8 lesser-known developer tools worth adding to your stack

Executive overview

Most developers are aware of the big-name tools but miss smaller utilities that save real time. This list surfaces eight tools — spanning debugging, PDF handling, database analysis, and local development — sourced from a community of SaaS founders.

Small, focused tools often compress hours of friction into seconds.

In-browser debugging and design

• Toast Log (toastlog.com): shows console errors, warnings, and logs directly on your webpage — no browser console required; perpetual licence available
• Shutter (shutter.cc): free Mac screenshot tool with scrolling capture, pixelation, and OCR; built for designers who care about pixels
• CSS Scan Pro (cssscanpro.com): hover any element on any site to instantly extract its styles, animations, and assets; copy or edit with no code; $20/month or $120/year

PDF and database tooling

• PSPDFKit API: full-featured API for generating, converting, and modifying PDFs; also handles Word docs and images; multiple SDK and API tiers
• PG Mustard (pgmustard.com): Postgres query plan viewer that surfaces slow queries and suggests fixes; $100/user/year, $500/team/year

Productivity and project management

• Raycast (raycast.com): keyboard launcher with calculator, snippets, file search, and system commands; generous free plan; $10/user/month for teams
• Linear (linear.app): issue and sprint tracker with a well-designed interface; free tier available; $8–$12/user/month for paid plans

Local development and API testing

• Ngrok (ngrok.com): exposes localhost to the internet via a tunnel with one command; no firewall or VPN configuration needed; essential for testing webhooks and API callbacks locally