JSON Server
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MockBolt
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MockBolt is a free, anonymous mock API builder for developers. It turns any JSON payload into a live, public API endpoint in seconds โ with zero signup, zero install, and zero configuration.
Here's how it works: paste your JSON into the built-in editor, select which HTTP methods the endpoint should accept, optionally set a custom HTTP status code (any code from 100 to 599), add a response delay to simulate slow or flaky APIs, or inject custom response headers for any scenario you need to test. Hit Generate โ and you immediately get a live public URL with open CORS.
That public URL works from any browser, any frontend framework (React, Vue, Angular, Svelte), any mobile app (React Native, Flutter), any API client (Postman, Insomnia, curl), or any backend service โ no proxy, no configuration, no CORS errors.
Use MockBolt when: - Your backend team hasn't built the endpoint yet and you want to start on the UI - You need to test how your app handles 500 errors, timeouts, or 404s - You're building a demo or prototype and don't want to spin up infrastructure - You're running a workshop or coding tutorial and need to give students a live API immediately - You need to test a Postman collection against a predictable response
Free endpoints are public and expire after 7 days, auto-renews with traffic. You get a management URL to edit your mock anytime without creating an account. No email, no identity, no credit card โ ever.
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MockBolt's answer:
Backend: - Python + FastAPI โ async API server - PostgreSQL โ primary database for mock endpoints and vault data - SQLAlchemy (async) โ ORM and query layer - Slowapi โ rate limiting middleware - Uvicorn โ ASGI server
Frontend: - React 18 + TypeScript - Vite โ build tool - Tailwind CSS โ styling - Monaco Editor โ JSON editor (same engine as VS Code) - React Router v6 - react-helmet-async โ per-page SEO meta tags
Infrastructure: - AWS Lightsail โ VPS hosting (ap-south-1, Mumbai) - Docker + Docker Compose โ containerised deployment - Nginx โ reverse proxy + static file serving - Cloudflare โ DNS, SSL, CDN, DDoS protection
Payments: - Lemon Squeezy โ Merchant of Record for the $2 permanent endpoint upgrade (handles international tax compliance)
Analytics: - Google Analytics 4 โ aggregate traffic metrics
MockBolt's answer:
MockBolt is the only mock API tool that combines all three things developers actually need: cloud-hosted, no signup, and instant. Every competing tool compromises on at least one of them.
Mockoon requires a desktop install and only works locally โ there is no public URL. json-server requires Node.js and runs on your machine. Beeceptor and Mocky.io require creating an account before you can do anything.
MockBolt has none of those barriers. You open the site, paste your JSON, and you have a live public URL with open CORS in under 10 seconds โ from any device, with no account, no terminal, no install.
Beyond that, MockBolt has features most competitors charge for or require accounts to use: response delay simulation (for testing loading states and timeouts), custom HTTP status codes, custom response headers, all five HTTP methods on a single endpoint, and a hit counter so you know your endpoint is being called.
The optional vault system is also unique โ it gives you a persistent dashboard of all your mocks using a randomly generated key as your only identifier. No email, no password. Complete anonymity with persistence.
MockBolt's answer:
Choose MockBolt if you want a live mock API endpoint in under 10 seconds with no account, no install, and no local server.
Over Mockoon: Mockoon is a great desktop app, but your mock only runs while your computer is open. It has no public URL โ you cannot share it with a teammate or hit it from a mobile device on a different network. MockBolt gives you a public URL immediately that works from anywhere.
Over json-server: json-server is powerful but requires Node.js, a terminal, and local setup every time. If you share a project with another developer, they have to set it all up again. MockBolt has no dependencies โ open a browser, paste JSON, share the URL.
Over Beeceptor: Beeceptor requires a signup and email verification before you can create your first endpoint. MockBolt requires nothing. You are using it before you finish reading this sentence.
Over Mocky.io: Mocky requires an account, has limited method support, and minimal configuration options. MockBolt supports all HTTP methods, response delay, custom headers, and custom status codes with no account.
The $2 permanent endpoint upgrade is also unique in this space โ one payment, no recurring cost, your endpoint lives forever. Competitors either do not offer persistence or charge monthly.
MockBolt's answer:
MockBolt's primary audience is frontend and fullstack developers who need a live API endpoint quickly during development or testing โ and who do not want to spend time on setup.
More specifically:
The common thread is: developers who value their time and want to skip the setup ceremony.
MockBolt's answer:
MockBolt came from a recurring frustration: being in the middle of building a frontend feature and realizing the API endpoint it depends on does not exist yet.
The usual options โ spinning up json-server, installing Mockoon, creating a Beeceptor account, writing a fake Express server โ all take 15โ30 minutes and break your flow. You end up either waiting for the backend or hardcoding data directly into the component, which you then have to undo later.
The question was simple: why can't I paste JSON and get a URL right now?
MockBolt was built to answer that question. The goal from day one was that the time from opening the site to having a working endpoint should be under 10 seconds. No signup, no install, no terminal, no dependencies. Just paste and go.
The first version was built in a weekend. The tool was used internally before it ever had a name. When it proved genuinely useful during real development work, it was refined, hardened, and launched publicly.
Today MockBolt also has a vault system (anonymous persistent accounts with no email or password), a $2 permanent endpoint upgrade via Lemon Squeezy, response delay simulation, custom headers and status codes, and a hit counter โ all built based on the natural next things developers asked for after using the core tool.
MockBolt's answer:
MockBolt is designed to be fully anonymous โ no signup, no email, no account. This means we intentionally do not know who our users are by design.
Because of this, we cannot name specific customers โ and we consider that a feature, not a limitation. Every developer who uses MockBolt gets the same experience whether they are a solo student learning fetch() for the first time or a senior engineer at a large company prototyping a feature.
What we can say is that MockBolt is used by:
If you are using MockBolt and would like to be listed here, reach out at support@mockbolt.com.
Based on our record, JSON Server seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 45 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.
We'll be using json-server to create the REST API that we'll fetch data from. In the root of the project, create a db.json file with the contents. - Source: dev.to / about 2 years ago
Our backend will be little more than a two-way translation layer between the database and the user interface (UI). Later in this post we will identify other responsibilities of a backend but our implementation will be kept simple to demonstrate the fundamental machinery and concepts. It is worth noting the backend comes in two parts, web server and application server. Both json-server and Express are able to... - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
JSON-Server creates fake REST API with a minimum amount of configuration, it provides a simple way to create mock RESTful APIs and easily define the required endpoints, allows easy definition of the data schema in a JSON file and can serve as a reference for each figure in the project. - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
I thought about usingJson Server (hosting the repo with the words on Github to begin with), Googlesheets, or maybe Firestore (i would prefer not to use it ,to avoid extra costs just in case it gets a reasonable amount of users). It isnt a big app so I just want a simple solution for storing the words and fetching them. Source: about 3 years ago
First, I didn't create a backend API for this example, but I used a fake API to test. I created it with json-server and json-server-auth. They are two npm packages that use a JSON file as a database and expose the database in an API. You can find more about json-server in its documentation and about json-server-auth here. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
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