I Replaced 8 Browser Tabs With One Tool I Built Myself

Pankaj Gupta — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 06:55:24 +0000

Every developer has this problem. Most just accept it.

You're debugging an API at 11pm. You have eight browser tabs open:

Tab 1: JSON formatter (covered in ads)
Tab 2: JWT decoder (is this sending my token somewhere?)
Tab 3: Base64 decoder
Tab 4: Timestamp converter
Tab 5: CSV to JSON converter
Tab 6: Regex tester
Tab 7: UUID generator
Tab 8: Some random YAML tool you found on page 2 of Google

Each one has a different interface. Half load slowly.
Two show popups asking you to sign up.
One is quietly making network requests when you paste data into it.

This was my life for 4 years.

## The moment I decided to fix it

I was debugging an auth issue and I pasted a live JWT token
into a popular online decoder. Then I opened the Network tab.

It had made a request. With my token. To a server I know
nothing about.

That JWT contained a real user's email, role, and session data.
The token was still valid.

I'd just sent it to a stranger's server.

I felt sick. Then I felt angry.

Not just at myself — but at the entire ecosystem of
"free developer tools" that don't tell you they're
collecting your data.

## So I spent 6 months building the alternative

I built JSONGate — a free, browser-based toolkit where
every single tool runs 100% client-side.

Nothing you paste ever leaves your browser.
Not to my server. Not to anyone's server.
Open the Network tab and verify it yourself.

Here's what it includes:

JSON Tools

JSON Formatter & Validator with real-time error detection
JSON Minifier
JSON Diff Checker
JSON Path Tester
JSON Schema Generator
JSON Flatten & Escape

Converters

XML → JSON
YAML → JSON
CSV → JSON
Markdown Previewer

Security & Auth

JWT Decoder & Debugger
Base64 Encoder/Decoder
Hash Generator (MD5, SHA-256)
URL Encoder/Decoder

Developer Utilities

Regex Tester with live results
Cron Expression Builder
UUID Generator
Epoch/Timestamp Converter
Number Base Converter

PDF Tools

PDF Merge
PDF Split
PDF to Image

40+ tools total. All free. All instant. All private.

## What I learned building this

1. Browser APIs are incredibly powerful now

Almost everything developers need from these tools can run
entirely in the browser. There's genuinely no reason most
of these tools need a server at all.

2. "Free" tools have a business model — you're just not told what it is

If a tool is free and doesn't show ads, ask yourself:
how do they pay for servers? Data is valuable.
Developer data — API responses, tokens, internal JSON
structures — is especially valuable.

3. Performance matters more than features

The number one feedback I got early: "it feels fast."
That's because there's no round trip. Your data never
leaves the browser so there's zero latency.

4. Developers are tired of fragmentation

The response has been overwhelming. Developers don't want
10 bookmarks for 10 tools. They want one place that works.

## The result

jsongate.com

No login. No subscription. No ads. No data collection.
Works offline. Free forever.

I use it myself every single day.

If you work with APIs, JSON, or data regularly — try it
and tell me what's missing. I build new tools based on
what developers actually ask for.

What tools do you wish existed in one place?

DEV Community: Pankaj Gupta

I Replaced 8 Browser Tabs With One Tool I Built Myself