fx vs gron
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
A terminal tool for viewing and processing JSON interactively.
Open source · MIT
A command-line tool that flattens JSON into greppable lines of assignments.
The short answer
Choose fx if you need…
- Developers who work with JSON output from APIs or log files in the terminal
- People who want to explore a JSON document interactively instead of reading raw text
- Users who prefer keyboard-driven terminal tools
Choose gron if you need…
- Developers who need to find a specific value in a large or deeply nested JSON response
- People working in a terminal who already use grep, sed, or similar text tools
- Anyone exploring an unfamiliar JSON API response to see its structure
Side-by-side
| fx | gron | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | CLI | CLI |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 20.7k | 14.5k |
| Setup difficulty | Beginner | Beginner |
| How you get it | Download the app | Download the app |
| Main language | Go | Go |
| Last code update | 15 days ago | 17 months ago |
What each one is
fx
fx is a command-line program that lets you browse JSON data in an interactive terminal view and run processing on it. It is useful when raw JSON from an API or file is hard to read as plain text. The README is brief and points to fx.wtf for full documentation.
gron
gron is a command-line tool written in Go that turns JSON into a flat list of simple assignment-style lines, so each value sits on its own line with its full path. Because each line is plain text, you can search it with ordinary tools like grep and then turn the result back into JSON. The project's description says its purpose is to make JSON greppable.
Best for
fx
- Developers who work with JSON output from APIs or log files in the terminal
- People who want to explore a JSON document interactively instead of reading raw text
- Users who prefer keyboard-driven terminal tools
gron
- Developers who need to find a specific value in a large or deeply nested JSON response
- People working in a terminal who already use grep, sed, or similar text tools
- Anyone exploring an unfamiliar JSON API response to see its structure
Strengths
fx
- Open source under the MIT license
- Widely starred project with an active repository (last push listed as 2026-10-22)
- Ships prebuilt binaries for Linux, macOS, and Windows
gron
- Simple idea: each value appears on one line with its complete path, which works well with standard text tools
- Written in Go and distributed as prebuilt binaries for several operating systems in the latest release
- MIT licensed and widely starred on GitHub
Not ideal for
fx
- People who need a graphical JSON editor, since fx runs in the terminal
- Anyone needing details on specific processing syntax, since the README does not describe it and the documentation lives on the external site
gron
- Users who need a graphical JSON viewer, since gron is a text-only command-line tool
- People who only work with small JSON files where a text editor or browser is enough
- Anyone who needs full details beyond what the README covers, since the README provided here was truncated and empty
Trade-offs
fx
- The README is short and defers most details to the external documentation site
- Install commands and processing syntax are not shown in the provided README
gron
- The README text supplied here was truncated, so exact usage details could not be confirmed
- Flattened output can become long for very large documents
- Requires comfort with the command line
Getting started
fx
Download a release binary for your platform from the GitHub releases page
git clone https://github.com/antonmedv/fxgron
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/tomnomnom/gronFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between fx and gron?
fx: A terminal tool for viewing and processing JSON interactively. gron: A command-line tool that flattens JSON into greppable lines of assignments. fx suits developers who work with json output from apis or log files in the terminal, while gron suits developers who need to find a specific value in a large or deeply nested json response.
Are fx and gron free?
fx: Free and open source. gron: Free and open source.
Is fx or gron more popular?
fx has more GitHub stars (20.7k) than gron (14.5k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to fx and gron?
Other options people compare them with include oha.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.