How PingThat is built and verified

PingThat is an independent project run by one developer. Network and security tools fall into two groups: those that can answer locally (a JWT decoder, a subnet calculator) and those that need to ask the outside world (a DNS lookup, an SSL check). This page describes which is which, how each tool is verified, and what the site does and doesn't do.

What runs in your browser, and what queries an API

Of the 24 tools on PingThat, 5 process their inputs locally. The other 19 contact network services, directly from your browser or through PingThat's backend. The table names the first endpoint each tool contacts; the backend then queries the providers or hosts described on the About page.

Network services receive the lookup target and the request data needed to answer it. Direct requests also expose your connection's public IP to the provider. STUN checks exchange connection data to discover network addresses. Backend requests send the entered target to Cloudflare, which contacts the relevant upstream service or host.

Optional analytics waits for a known permissive signal. Advertising waits for known signals and passes rejection to Google for any restricted serving it permits. Missing signals do not enable these services. Consent management itself contacts Google before a choice. See privacy to change your choices.

How tool reliability is verified

Automated checks cover local calculations, simulated responses and browser journeys. They do not test every external target or continuous availability. The build date indicates when the site was generated; it does not certify a live test of every tool at that moment.

How content is written

Documentation links relevant standards, including RFC 1035 for DNS and RFC 2308 for negative caching. Tests cover specific behaviors; they are not a certification of complete protocol compliance. Results from external services retain the limitations of their source.

Long-form guides under /docs/ are drafted with AI assistance and lightly reviewed before publishing. The technical facts in those guides — what an RFC says, how a header is parsed — are independently verifiable.

Comparison pages ("X vs Y") were previously published with light review. Those pages have been removed because the project couldn't maintain the factual bar they required without becoming a network-tool-review site, which isn't what PingThat is. If a comparison page redirected you here, please use the actual products to compare them.

What the site doesn't do

• Paid placements, sponsored editorial, or guest posts. AdSense ads are clearly marked Sponsored and separate from editorial.
• Paraphrase competitor blog posts.
• Sell your queries or maintain a per-user query history in an application database. Some tools do keep recent queries in the browser. Network tools do send the query data needed by the providers described above.

How content stays current

We review content and tests when correcting errors or changing an integration. We do not guarantee immediate updates for every external change. This page’s date identifies its last editorial review.

Reporting errors

To report an error, send the tool, record name or synthetic example, expected result and observed result to support@pingthat.dev. Do not include credentials or private data. We do not promise a fixed response time.

Funding and monetization

PingThat accepts no payment for tool listings, no affiliate revenue, and no sponsored editorial content. Monetization is via Google AdSense display ads (where approved) and occasional Buy Me a Coffee tips. Ad slots are clearly marked Sponsored and separate from the rest of the page.