Why I built J-Tools

For years I have created small tools for myself, sometimes because I wanted something specific, sometimes for convenience, but most of the time because the tools available were just filled with ads. Of course, writing tools for yourself is easier because the UI does not really matter.

The AI tools that are now widely available have lowered the effort needed to turn those tools into something more polished: proper user accounts, a proper UI, and tools that connect. Not just for me, but for everyone who wants to use them.

What is it?

J-Tools is a growing collection of small online utilities: the sort of tools you need for thirty seconds and don't want to fight through pop-ups, cookie banners and subscriptions to use.

Free, ad-free, no tracking

What I did not like about a lot of these tools was the number of ads and, of course, the tracking. You want fewer ads? Pay up. I'm not talking about full software suites, but simple tools like What's My IP and others.

That dislike of the whole concept became the foundation for J-Tools: it's free, it's ad-free and there is no tracking.

If you create an account and log in, of course there is a record of you and your settings, but that's for you and you alone. I don't sell the data. You can't buy the data.

Most of these tools do not take weeks to build — with some exceptions — so there is no need to sell anything.

One thing to be clear about: there is no tracking, but there is some logging. I log your IP address and keep it for about a day to prevent other, possibly commercial, sites from abusing my work.

Again, I'm not selling it. I'm just preventing abuse. If you do abuse it, I will just block you. It's that simple.

Cost of the tools

You might wonder: how do I pay for this if I'm not getting paid?

Well, I have the servers for other purposes and J-Tools just rides along. It's not meant to become a business.

If you like the tools and want to buy me a cup of coffee, you can. If you have ideas for other tools that would be useful to you, create an account and click on the light bulb to share them.

Spread the word

You like J-Tools? Please share!

You have an idea? Click the light bulb.

You found a bug? Click the light bulb.

You just want to complain? There are plenty of other tools on the internet.