OmniTools: A Swiss Army Knife of Self-Hosted Utilities

I love really cool self-hosted tools that allow you to have total control over the solution and helps to avoid “free” online services that are riddled with ads, telemetry data and other undesirables. I want to introduce you to OmniTools which is a breath of fresh air. it is a lightweight self-hosted app that provides a clean interface for carrying out dozens of helpful tasks. It has tools that can help the common developer, data processing, and productivity tasks, right from your browser and everything is a client-side connection. Let’s dive in.

What is OmniTools?

It is a tool that is created and maintained by developer iib0011. It has quickly gained popularity for those looking to process files, manipulate text, transform data formats, and perform calculations. It does this all without sending anything to the cloud.

What does it do?

The pitch with the solution is simple. OmniTools runs locally in your browser. You self-host it using Docker or build it from source, and everything happens on your machine. No data leaves your device. No analytics. No ads. No fluff.

Here are some of the benefits:

• Privacy: All operations are performed client-side
• Open-source: It is licensed under the MIT License and welcoming contributions
• Lightweight: The Docker image is around 28MB
• Self-contained: No database, no cloud dependencies, no backend server logic
• Extendable: You can build and add your own tools using React and TypeScript

It provides the experience of hosting your own web-based toolbox where every tool works offline and is tailored for speed and simplicity.

Who Is It For?

OmniTools is ideal for the following professionals and tinkerers:

• Developers and DevOps engineers who want to streamline daily tasks
• Data analysts needing quick JSON/CSV transformations
• Designers doing lightweight image/video operations
• Home lab users who prefer self-hosting to cloud-based tools
• Privacy-conscious professionals avoiding third-party data processing

Categories and Tools Available

As of version v0.4.0 (released June 5, 2025), OmniTools includes dozens of tools neatly categorized for quick access. Let’s briefly look at these:

1. Text and String Utilities

If you regularly work with strings, encodings, or just need to clean up messy data, the Text Tools in OmniTools have you covered:

• Text Statistics: Word, line, character, and byte counts
• Case Conversion: Snake case, camel case, kebab case, title case
• Base64 Encoder/Decoder
• ROT13 Encoder
• Morse Code Converter
• Random String Generator
• JSON Escaper/Unescaper
• Palindrome Checker

This section is useful for developers cleaning input data or preparing strings for APIs, or debugging encoding.

2. JSON, CSV, and YAML Converters

OmniTools has many converters for the most common structured data formats:

• CSV to JSON/YAML/XML
• JSON to CSV/YAML
• TSV to JSON (added in v0.4.0)
• JSON Prettify, Minify, Escape
• CSV Row/Column Manipulation
• Find Duplicates in CSV
• Add Columns to CSV
• Transpose CSV Rows and Columns

These tools are useful when working with APIs, data exports, or when you’re trying to debug data flowing between services.

3. Image, Video, and Media Tools

Omnitools contains tools that are designed to help with image and video creation and management:

• Image Resizer and Converter
• Background Remover (AI-powered)
• Compress PNG/JPG
• Replace Colors in PNG
• Video Crop, Trim, Rotate, Flip, Speed Adjust
• GIF Speed Control
• Convert Image to Base64 or HEX

This entire category works in the browser without server-side processing.

4. PDF Utilities

PDF software is usually proprietary software or you have to upload your sensitive documents to a cloud app. OmniTools keeps everything local with:

• Merge PDF
• Split PDF
• Rotate PDF Pages
• Compress PDF
• PDF to EPUB Converter (new in v0.4.0)

It has simple drag-and-drop functionality that makes it easy to work with PDFs.

5. Math, Science, and Calculation Tools

These tools would be helpful and useful for those in technical environments or involved with engineering workflows. There are also useful tools for developers working with color values or binary data.

• Ohm’s Law Calculator
• Voltage Drop Estimator
• Arithmetic & Geometric Sequence Generator
• Prime Number Finder
• Sphere Volume and Surface Area
• Decimal to Binary/Hex Converter

6. Date and Time Tools

• Timestamp Converter (Unix ↔ Human Readable)
• Date Range Generator
• ISO Week and Julian Date Calculators
• Time Zone Converter
• Calculate Date Differences

For DevOps, sysadmins, and software engineers working across time zones or logs, these are crucial.

How do you install OmniTools?

OmniTools is lightweight and easy to deploy in a Docker container.

Option 1: Docker (Recommended)

docker run -d \
  --name omni-tools \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -p 8080:80 \
  iib0011/omni-tools:latest

You can also use a simple docker-compose setup:

services:
  omni-tools:
    image: iib0011/omni-tools:latest
    container_name: omni-tools
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "8080:80"

Once you have the container up and running, you simply browse to port 8080 on your Docker host:

Option 2: Local Development

git clone https://github.com/iib0011/omni-tools.git
cd omni-tools
npm install
npm run dev

This lets you run and customize the toolset locally. You can add or edit tools by following the clear folder structure and using the built-in tool scaffolding command:

npm run script:create:tool my-tool-name folder1/...

Roadmap and Recent Improvements

The recently released Version 0.4.0 brought major improvements to the tools selection, including the following additions:

• Full PDF to EPUB Conversion
• Binary Tools Expansion: Convert to/from base64, hex, binary
• TSV to JSON support
• More Math Tools: Geometry, number generation
• UI Updates: Improved layout, faster loads, more responsive

The roadmap suggests future features like:

• Tool search bar
• Dark/light mode toggles
• Better mobile responsiveness
• Drag-and-drop across tool types

How it is built and architecture

Under the hood, OmniTools is built with modern frontend technologies:

• React for the UI
• TypeScript for type safety
• Material UI for consistent components
• Iconify for icons
• Playwright and Vitest for end-to-end and unit testing

There’s a clear developer experience focus here, making it easy for contributors to get started and for others to fork and adapt the project.

Wrapping up

OmniTools is a fantastic example of what happens when thoughtful engineering meets real-world utility. With zero dependencies, a rich toolset, and full control over your data, it’s an excellent addition to any self-hosted toolkit.

If you’re building your own local Swiss army knife of tools, OmniTools belongs in your stack.

Project link: https://github.com/iib0011/omni-tools