A hosted json-server alternative (no install, real data)

What json-server gets right

• Local and offline — runs on your machine, no account, no network.
• Full control — every record is yours, hand-written in db.json.
• Instant CRUD — GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE out of the box.

If that covers your need, stay with it. The friction shows up later.

Where a hosted mock wins

• A shareable URL — front, mobile, CI and your reviewer all hit the same endpoint, no npm install.
• Realistic data on tap — names, emails, prices, dates that look real, generated by the hundred. No more "name": "test test".
• Relations that hold — a review points to a real product id, a post to a real author id.
• Nothing to maintain — describe the shape once; you never hand-edit a 2 000-line db.json again.
• Pagination built in — ?page= / ?limit= with total and totalPages, no extra flags.

From db.json to a description

With json-server you author the data. With MockSmith you author the *shape*, and the data is forged for you:

{  "resources": [{    "name": "posts",    "count": 50,    "fields": [      { "name": "id", "type": "uuid" },      { "name": "title", "type": "sentence" },      { "name": "authorId", "type": "ref", "ref": "users.id" }    ]  }]}

That count: 50 is fifty believable posts you never typed — each wired to a real user.