PayloadBench
{PayloadBench}

Help & Frequently Asked Questions

Step-by-step guides for every PayloadBench feature. If you do not find what you need, open an issue on GitHub.

How do I format JSON in PayloadBench?

  1. Open https://payloadbench.org in your browser.
  2. Paste your JSON into the left panel (labeled Input).
  3. The formatting happens automatically. You can also press Cmd+Enter (Mac) or Ctrl+Enter (Windows).
  4. Your formatted JSON appears in the right panel. Switch between Tree view and Raw view using the tabs.
  5. Click Copy to copy the formatted result, or Download to save it as a .json file.

How do I verify that PayloadBench does not upload my data?

  1. Open PayloadBench in your browser.
  2. Open DevTools: press F12, or right-click anywhere and select Inspect.
  3. Go to the Network tab in DevTools.
  4. Paste any JSON data into PayloadBench.
  5. Observe the Network tab: no request should contain your pasted JSON. This confirms PayloadBench is not uploading the content you paste.
  6. For an even stronger test, switch to the Network tab's Offline mode before pasting. PayloadBench still works perfectly.

How do I compare two JSON objects (Diff)?

  1. Go to https://payloadbench.org.
  2. Paste the old version of your JSON into the left panel (Old).
  3. Paste the new version into the right panel (New).
  4. Click Compare, or press Cmd+Enter.
  5. The diff result shows: green for added values, red for removed values, amber for changed values, and gray for unchanged values.
  6. Click Sample to see an example comparison.

How do I decode a JWT token?

  1. Go to https://payloadbench.org/jwt-decoder.
  2. Paste your JWT token into the input field. A JWT token has three parts separated by dots, like: header.payload.signature.
  3. Click Decode.
  4. The decoded header and payload appear in the output panel. Switch between Header and Payload tabs.
  5. The signature is displayed at the bottom. It cannot be verified without the secret key, but you can confirm the token has not been tampered with by comparing signatures.
  6. Click Sample to see a working example.

How do I query JSON with JSONPath?

  1. Go to https://payloadbench.org/jsonpath-query.
  2. Paste your JSON data into the upper panel.
  3. Enter a JSONPath expression in the lower input. For example: $.store.books[*].title returns all book titles.
  4. Click Query or press Enter.
  5. Results appear on the right, each with its own tree view.

How do I validate JSON against a Schema?

  1. Go to https://payloadbench.org/json-schema-validator.
  2. Paste your JSON data into the left panel.
  3. Paste your JSON Schema into the right panel. A JSON Schema defines the expected structure, required fields, and data types.
  4. Click Validate.
  5. If valid, a green confirmation appears. If invalid, each error is listed with the specific path and reason.
  6. Click Sample to see an example.

Is PayloadBench really free?

  1. Core JSON formatting, validation, and tree view are free forever with no limits.
  2. Pro tools - JSON Diff, JWT Decoder, JSONPath Query, and Schema Validator - are currently free during Launch Access. Regular pricing is $5/month or $39/year for reference.
  3. Pro tools process pasted JSON locally with no pasted-content upload — even with a Pro subscription.
  4. View pricing: https://payloadbench.org/pricing.

What happened to jsonformatter.org?

  1. In November 2025, security researchers at watchTowr discovered that jsonformatter.org and codebeautify.org had an unprotected Recent Links feature that publicly exposed user-submitted code snippets.
  2. Over 80,000 snippets were leaked, containing AWS keys, GitHub tokens, database passwords, Active Directory credentials, and banking PII.
  3. The data had accumulated over five years. Attackers were confirmed to be actively scraping it within 48 hours of the researchers planting canary tokens.
  4. The root cause was server-side processing: user data was stored on remote servers without adequate protection.
  5. PayloadBench reduces this risk by keeping core JSON workflows browser-local and avoiding pasted-content upload for tool inputs.
  6. Read more: https://payloadbench.org/vs/jsonformatter-org.

What browsers does PayloadBench support?

  1. PayloadBench works on all modern browsers, including Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, Brave, and Arc.
  2. The browser extension is available on the Edge Add-ons store. It automatically formats JSON responses on any URL.
  3. Install the published extension from Microsoft Edge Add-ons. Chrome Web Store availability is pending review.

Can I use PayloadBench offline?

  1. Once the page is loaded, PayloadBench core formatting and validation workflows can run without an internet connection.
  2. To test: load PayloadBench, then disconnect from the internet or use DevTools Offline mode. Paste JSON and format it.
  3. The initial page load requires an internet connection to download the JavaScript bundle. After that, the tool is self-contained.

Still have questions?

Back to PayloadBench