Top 5 Developer Tools You Should Bookmark Right Now
JSON formatter, Base64 encoder, regex tester, cron parser, and hash generator — the five tools that should always be one tab away.
Let's be honest — you've Googled "JSON formatter" more times than you'd like to admit. And "regex tester"? Probably weekly. These tools exist everywhere, but most of them are buried in search results, covered in ads, or — worse — send your data to some server you'll never find again.
Here's the case for bookmarking five specific types of tools, and why Toolblip should be your go-to for all of them.
1. JSON Formatter & Validator
Debugging minified API responses is nobody's idea of a good time. A good JSON formatter takes ugly, single-line JSON and turns it into readable, syntax-highlighted code — while also catching syntax errors before they catch you. Essential for anyone working with REST or GraphQL APIs.
2. Base64 Encoder/Decoder
Encoding credentials for HTTP Basic Auth, embedding small images in CSS, handling binary data in JSON payloads — Base64 comes up constantly. The tool needs to handle encode and decode in both directions, show file sizes accurately, and not mangle your data with weird padding issues.
3. Regex Tester
Writing a regular expression without testing it is a gamble. A solid regex tester shows you matches in real-time, highlights capture groups in different colors, explains what your pattern is actually doing, and handles edge cases without crashing on malformed input.
4. Cron Expression Parser
Cron syntax looks cryptic until it doesn't. */5 9-17 * * 1-5 — wait, is that every 5 minutes during business hours on weekdays, or...? A good cron parser converts that human-unfriendly string into plain English and shows you the next N execution times. No more guessing.
5. Hash Generator (MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, etc.)
Hashing shows up in file integrity checks, password storage discussions, API signing, and a dozen other places. Being able to generate a hash from text or a file — and compare it against an expected value — saves a lot of head-scratching.
One Bookmark, Five Tools
Bookmarking five different sites is fine. Bookmarking one place that has all five — updated, fast, and private — is better. Toolblip keeps all of these in one place, with zero tracking, zero server uploads, and zero ads.
Try the tools now → — and keep this tab open. You'll be back.
Toolblip Team
Writing about developer tools, web performance, and the tools that make building faster.