XML to JSON Converter — Convert XML to JSON Online Free
Convert XML to JSON using AI. Handles attributes, nested elements, arrays, CDATA sections, and mixed content. Outputs clean, valid JSON. Free, no sign-up.
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XML to JSON Converter — Convert XML to JSON Online Free
About XML to JSON Converter — Convert XML to JSON Online Free
XML to JSON converter transforms XML documents into JSON format by mapping elements, attributes, and text nodes to their JSON equivalents, handling nested structures, arrays, and namespaces. Developers use it to modernize legacy XML APIs, simplify data pipelines, and integrate XML-based services (SOAP, RSS, config files) with JSON-native tools and languages.
XML to JSON Type Mapping
| XML Construct | JSON Output | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Element with text only | "key": "value" | Simple string value |
| Element with child elements | "key": { ... } | Nested object |
| Repeated sibling elements | "key": [ ... ] | Converted to JSON array |
| XML attribute | "@attr": "value" | Prefixed with @ by convention |
| Text node with attributes | "#text": "value" | Mixed content uses #text key |
| Empty element <tag/> | "key": null or "key": "" | Depends on converter setting |
| CDATA section | "key": "raw text" | CDATA wrapper stripped, text preserved |
| XML namespace prefix | "ns:key" or "key" | Prefix kept or stripped per config |
XML vs JSON Format Comparison
| Feature | XML | JSON |
|---|---|---|
| Data format | Tag-based markup | Key-value pairs |
| Attributes support | Native (<tag attr="">) | No native attributes; use @attr convention |
| Comments | <!-- comment --> | Not supported |
| Schema validation | XSD, DTD, RelaxNG | JSON Schema (draft-07, 2019-09, 2020-12) |
| Namespace support | Built-in (xmlns) | Not supported natively |
| Array representation | Repeated elements | Native [] syntax |
| Data types | Strings only (schema adds types) | String, number, boolean, null, array, object |
| Human readability | Verbose | Compact |
| Browser parsing | DOMParser / XPath | JSON.parse() |
| Typical use case | SOAP, RSS, config files, SVG | REST APIs, NoSQL, modern web apps |
Frequently Asked Questions
How are XML attributes handled when converting to JSON?
Most converters prefix attribute names with @ to distinguish them from child elements, so <user id="42"> becomes {"user": {"@id": "42"}}. Some tools use a configurable prefix or move attributes into a nested "_attributes" object. Check your converter's settings if you need a specific convention for downstream consumers.
How do repeated XML elements get converted to JSON arrays?
When the same element tag appears more than once at the same level, converters map them to a JSON array. For example, three <item> siblings become "item": ["a", "b", "c"]. A single <item> element may stay as an object, so if your schema can have one or many, force-array options in libraries like xml2js (explicitArray: true) prevent inconsistent output.
Does converting XML to JSON lose any data?
XML features without JSON equivalents — comments, processing instructions, DOCTYPE declarations, and namespace URIs — are typically dropped. CDATA sections are preserved as plain strings. If your XML uses namespaces critically (e.g., SOAP envelopes), verify the converter retains prefixes or resolves them, otherwise namespace-dependent logic will break.
What is the best Node.js library to convert XML to JSON?
xml2js is the most widely used Node.js library, offering options for attribute prefixes, explicit arrays, and value processors. fast-xml-parser is faster and supports attribute name transformation and type coercion out of the box. For browser environments, you can use DOMParser plus a manual traversal, or bundle fast-xml-parser since it has no Node.js-only dependencies.
How do I convert XML with namespaces to JSON in Python?
Use xmltodict in Python: import xmltodict, then xmltodict.parse(xml_string) returns an OrderedDict. Namespace prefixes are preserved as part of the key names (e.g., "soap:Body"). To strip namespaces, preprocess with lxml's strip_tags or use the process_namespaces=True option in xmltodict to map namespace URIs to short prefixes.
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