We have all done it. You are mid-debug, you need to pretty-print a chunk of JSON, so you paste it into the first "JSON formatter online" result you find. Then you remember that JSON had an auth token in it. Now it lives on someone else's server.
That nagging feeling is why I keep coming back to tools that run entirely in the browser. No upload, no account, no "we value your privacy" banner hiding a tracker. The page loads, JavaScript does the work on your machine, and nothing gets sent anywhere.
Below are 10 of these I actually use, all from Pixellize. They are free, there is no signup, and you can open your network tab and watch them make zero requests while they work. Open one in a tab and pin it.
1. JSON Formatter, Validator, and Tree View
The everyday one. Paste minified JSON, get it back indented, validated, and as a collapsible tree so you can actually navigate a deep payload.
// in
{"user":{"id":7,"roles":["admin","editor"],"active":true}}
// out
{
"user": {
"id": 7,
"roles": ["admin", "editor"],
"active": true
}
}
The validator catches the trailing comma you cannot see at 2am. Tool: JSON Formatter.
2. CSS Compressor
Strips whitespace, comments, and the last newline from a stylesheet before you ship it. Handy when a build step is overkill and you just want a quick minified blob.
/* before */
.btn {
color: #754ffe;
padding: 12px 20px;
}
/* after */
.btn{color:#754ffe;padding:12px 20px}
Tool: CSS Compressor.
3. Hash Generator
MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, and friends from any string, computed in the browser with the Web Crypto API. Good for checksums, cache keys, or comparing a file hash without installing anything.
sha256("hello") = 2cf24dba5fb0a30e26e83b2ac5b9e29e1b161e5c1fa7425e73043362938b9824
Because it runs locally, you can hash something sensitive without it touching a server. Tool: Hash Generator.
4. Unix Timestamp Converter
The one I open three times a day. Paste a 1717900000, get a human date in your timezone and UTC. Go the other way too.
1717900000 -> Sat, 08 Jun 2024 23:46:40 UTC
No more new Date(ts * 1000) in the console just to read a log line. Tool: Unix Timestamp Converter.
5. CSS Grid Generator
A visual way to build a grid-template and copy the CSS out. You drag the columns and rows, set gaps, and it hands you working code instead of you counting fr units by hand.
.grid {
display: grid;
grid-template-columns: 1fr 2fr 1fr;
grid-template-rows: auto;
gap: 16px;
}
Tool: CSS Grid Generator.
6. Case Converter
Rename-variable energy. Flip text between camelCase, snake_case, kebab-case, PascalCase, and UPPER/lower in one click. Saves you from hand-editing a list of 30 field names.
user profile id -> userProfileId / user_profile_id / user-profile-id
Tool: Case Converter.
7. Password Generator
Generates strong random passwords (and decent API-key-style strings) using the browser's crypto randomness, not Math.random(). Set the length, toggle symbols, copy. Since it never phones home, the value you generate is only ever in your clipboard.
Tool: Password Generator.
8. QR Code Generator
Drop in a URL, get a QR code you can download. Useful for a quick "open this on your phone" during testing, linking a staging build, or a deploy that needs a device check. Generated client-side, so a private staging URL does not leak to a QR service.
Tool: QR Code Generator.
9. Color Palette Generator
Build a coherent palette when you do not have a designer on call. Pick a base color, get tints, shades, and matching accents with their hex values ready to paste into your tokens.
:root {
--brand: #754ffe;
--brand-600: #5f3fe0;
--brand-100: #efe9ff;
}
Tool: Color Palette Generator.
10. Lorem Ipsum Generator
The unglamorous workhorse. Generate placeholder paragraphs, sentences, or words to fill a layout before the real copy shows up. Pick the count, copy, move on.
Tool: Lorem Ipsum Generator.
Why "in the browser" actually matters
It is not just a privacy nicety. Client-side tools are also:
- Faster. No round trip to a server, so the result is instant even on a flaky connection.
- Offline-friendly. Once the page is loaded, most of these keep working with the network off.
- Honest about your data. You can verify the claim yourself: open DevTools, watch the Network tab, run the tool, and see nothing leave the page.
That last point is the one I care about most. "We do not store your files" is a promise. Zero network requests is a fact you can check.
The rest of the kit
Pixellize has around 130 of these in total, including PDF tools, image utilities, and SEO checkers, all the same way: free, no signup, in your browser. If you live in the browser dev tools all day, the full toolbox is worth a bookmark.
What is the one small utility you open every single day? Drop it in the comments. I am always looking for the next tab to pin.
