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?
Top comments (1)
Nice