jless vs JSON Hero
jless
jless.ioJSON Hero
jsonhero.devSide by side
| Figure | jless | JSON Hero |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $4.99/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · JSON Tools | 8.4 (#7) | 7.6 (#17) |
| Formatting | It pretty-prints JSON and applies syntax highlighting. | It pretty-prints JSON with syntax highlighting and supports strict and tolerant parsing for malformed JSON. |
| Purpose | jless is a command-line viewer for reading, exploring, and searching JSON data. | JSON Hero is an online tool for formatting, minifying, validating, viewing, searching, editing, comparing, and sharing JSON. |
Plans
In their own words
jless
jless is a free command-line viewer for reading and exploring JSON and YAML on macOS and Linux. It formats JSON with indentation and syntax highlighting, and lets users open or close objects and arrays using vim-inspired commands. Search supports both full-text and regular-expression queries. jless reads files or standard input, including newline-delimited JSON; it can detect YAML from a file extension or read it with the --yaml flag. YAML comments and anchors are not shown. Users can copy values, keys, and paths to the system clipboard, or print them in the terminal, including a jq-style path for the focused node. It does not provide jq querying. Data mode gives a streamlined view, while line mode shows formatted JSON. Installation choices include Homebrew, MacPorts, Linux package managers, Cargo, downloadable binaries, and building from source with Rust. The project is MIT-licensed and available as a standalone binary. Its maker suggests it for exploring external APIs or debugging request payloads.