Useful links for developers

Reading time: 4 minutes

Date: March 8, 2026

Categories: #Guide, #Programming

Tags: #links, #tools, #frontend

Just a collection of links I find useful, interesting, or just plain cool. I’ll be updating this list as I find new stuff. From daily drivers to experimental web experiments and offline AI.

The Essentials (Daily Drivers)

These are the tools I use almost every day to check compatibility, documentation, or quick fixes.

  • Can I Use – The gold standard for browser support tables.
  • MDN Web Docs – Best documentation for Web standards.
  • Bundlephobia – Check the cost of adding a npm package to your bundle.
  • SVGOMG – Essential for optimizing SVGs before using them.
  • DevDocs – Offline-capable combined API documentation browser for dozens of languages and frameworks.
  • Regex101 – The best online regex tester with live explanation and a debugger.
  • Explainshell – Paste any shell command and get a breakdown of what each part does - back in the days it was cool! Today we have AI, but I want to have it here.

AI & LLM (Offline & Open Source)

Since everyone is into AI now, here are some links for running things locally or finding pre-trained models.

  • Ollama – The easiest way to run LLMs (Llama 3, Mistral, etc.) locally on your machine.
  • Hugging Face – The “GitHub of AI” where you can find thousands of pre-trained models to download.
  • LM Studio – A GUI for discovering, downloading, and running local LLMs.
  • LocalAI – Self-hosted, community-driven local OpenAI-compatible API.
  • Open WebUI – A polished, self-hosted chat UI that connects to Ollama or any OpenAI-compatible backend.
  • Jan – Another clean offline-first AI desktop app; good alternative to LM Studio.
  • AnythingLLM – Turn any document into a chatbot, runs fully locally. Great for RAG experiments.

YouTube Alternatives & Free Media

Because sometimes you don’t want the algorithm watching you watch videos.

  • FreeTube – Desktop YouTube client with no ads, no tracking, and a built-in subscription manager. Fully offline-capable via local API.
  • Invidious – Open-source YouTube frontend you can self-host or use via public instances. No account needed.
  • Piped – Another privacy-respecting YouTube frontend, faster than Invidious and with SponsorBlock built in.
  • Newpipe – The FreeTube equivalent for Android. Background play, downloads, no Google.
  • Odysee – Decentralized video platform built on LBRY. Home to a lot of tech and indie creators.
  • PeerTube – Federated, self-hostable video platform. Think Mastodon but for video.
  • Internet Archive – Millions of free books, films, music, and software. Also home of the Wayback Machine.

Web Experiments & Niche Tools

Cool, weird, or extremely specific tools that might come in handy one day.

  • Champagne – A very minimalist, “brutalist” approach to web design inspiration.
  • CSS Layout Generator – Visually build complex CSS layouts (Grid, Flexbox).
  • Tally – The simplest way to create forms (looks like Notion).
  • Realtime Colors – Test color palettes on a real website mockup instantly.
  • Radio Garden – Spin a 3D globe and tune into live radio stations from anywhere in the world. Oddly addictive.
  • Google Earth Web – No install needed. Fly around the planet, explore 3D cities, check Street View.
  • Shademap – Simulate sun position and shadows anywhere on Earth at any time of year. Great for checking which side of the street gets sun.
  • Windy – Stunning real-time wind, rain, and weather visualization on a globe. Way more fun than a weather app.
  • The True Size Of – Drag any country to see how it really compares in size to others. Mercator projection is a lie.
  • Worldometers – Real-time counters for population, CO₂, energy, and more. Good for perspective.
  • Hacker News – Tech news aggregator run by Y Combinator. Still the best place for signal over noise.
  • Marginalia Search – A search engine that deliberately surfaces small, non-commercial websites. The old web lives here.

Performance & Security

  • PageSpeed Insights – Google’s tool for analyzing web performance.
  • Security Headers – Quickly check if your site is missing important security headers.
  • Web Check – All-in-one OSINT tool for any website.
  • SSL Labs – Deep analysis of your server’s SSL/TLS configuration. Essential before going live.
  • GTmetrix – Another solid performance analyzer; gives you Waterfall charts and historical tracking.