DevToys

What is DevToys?

DevToys is a free desktop application that bundles commonly needed developer utilities and runs entirely offline. No browser, no API, no account. The project is open source and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. The core idea: tools that developers need constantly, but would otherwise hunt down across a dozen different websites, all sit in one place.

Core features

• JSON and XML formatting and validation: Input can be cleaned up and checked for errors without leaving the editor.
• Text encoding and decoding: Base64, URL encoding and Unicode conversion directly in the app.
• Hash generation: Common hash algorithms available without a network connection.
• UUID generator: Random UUIDs generated locally at the click of a button.
• Regex tester: Write regular expressions, test them against text input and observe matching in real time.

Who is DevToys for?

DevToys is aimed at developers who want to handle recurring formatting and conversion tasks without sending data to external servers. In enterprise environments with strict network policies, or when working with sensitive payloads, that is a concrete advantage. Anyone who works offline a lot, or simply has no interest in browser tabs, will find a quick alternative here.

The feature set has limits. Specialised online tools often offer more depth for individual tasks, such as more detailed regex explanations or schema validation with external references. New features only arrive via manual updates.

Context & alternatives

DevToys belongs to the category of "Swiss Army Knife" developer tools as a native desktop app. The segment is small. In the browser space there are alternatives such as CyberChef (considerably more powerful, but with a steep learning curve) or various single-purpose tools on sites like transform.tools. As a native, offline-first app with no dependencies, DevToys is comparatively rare. Developers who need data to stay within the app and switch daily between encoding, hashing and formatting will reach for DevToys.