🧰 Meet PlainUtils — A Clean Suite of Practical Web Tools

I recently launched PlainUtils.com — a site built for people who need simple, no-nonsense tools without ads, bloat, or fluff. Whether you need a word counter, a base64 encoder, a JSON formatter, or a DNS lookup utility, PlainUtils is designed to be fast, minimal, and useful.

🔧 How It’s Built

PlainUtils is built with a modern developer stack that’s optimized for performance and simplicity:

  • Framework: Next.js with the App Router
  • Styling: Tailwind CSS for clean, utility-first design
  • Hosting: Netlify with automated GitHub deployments
  • Icons: Lucide for lightweight, consistent icons
  • Tool Search: Keyboard-activated fuzzy search bar (press / to launch)
  • Build Strategy: Fully static via next export, using netlify.toml for routing

Tools are modular and live under /pages/tools/. Each one has its own JSX file and shares layout/components with the rest of the app.

✨ Highlights

  • Lightning fast thanks to static export
  • No cookies, no tracking
  • Fully responsive across devices
  • Extendable — adding a new tool is dead simple
  • Accessible UI with proper labels and keyboard support

🧪 Local Dev Setup

Want to see how it works?

git clone https://github.com/pingryte/plainutils
cd plainutils-nextjs
npm install
npm run dev

Then open http://localhost:3000 and play around.

🤔 Why I Built It

PlainUtils started as a small challenge — I wanted to see if I could pull it off and get more hands-on with this stack. I’d used all the tools in isolation, but this was a great excuse to tie it together into something clean and practical.

No ads, no tracking, no fluff — just useful utilities in one place.

🧠 What’s Next

  • More tools (IP checker, QR generator, timestamp converter, etc.)
  • Easier discoverability
  • Dark mode refinements
  • Maybe a Chrome extension?

💡 Got Suggestions?

Send them over to plainutils@pingryte.com or open an issue on GitHub.

Thanks for checking it out 🙌

👉 Launch PlainUtils.com →