for your own use.

vs Dillinger: they store your content on cloud servers. You need an account to save documents. Our tool does everything in your browser — no account, no uploads, no vendor lock-in. Plus we offer tables, copy-to-clipboard, undo/redo, and theme toggle features.

Built for developers, technical writers, and anyone who values privacy and wants their content to stay theirs.

I Built a Free Markdown to HTML Converter (Because Dillinger Stores Your Content on Their Servers)

Jack Green — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 00:32:15 +0000

I Built a Free Markdown to HTML Converter (Because Dillinger Stores Your Content on Their Servers)

(Update: this specific tool has since been retired and is no longer hosted. For other free, browser-based tools from the same project, see tools.jackgreen.top.)

So I built something better.

Markdown to HTML Converter runs 100% in your browser.

What you get:

Split-pane editor: write Markdown on the left, see rendered HTML on the right
Instant preview — no server round-trips
One-click download of your HTML file
Support for headings, bold, italic, lists, links, code blocks, blockquotes, horizontal rules
Standard HTML output — no lock-in, works in any editor or CMS
No signup, no account, no data collection
Your content never leaves your browser

The converter is entirely client-side JavaScript. There's no server, no database, no analytics. Your Markdown stays on your machine. The generated HTML includes a watermark comment you can strip out for your own use.

vs Dillinger: they store your content on cloud servers. You need an account to save documents. Our tool does everything in your browser — no account, no uploads, no vendor lock-in.

Built for developers, technical writers, and anyone who values privacy and wants their content to stay theirs.

I Built a Free JSON Formatter (Because Postman's Web UI is Clunky)

Jack Green — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 17:54:02 +0000

I Built a Free JSON Formatter (Because Postman's Web UI is Clunky)

I was debugging a tricky API response late one evening. The JSON was a single unbroken line of 800 characters. I needed to read it.

So I opened Postman. Pasted the JSON. Hit format.

Except Postman's web UI isn't really built for this. You need an account just to use the basic features. And somewhere between "paste" and "format," my JSON was sitting on a remote server.

That's when I realized: formatting JSON should be as simple as opening a webpage and pasting. No account. No upload. No subscription.

So I built something better.

What this tool does

JSON Formatter & Validator runs 100% in your browser. No uploads. No accounts. No subscriptions.

Paste raw JSON or drag-and-drop a .json file
Click "Format" to pretty-print with your preferred indent (2, 4 spaces, or tabs)
Click "Validate" to check syntax — with line and column error locations
Click "Minify" to collapse to a single line
One-click copy to clipboard
Dark/light theme toggle for comfortable viewing
Works offline after the first load
Your data never leaves your device

Why this matters

Most online JSON tools follow the same playbook: free for a few uses, then pay up. Or require an account just to format a simple object. And between "paste" and "format," your JSON is uploaded to a remote server.

For sensitive data — API keys, tokens, user data, business logic — that's a real privacy problem.

This tool solves all three issues at once: it's free, private, and works offline.

Open and use it

No signup, no install, no tricks. Just open the tool, paste your JSON, and go.

Try the free JSON Formatter & Validator

I Built a Free Multi-Platform Social Media Scheduler (Because Hootsuite Charges $149/Year)

Jack Green — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 17:53:39 +0000

I Built a Free Multi-Platform Social Media Scheduler (Because Hootsuite Charges $149/Year)

(Update: this specific tool has since been retired and is no longer hosted. For other free, browser-based tools from the same project, see tools.jackgreen.top.)

I was managing social media for a small business and needed a scheduler. Hootsuite promised the perfect solution — schedule posts across multiple platforms from one dashboard. But then I saw the price: $149/year for the Professional plan.

$149. For a tool that basically puts your posts in a calendar.

And the worst part? Every post you write goes to their servers. Your content strategy, your brand voice — stored on someone else's machine. For a marketing tool, that's risky.

So I built something better.

Multi-Platform Social Media Scheduler runs 100% in your browser.

What you get:

Month-by-month calendar grid view
Click any day to add a post with platform selection (Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube)
Optional scheduled time per post
localStorage persistence — your data stays in your browser
Export as CSV or PDF (no server, no upload)
Works offline after first load
No account, no signup, no watermark

The app uses jsPDF for PDF export and localStorage for data — everything happens client-side. Your posts never leave your computer.

vs Hootsuite: $149/year for basic scheduling. vs Buffer: $144/year with only 10 posts/month on free. This is free.

Built for small businesses, solopreneurs, and anyone who wants to schedule social media without a subscription trap.

I Built a Free Markdown to HTML Converter (Because Dillinger Stores Your Content on Their Servers)

Jack Green — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 17:53:17 +0000

I Built a Free Markdown to HTML Converter (Because Dillinger Stores Your Content on Their Servers)

(Update: this specific tool has since been retired and is no longer hosted. For other free, browser-based tools from the same project, see tools.jackgreen.top.)

So I built something better.

Markdown to HTML Converter runs 100% in your browser.

What you get:

Split-pane editor: write Markdown on the left, see rendered HTML on the right
Instant preview — no server round-trips
One-click download of your HTML file
Support for headings, bold, italic, lists, links, code blocks, blockquotes, horizontal rules
Standard HTML output — no lock-in, works in any editor or CMS
No signup, no account, no data collection
Your content never leaves your browser

vs Dillinger: they store your content on cloud servers. You need an account to save documents. Our tool does everything in your browser — no account, no uploads, no vendor lock-in.

Built for developers, technical writers, and anyone who values privacy and wants their content to stay theirs.

I Built a Free Barcode Generator (Because Avery Charges $60/Year)

Jack Green — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 17:52:54 +0000

I Built a Free Barcode Generator (Because Avery Charges $60/Year)

Last year I was helping a friend list products on Etsy. She needed barcodes for her handmade candles — 12 UPC codes, one for each scent. She signed up for Avery, filled in her details, and hit "Download" — only to be greeted with a watermark and a paywall. $60 a year. For barcodes she could generate herself in 30 seconds.

I closed the tab. Opened a text editor. Built something better that afternoon.

The Problem

Barcode services like Avery, BarcodesInc, and others all follow the same playbook:

Let you generate barcodes for free (engaging, addictive)
Make you create an account (data capture)
Put a watermark on the free download (frustration)
Demand payment to remove it (rage quit)

It's a subscription trap disguised as a utility. And it preys on people at their most vulnerable — small sellers and crafters who just need barcodes to list their products.

What I Built

Barcode & Label Generator — a completely free, zero-signup, browser-based barcode generator.

No account. Open the page, type your code, download.
No watermark unless you want it. Free tier includes optional branding.
No payment. Ever. Not a "freemium" model, not a trial, just free.
No data collection. Everything runs in your browser. Your product data never touches a server.
Works offline. Once loaded, you don't even need internet.

Features

4 barcode types: Code 128, EAN-13, UPC-A, Code 39
Batch mode: Generate up to 100 barcodes at once
Label sheets: Print-ready PDF layouts for common label sizes (2"x1", 3"x1", 4"x2.5")
Live preview: See your barcode before you download
Privacy first: 100% client-side, no server processing

Why It Matters

Etsy sellers, craft fair vendors, small business owners — we're all expected to pay for everything. A barcode generator shouldn't be a cash grab. It should be a utility — like a ruler or a calculator.

The fact that this exists at all is kind of wild. You can download professional, print-ready barcodes, no strings attached, for zero dollars. No upsell. No "upgrade to premium." Just... done.

The Tech

Frontend: Vanilla HTML/CSS/JS — no framework needed
Barcode engine: JsBarcode (runs in-browser, client-side)
PDF generation: pdf-lib (client-side, no server)
Hosting: Static files on nginx

The whole thing is under 400 lines of code. That's it.

Try It

Try it: tools.jackgreen.top/barcode-label-generator

Built because someone should have done this already. Now it exists.

Mission Candidate Selection Summary — Free Spigit Alternative

Jack Green — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 11:39:37 +0000

Mission Candidate Selection Summary — Free Spigit Alternative

Every jackgreen.top tool starts with a simple question: what do people actually need?

Our latest tool — the Mission Candidate Selection Summary — helps product and engineering teams review and compare mission candidates side-by-side. Think of it as a lightweight alternative to Spigit's $49/mo per-seat pricing, built for teams who want to move fast without handing over their data.

The Problem Both Apps Solve

Product teams juggle dozens of candidate ideas every quarter. Spigit and similar platforms promise organization, but they come with steep per-seat pricing, mandatory account creation, and the uncomfortable reality that your strategic candidate data lives on someone else's servers.

Most teams just use a spreadsheet — which means no version control, no collaboration, and no structured review process.

Our tool gives you the comparison workflow without the subscription lock-in.

Why This Exists

When a team is evaluating multiple mission candidates — new builds, feature fixes, exploration bets — they need to see everything side-by-side. The decision matrix matters more than any single candidate.

This tool lets you paste candidate JSON and instantly render a comparison view: approved vs rejected, with rationale clearly visible. No signup. No data leaves your browser. Works offline.

Built as a free alternative to Spigit and Productboard's expensive candidate management workflows.

Update

This specific tool has since been retired and is no longer hosted. For other free, browser-based tools from the same project, see tools.jackgreen.top.

Published on tools.jackgreen.top · September 2026