Miller
Focus: csv and data wrangling. Shares json and command line with jq. Rated 4.6 (jq: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.6Visit
Desktop App
jq
Slice, filter and reshape JSON data from the command line.
Rating
4.7 / 5
Pricing
Free
Difficulty
Advanced
Works on
macOS, Windows, Linux
Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com
What is jq?
jq is a lightweight and flexible command-line JSON processor. The README compares it to sed, awk and grep for JSON data. It is written in portable C with no runtime dependencies and can be installed from prebuilt binaries, Docker or source.
Third-party open-source projects. We are not affiliated with their authors; repositories are provided as-is by their maintainers. Review each project's license, code and security before installing. See our Disclaimer.
Pros: what jq does well
- Quickly pull data out of large files
- No dependencies to install
- Great for scripts and automation
Cons: where it falls short
- Has its own query language to learn
- Command-line only
Who jq is for
Anyone who works with data exports or API responses regularly.
Who can skip it
People who never see JSON.
jq alternatives
Not sold on jq? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.
Dasel
Focus: yaml and data conversion. Shares json and command line with jq. Rated 4.5 (jq: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.5Visit
VisiData
Focus: csv and spreadsheet. Shares data and command line with jq. Rated 4.5 (jq: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.5Visit
chezmoi
Focus: dotfiles and config management. Shares command line and open source with jq. Adds Offline. Same 4.7 rating.
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit
OCRmyPDF
Focus: ocr and scanned pdf. Shares command line and open source with jq. Adds Offline. Same 4.7 rating.
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit
rclone
Focus: cloud sync, backup and file transfer. Shares command line and open source with jq. Same 4.7 rating.
Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.7Visit
Free alternatives to jq
Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.
changedetection.io
Focus: website monitoring, change alerts and price tracking. Shares open source and github with jq. A web app, not a desktop app. Adds Web. Rated 4.6 (jq: 4.7).
Web AppFreeWeb, Cross-Platform
4.6Visit
DBeaver
Focus: database, sql and query. Shares data and open source with jq. Rated 4.6 (jq: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit
direnv
Focus: environment variables, shell and projects. Shares command line and open source with jq. Rated 4.6 (jq: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.6Visit
fish shell
Focus: terminal, shell and autocomplete. Shares command line and open source with jq. Rated 4.6 (jq: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.6Visit
Gum
Focus: shell scripts and terminal ui. Shares command line and open source with jq. Adds Offline. Rated 4.6 (jq: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit
hyperfine
Focus: benchmark, speed test and performance. Shares command line and open source with jq. Rated 4.6 (jq: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit
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