TrenTyx
developer tools, json, sql, base64, jwt, converter
A few weeks ago I shipped TrenTyx — a suite of free developer tools (JSON/CSV/YAML/XML converters, Base64, JWT decoder, cron parser, UUID generator, regex tester, and a few others) that run entirely in the browser. No backend, no signup, no data ever leaves the device.
Wanted to share a few concrete things from the first stretch of getting this in front of people.
## What actually worked
Getting listed in awesome-json (a curated GitHub list with 1.6k stars) turned out to be a much better use of time than I expected. It's a five-minute PR, and unlike a lot of directory submissions, it's the kind of link that actually gets clicked — people browsing an awesome-list are already in "looking for a tool like this" mode.
I also got a comment on the JWT decoder specifically that stuck with me: someone said they liked that they could "paste real JWTs without worrying about leaking them." That wasn't my main pitch going in — I was leading with "free, no signup" — but the privacy/client-side angle turned out to be the thing people actually cared about enough to comment on.
## What I got wrong initially
I assumed "it's free" would be the hook. It's not — free is table stakes for this category, every competitor is also free. The actual differentiator was "your data never leaves your browser," and I almost buried that message instead of leading with it.
## What's next
Still working through submission to a few more curated lists, and trying to get past Hacker News's new-account Show HN restriction (they recently started requiring accounts build up some history before posting — reasonable, but means I'm stuck building karma for now instead of posting there directly).
If anyone's built something similar — privacy-angle positioning for a "boring utility" product — curious what messaging actually landed for you versus what you assumed would land going in.
1 Comment
The privacy angle being discovered through actual user behavior is the interesting part. “Free” explains why someone might try a utility, but “your data never leaves the browser” gives them a concrete reason to prefer yours. That distinction between the assumed hook and the demonstrated hook is easy to miss.