JSON to YAML Converter.

Paste your JSON data or upload a .json file into the input area above, then click Convert. The tool transforms JSON objects into clean YAML with proper indentation. Download the .yaml file or copy the output. All processing is client-side — your data never leaves your device.

Use the YAML to JSON converter on this site. Paste your YAML or upload a .yaml/.yml file, click Convert, and get formatted JSON output. The parser handles nested mappings, sequences, and multi-line strings.

Use YAML for: configuration files (Docker Compose, Kubernetes, Ansible, CI/CD pipelines), human-authored data files, and scenarios where readability and comments are important. Use JSON for: API data exchange, web application state, database storage, and machine-to-machine communication. YAML excels at human readability; JSON excels at parsing speed and tool interoperability.

YAML is more readable for humans — it uses indentation instead of braces, supports comments with #, and allows multi-line strings without escape characters. JSON is more readable for machines — its strict syntax avoids indentation errors, and every parser produces identical results. YAML's usability advantage is in configuration (comments, anchors, aliases); JSON's advantage is in data exchange (universal support, fast parsing).

Key differences: YAML supports comments, anchors (&ref), multi-line strings, and complex data types (dates, timestamps); JSON is stricter with quotes required on keys and no comments. When to use YAML: DevOps configs (Docker, K8s, Ansible), app settings, and human-edited files. When to use JSON: REST APIs, browser storage, database records, and data serialization. Many projects use both — YAML for config, JSON for data.

Use the PyYAML library:
import yaml, json
with open('config.yaml') as f:
  data = yaml.safe_load(f)
with open('output.json', 'w') as f:
  json.dump(data, f, indent=2)
Alternatively, use ruamel.yaml for better YAML 1.2 compliance, or the built-in json module if you already have the data as a Python dict.

Online: jsontofile.com (free, client-side, no limits). CLI: yq eval -P input.json or python -c 'import yaml,json; print(yaml.dump(json.load(open("f.json"))))'. VS Code: install the "YAML" extension, then use Ctrl+Shift+P → "Transform to YAML". Programmatic: js-yaml (JavaScript), PyYAML (Python), Jackson YAML (Java).

TOML sits between JSON and YAML: it's more readable than JSON (no braces) and stricter than YAML (no indentation-sensitive parsing). TOML is primarily used for configuration files (Rust's Cargo.toml, Python's pyproject.toml). JSON remains the standard for data exchange, YAML for complex configs, and TOML for simple, explicit configuration where YAML's flexibility could cause errors.