Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Jless, a command-line JSON viewer

Hey, Hacker News! Today I'm proud to release jless, a command-line JSON viewer. jless provides a JSON viewing experience similar to what you see in a browser's network tab in the developer console, but from the comfort of your terminal, with a whole suite of vim-inspired key bindings to easily manipulate your view of the data and full-text regex search. I'm sure many of you have some piped together some combination of cat, jq and less before; hopefully jless can replace that usage (hence the name). It supports newline delimited JSON too, so it can handle any output from jq. I built jless to…

Jless is a command-line JSON viewer that displays data with a browser-like interface accessible from the terminal. It includes vim-inspired keyboard navigation, full-text regex search, and supports newline-delimited… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Jless, a command-line JSON viewer launched in 2022; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1
   Jqview, a simple native GUI for inspecting JSON with jq▲208

   simplest possible native GUI for inspecting JSON objects with jq - fiatjaf/jqview

   2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

2. 2
   jnv: interactive JSON filter using jq▲373

   Interactive JSON filter using jq. Contribute to ynqa/jnv development by creating an account on GitHub.

   2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

3. 3
   Catj – A new way to display JSON files▲388

   Displays JSON files in a flat format. Contribute to soheilpro/catj development by creating an account on GitHub.

   2019 · github.com · its alternatives →

4. 4
   jql – Easier jq Alternative with a Lispy Syntax Written in Go▲217

   Easy JSON Query Processor with a Lispy syntax in Go - cube2222/jql

   2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

5. 5
   Command-line JSON processing tool▲32

   Terminal JSON viewer & processor. Contribute to antonmedv/fx development by creating an account on GitHub.

   2018 · github.com · its alternatives →

6. 6
   Jb / json.bash – Command-line tool (and bash library) that creates JSON▲183

   jb is a UNIX tool that creates JSON, for shell scripts or interactive use. Its "one thing" is to get shell-native data (environment variables, files, program output) to somewhere else, using JSON encapsulate it robustly. I wrote this because I wanted a robust and ergonomic way to create ad-hoc JSON data from the command line and scripts. I wanted errors to not pass silently, not coerce data types, not put secrets into argv. I wanted to leverage shell features/patterns like process substitution, environment variables, reading/streaming from files and null-terminated data. If you…

   2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

7. 7
   JSON For You – Visualize JSON in graph or table views▲211

   After two years of improvement, I think it's time to share it with you all. Here’s a quick overview: - Common features include validation, formatting, minification, and more. - Visualize JSON in a graph or table view. - Structured comparison with fallback to text comparison. - Navigate though JSON using JSON pointer. - Supports jq. Would love to hear the community's questions, thoughts and comments!

   2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

8. 8
   An Interactive Jq Tutorial▲15

   Interactive jq tutorial: learn to filter and wrangle JSON files using a command-line interface in your browser.

   2021 · sandbox.bio · its alternatives →

9. 9
   JSON Query▲154

   I'm working on a tool that will probably involve querying JSON documents and I'm asking myself how to expose that functionality to my users. I like the power of `jq` and the fact that LLMs are proficient at it, but I find it right out impossible to come up with the right `jq` incantations myself. Has anyone here been in a similar situation? Which tool / language did you end up exposing to your users?

   Oct 2025 · jsonquerylang.org · its alternatives →

10. 10
    Very low footprint JSON parser in portable ANSI C▲111

    Very low footprint DOM-style JSON parser written in portable ANSI C - json-parser/json-parser

    2012 · github.com · its alternatives →

11. 11
    JSON Editor 1.0▲78

    Effortless JSON Editing, Anywhere!

    2023 · chromewebstore.google.com · its alternatives →

12. 12
    A command-line utility-belt for hacking JSON and Javascript▲68

    Command-line utility-belt for hacking JSON and Javascript. - GitHub - ddopson/underscore-cli at hn

    2012 · github.com · its alternatives →

13. 13
    OK JSON▲113

    Format and view JSON with native Mac app

    2021 · okjson.app · its alternatives →

14. 14
    A tool like jq, but for parsing HTML▲40

    jq, but for HTML. Contribute to orf/html-query development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

15. 15
    JSON Crack▲70

    Simple visualization tool for your JSON data.

    2022 · jsoncrack.com · its alternatives →

16. 16
    Jason – A new JSON Library for Go▲106

    Easy-to-use JSON Library for Go. Contribute to antonholmquist/jason development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2014 · github.com · its alternatives →

17. 17JB
    JSON Browse – Fetch, filter and manipulate your JSON inside the browser▲138

    2017 · jsonbrowse.com · its alternatives →

18. 18
    I created a lightweight JavaScript library to visualize JSON as a graph▲62

    Effortlessly visualize JSON structures as dynamic tree diagrams - The-01-Company/jsontr.ee

    2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

19. 19JA
    JsonTree, a 3.53kb JavaScript tool for generating html trees from JSON▲78

    a lightweight dependency free javascript micro-library for making collapsable trees with JSON

    2017 · maxleiter.github.io · its alternatives →

20. 20
    Write JSON processor queries (jq) in natural language▲38

    Hey HN! Jaiqu is an AI agent for creating repeatable JSON transforms using jq query language syntax. Jaiqu translates complex JSON structures into repeatable jq queries. jq is a command line utility built for fast, reliable JSON queries. Jaiqu takes advantage of the LLMs for both constructing jq queries as well as using feedback to fix errors/invalid results if those queries are incorrect. Writing code to parse JSON is super annoying. It usually involves manually reading huge JSON balls, parsing the keys in a language of your choice, and pulling the data manually. Also, you're likely to…

    2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

21. 21
    Jq alternative built on top of JavaScript anonymous functions – fx▲9

    Terminal JSON viewer & processor. Contribute to antonmedv/fx development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2018 · github.com · its alternatives →

22. 22JM
    JSON-Menu, transform json data into a beautiful dashboard for your mac▲10

    2017 · jsonmenu.com · its alternatives →

23. 23
    JQL – A JSON Query Language CLI Tool Built with Rust▲25

    crates.io serves as a central registry for sharing crates, which are packages or libraries written in Rust that you can use to enhance your projects

    2020 · crates.io · its alternatives →

24. 24
    Json parser in 20 lines of bash▲13

    micro json parser. Contribute to izabera/j development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2015 · github.com · its alternatives →

Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →