Why I built a simple text-sharing tool with expiry

Ziputils — Thu, 01 Jan 2026 14:49:06 +0000

I often needed a quick way to share text or links temporarily — things like notes, snippets, or quick information — without relying on chat apps, emails, or accounts.

Most tools I found were either too heavy or required signing up, so I decided to build something small and simple for myself.

That idea became ZipUtils — a lightweight collection of utilities that includes:

Temporary text sharing with expiry
URL shortening
QR code generation

While building it, I focused on:

Keeping the UI minimal
Avoiding unnecessary tracking
Making pages fast and mobile-friendly
Using pre-rendering for better SEO

The biggest challenge wasn’t building features, but deciding what not to add.

If you were building or using a tool like this:

What features would you expect?
What would feel unnecessary?
Is simplicity more important than flexibility?

Project link: https://ziputils.com

Text uploader: https://ziputils.com/text/
URL Shortener: https://ziputils.com/url/
QR Code Generator: https://ziputils.com/qr/

DEV Community: Ziputils

Why I built a simple text-sharing tool with expiry