JSON has become a standard structured data format for transferring information using web APIs. However, sometimes JSON needs a little polishing up. Below, we’ll give a high-level overview of JSON and explore 25+ parsing and validation tools to help beautify your JSON.

Why JSON?

JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is a standard text-oriented format based on JavaScript object syntax to represent structured data. You can use JSON independently of JavaScript, but it strongly resembles JavaScript object literal syntax, and several programming environments can interpret (parse) and create JSON.

JSON is used for serializing and transmitting structured data over a network connection. Thus, JSON is widely adopted in web services and APIs — enabling web applications to transfer and retrieve data with a common format. JSON can be used with many modern programming languages.

For a time, the only choice for open data interchange was the eXtensible Markup Language (XML). However, over the years, JavaScript significantly expanded in use. Nowadays, JSON is more compatible, lightweight, and relatively easy to use compared to other formats for open data sharing.

Using JSON

JSON is very useful when transferring data over a network. To access the info, you must translate it into a native JavaScript object. JavaScript has a global JSON object with methods for translating between the two — this is not a major problem.

Writing JSON code isn’t a huge task but, validating and parsing JSON is a bit difficult. When you print JSON through a program, it becomes difficult to understand what’s written inside since all the formatting is removed when the code is compiled. Have a look at the example below:

{"name": "Vyom Srivastava","website": "geekyhumans.com","address": {"city": "New York","country": "USA"}}

Can you understand from where the inner JSON starts? Are you able to clearly understand the fields and values? It might look easy right now, but when you’re dealing with a massive chunk of JSON, you’ll get confused.

Now, check the below example:

{
	"name": "Vyom Srivastava",
	"website": "geekyhumans.com",
	"address": {
		"city": "New York",
		"country": "USA"
	}
}

Looks easy to read, right? This is where JSON formatters, validators, and parsers come into play. To save JSON validation time, you can copy and paste it into any tool, and you’ll get a beautified, easy-to-understand JSON. Other JSON tools can integrate directly into your development toolchain.

A variety of JSON resources are available, and each comes with a range of distinctive features and constraints. Of course, your particular requirements will determine which resources to use. In any case, comparing all such tools would go a long way to equip you with unique JSON abilities.

1. JTC

JTC, short for “JSON test console,” is a CLI for downloading, editing, and transforming source JSON. JTC can be used by developers to pick one or more elements from the JSON source and implement actions to all these entities in one go, including binding key aspects in a new File, filtering in and out, or modifying elements. The user interface allows you to use a single order to implement the majority of the improvements. Compiled binaries are available for download For Linux and macOS.

Pros

• It is an open-source tool.
• It not only validates a JSON but also allows you to update, copy, move and swap.

Cons

• It can only run on terminal, no UI support.

2. Site24x7

Site24x7 provides tools to create JSON code based upon its File design. When we have a predefined prototype, then perhaps we can create any number of random JSON structures using this method. Useful towards programmers and QA to evaluate their goods for different input values. The produced JSON output can be stored as a .json file for simplicity. You can also validate, format as well as find the path of an expression using this tool.

Pros

• This resources provides many other tools like XML validator, SQL formatter, JSON converter tools like JSON-to-Java objects, and others

3. OnlineJSON Tools

OnlineJSONtools is a list of helpful JSON resources for dealing with JSON data types. All the JSON utilities here are pretty simplistic, free, and convenient to use. They all operate the same way — pile JSON and get outcomes.

Pros

• You can edit, minify, beautify JSON.
• It comes with a huge list of JSON tools, allowing you to convert JSON to CSV, TSV, YAML, Image, URL encode, base64, and vice-versa.

4. JSONFormatter

JsonFormatter serves to structure and test JSON data. It provides a tree view that allows us to explore our compiled JSON data. It also offers JSON to CSV, JSON to XML, JSON editor, JSON cleaner, JSONLint, and JSON checker conversion tools.

Pros

• Very easy to use.
• It allows you to minify, beautify, format as well as validate a JSON.
• It also allows you to convert JSON into CSV, YAML, and XML.

Cons

• It does not provide JSON manipulation functionality

5. Konbert

Numidian JSON provides a function for displaying our JSON data in tabular form. You can modify the table by inserting new columns and then export it into JSON, SQL, or CSV format. The functionality for translating CSV or JSON files into SQL, XML, SQLite, MYSQL, Postgres is also supported by Numidian Database.

Pros

• It displays data in a tabular form in a clean form, making it unique from other tools.
• It allows you to convert JSON to CSV, SQL, XML, etc.
• It also allows you to manipulate the data in the JSON.

6. Code Beautify

This tool offers a fast and straightforward way to make JSON human-readable. All you need to do is upload a JSON file, and it provides a tree of the information that you can extend and collapse. This Viewer shows our picture overview if information is in the picture URL.

An Excel to JSON converter and a JSON minifier are also available. Code Beautify also supports XML, HTML, CSV, CSS, RSS, SQL, Base64, and other data formats and file forms with an online script editor, beautifier, minifier, and converters.

Pros

• Code Beautify comes with many other tools like XML validator, JSON validator, and Decimal to HEX converter.

7. CSVJSON

As a creator, template modification is something that is commonly needed. A do-it-yourself, as well as a more permanent alternative, is CSV Data. Its best feature is that we can save our session and share it with others for later use.

Pros

• It allows you to convert JSON to CSVs, SQL to JSON, and CSVJSON to JSON.

8. The JSON Formatter

The JSON Formatter is a Chrome extension that can support several other unique requirements of JSON & JSOP: Syntax highlighting, Collapsible trees, indent guides, Clickable URLs, and raw and parsed JSON toggling.

Pros

• This tools also supports JSONP (JSON with Padding)
• It has features like syntax highlighting, clickable URLs, and collapsible trees.

9. JSONformatter.io

JSONformatter assists in real-time encoding, filtering, reading, validating, deleting, and embellishing JSON info. This robust, attribute-rich, and user-friendly JSON editor gives everyone a native evaluation of the systems. To format JSON, sort, or paste our JSON data, use the editor, and click on the format validate button to validate and format the input JSON. We can display the beautified and formatted JSON in the second editor.

This same tool also helps us attach a .json or .txt file containing JSON data. Moreover, it includes other numerous settings in the options toolbar, including certain copy, clear, prettify, minify, and import JSON data from the editor.

Pros

• It allows you to beautify, format, and validate a JSON.

Cons

• It only supports basic functionalities of a JSON tool.

10. JSON Formatter Online

Different modes are supported by JSON Formatter Online, such as a tree editor, a code editor, and a plain text editor. You can use this editor in the web application. You can load the library as a CommonJS package, an AMD package, or as a normal JavaScript program.

Pros

• You can upload a JSON file for validation.
• It also allows you to save your JSON on the cloud.
• You can also create a shareable URL for the output.

11. JSON Parse Tool

For the intent of downstream retrieval, the JSON Parse function extracts JavaScript Object Notation text into a table schema. By feeding the performance into the JSON Build tool, it can be backed up into a functional File format.

Pros

• It comes with lots of other tools like Base64 encoder, code beautifier, JSON converters, etc.

12. JSON Parser Online

This JSON Parser includes the features for parsing JSON data as well as JS evaluation into string decode. Perhaps it offers a view of a JSON entity to beautify, display forms, and indexes. We can also give the JSON data to the parser by sending an HTML code. You will use both the Get and POST techniques.

Pros

• It has another tool by which you can test response time, size of JSON coming from API.
• It displays the data types of values that are present in the JSON with their array index.

Cons

• It only supports the basic formatting and parsing of JSON.

13. JSON Viewer

JSON Viewer is a chrome extension that gives lets us see the JSON responses for API requests. It provides developers with several special functionalities to format or prettify JSON and simulate the properties in a graphical view. The JSON Viewer provides a map to display our assigned JSON in the graphical view. It also offers the function of using breadcrumbs to explore a JSON’s inventory deeply.

Pros

• It displays the data in a graphical form, which makes the JSON very neat and clean.

Cons

• This is just a parsing tool; the JSON cannot be manipulated.

14. JSON Buddy

JSON Buddy is a developed-in software tool for JSON and JSON specification. It has functionality for syntax-coloring, auto-completion, and folding, making it easy to edit and build the same. JSON Buddy includes a Windows JSON editor, a JSON Schema Validator and Parser, a JSON Data Converter, and a free JSON Command-Line Validator app.

Pros

• Comes with an Android app, command-line tool as well as desktop app.

Cons

• The desktop app is only available for Windows users.
• It is a paid software which comes with 15 days of a free trial.

15. JSON Parser Online

JSON Parser Online offers functionality for editing, decoding, validating, and embellishing JSON code. It also provides string manipulation and abilities for creating, testing, and prototyping fake APIs.

Pros

• The tool validates the JSON and displays all the syntactical errors.

16. JSON Lint

JSONLint is a JSON validator and reformulator. You could copy and paste, or type or insert a URL in the editor directly and allow JSONLint to clean and evaluate your muddy JSON code.

Pros

• Similar to JSON Parser online, it also displays syntactical errors but in a much cleaner form.

17. Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code, the famous code editor from Microsoft, has built-in support for editing JSON files. This includes validation for properties and values, quick navigation, code folding, and recommendations via IntelliSense. Additional context is given when hovering over properties and JSON data values. To grasp the configuration of JSON files, VS Code can use related XML schemas.

Pros

• This is a fully-fledged code editor, which means you can validate your JSON outputs while writing the code.
• Visual Studio Code comes with more than 100K extensions.

18. CusiousConcept

To support developers with debugging, the JSON Formatter was developed as the JSON data always outputs without line breaks to save some space. This makes it much more difficult to understand and to make logical sense out of it. By formatting and beautifying the JSON data, it makes it simpler to read and debug.

CusiousConcept applies advanced JSON validation to this, and further extends the debugging capability by following the outline set out in RFC 4627 by Douglas Crockford of json.org. Now it has been revised to allow numerous JSON standards to be verified, as well as the latest RFC 8259 and ECMA–404 specifications.

Developers using the online formatter can just paste in JSON or a URL. The JSON Formatter and Validator Bookmarklet can be used to format and validate a public JSON URL.

Pros

• It comes with other tools as well, like XPATH expression tester, JSON path tester.

19. JSON Mate

JSON Mate offers a handy File editor, a File inspector, a Database beautifier/uglifier, and an external API to upload JSON info. We can paste our JSON code into the input cell, and then the JSON editor shows us our JSON code’s beautiful tree structure. By using the Visualize JSON option, we can also visualize our JSON code.

Pros

• You can also fetch JSON data directly from third party APIs.

20. Altova XMLSpy JSON and XML Editor

Altova XMLSpy is a JSON and XML editor that provides all sorts of XML-related technology editors, modeling, transformation, and debuggers. The tools featured include a graphical schema template, a code generation tool, file converters, debuggers, XSLT, XSD, XBRL, and SOAP woven profilers. For JSON validation and processing, XMLSpy leverages the RaptorXML API.

Pros

• It allows you to generate code using XML/JSON schemas.
• Transform, edit, validate, parse JSON using this tool.

Cons

• This is a paid software, which comes with 30 days of trial.

21. JSONCompare

JSONCompare is indeed a spotlighted JSON tool that lets us straightforwardly input and validate JSON code. You may access and verify several batch JSON files repeatedly. Not only this, and that we can also compare and merge two JSON objects.

JSONLint ’s specialized edition, JSONCompare, validates the JSON code directly, concurrently uploads, and verifies several JSON batch files and compares and merges two JSON items. JSONCompare has modes for easy, batch, and diff. JSONCompare, like JSONLint, was developed by CircleCell.

Pros

• The tool allows you to validate multiple JSONs in batches.
• It also allows you to differentiate between two similar JSONs.

22. IJSON

Ijson, created in 2016, is an adaptive JSON processor with a regular interface for the Python iterator. Getting ijson to yield native Python artefacts from a JSON source that is under a prefix is the most common use. In the form of C-based YAJL (Yet Another JSON Library) or Python back-ends, ijson includes many implementations of the actual parsing.

Pros

• This is one of the most widely-used Python libraries; hence it is completely bug-free.
• It allows you to do all kinds of manipulation to a JSON using Python.
  Cons
• It is only available for Python.

23. Shell JSON Tools

Shell JSON Tools provides amazing online JSON and JavaScript tools for XML sorting, Base–64 encoding, Base–64 decoding, password encrypting, md5 encoding, regex evaluation, and more.

Cons

• It only validates and parses the JSON, no additional features like conversion, manipulation, etc.

24. Online JSON Tree Viewer

Online JSON Tree Hierarchy to find variable/value paths useful for JSON files that are deeply nested (large).

Pros

• It allows you to view the JSON in a graphical form

Cons

• It only does the basic job of validation and parsing JSON.

JSON Tooling Roundup

There are many free tools available online for JSON validation, parsing, formatting, conversion, and other areas. We have listed the best ones here. All are very easy to use with friendly UIs — so pick up a couple and try them out.

If you think we have missed any tool, let us know in the comments below, and we will consider adding it to our list!