Some of the best developer tools aren't installed. They're just sitting in a browser tab, ready when you need them — no setup, no dependencies, no npm install that somehow takes four minutes.
We've pulled together a dedicated Developer section on Launch Arcade, and it's exactly that: sharp, focused tools you can use right now. Here are the ones worth bookmarking first.
Top Picks from the Developer Section
Code Playground
Think of it as a lightweight CodePen that loads fast and stays out of your way. Write HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and see results instantly in the preview pane. Perfect for prototyping a quick idea, testing a CSS trick, or showing someone how something works without spinning up a whole project. Try Code Playground when you want to think in code without the overhead.
Regex Tester
Regular expressions are one of those things you're either confident about or deeply not. This tool helps with both. Paste your pattern, paste your test string, and watch matches, groups, and flags highlight in real time. No more writing a regex, running your script, getting confused, and starting over. It just shows you what's happening.
Text Diff
Two versions of a config file. Two drafts of an API response. Two copies of something that should be the same but isn't. Text Diff puts them side by side with differences highlighted clearly. Fast, private (your text stays in the browser), and genuinely useful on a bad day.
Gradient Designer
CSS gradients are one of those things where the code rarely matches what you're imagining. Gradient Designer lets you build visually and then export to CSS, SVG, Python, and more. You can share results via URL too — handy for dropping a gradient into a team chat without anyone having to decode hex values. Build something pretty here.
SVG Path Editor
SVG paths are notoriously annoying to edit by hand. This visual editor lets you click to add points, drag to adjust curves, and see the actual path data update as you go. Whether you're tweaking an icon or building something from scratch, it's much more satisfying than squinting at a string of coordinates in a text file.
Bookmarklet Maker
Paste in a JavaScript snippet, get a draggable bookmarklet back. That's the whole pitch. If you've ever wanted to bundle a little script into something you can just click in your browser bar — without publishing an extension — this is the tool for it. Surprisingly useful for automating repetitive tasks on sites you visit constantly.
HTMLifier
This one's a bit niche, but if you've ever made something in Scratch and wanted to share it outside the Scratch platform, HTMLifier converts your project into a standalone HTML file. Students, educators, and anyone who builds Scratch projects for fun will find this genuinely handy.
Worth Exploring Too
The HTML5 Element Showcase is quietly excellent if you're building or testing a CSS theme — it renders every standard HTML5 element on one page so you can see exactly how your styles behave. And the Project Wall is a low-key great place to browse what other developers are building and share your own work.
There's more where this came from. Browse everything we've curated in the Developer category on Launch Arcade — all free, all running in your browser.
