Built in the Browser, by Design

Two ways a web tool can work

When you use a website, the work either happens on a server somewhere or it happens in your browser. Most people never have to think about which is which — but for small utility tools, the difference matters.

Server-side means you type something in, it gets sent to a server, the server does the calculation, and the answer comes back. Your data leaves your device. The tool needs an internet connection. The site has to pay for the compute.

Client-side means everything happens in your browser. The page loads once, and from then on the calculations run on your machine. Nothing gets uploaded. The tool keeps working even on a flaky connection.

GoWin is mostly client-side

For the tools that can run locally — calculators, converters, generators, formatters — we run them locally. The numbers you type into the BMI calculator stay in your browser. The text you paste into the JSON formatter is processed by your browser. The QR code you generate is drawn on your device.

A few tools have to talk to a server (anything that fetches data from the outside world, for example), and we're upfront when that's the case. But the default is client-side, because it's faster and respects what's yours.

What you get

• Speed. No round-trip to a server means the answer appears as fast as your CPU can compute it — usually instantly.
• Privacy. Your inputs don't travel across the internet. They don't sit in our logs. They aren't part of any data set we have.
• Reliability. Once the page is loaded, the tool works even if your connection drops or our server has a bad day.
• Cost. Client-side tools are cheap for us to run, which is part of why they can stay free for you.

Why "by design"

It would be easier — for us — to put everything on a server. Server-side code is simpler to debug, easier to update, easier to monetise. We chose the harder path because the experience on the other end is better. Faster, more private, more reliable.

That's the trade we'd make every time. The tools belong on your device, so that's where we put them.