Cryptographic Hash & Password Generator Online Tool

Generate secure hashes using various algorithms including SHA, HMAC, bcrypt and more. All processing is done securely on our servers.

Hash Options

Hash Output

Complete Guide to Using Our Cryptographic Hash Generator

Generating Hashes

  1. Select hash type from the dropdown:
    • Standard Hash - For general cryptographic hashing
    • HMAC - For keyed hashing (message authentication)
    • Password Hash - For secure password storage
  2. Choose algorithm based on your security requirements
  3. Enter input text to be hashed in the text area
  4. Provide additional parameters when required:
    • Secret key for HMAC
    • Salt and iterations for password hashing
  5. Generate and copy results with the action buttons

Algorithm Selection Guide

  1. For general hashing: SHA-256 or SHA3-256 (secure modern choices)
  2. For message authentication: HMAC-SHA256 or HMAC-SHA512
  3. For password storage:
    • argon2 (most secure, memory-hard)
    • scrypt (good alternative)
    • bcrypt (widely supported)
  4. Avoid deprecated algorithms like MD5 and SHA-1 for security-sensitive applications

Supported Hash Algorithms

Algorithm
Type
Security Level
Typical Use Cases
SHA-256
SHA-2 Family
High (Recommended)
  • General cryptographic hashing
  • Data integrity verification
  • Blockchain applications
SHA3-256
SHA-3 Family
Very High (Future-proof)
  • Next-generation security
  • When SHA-2 compatibility isn't required
  • Cryptographic applications
Argon2
Password Hash
Highest (Memory-hard)
  • Password storage (most secure option)
  • Key derivation functions
  • When GPU resistance is needed
HMAC-SHA256
Keyed Hash
High
  • Message authentication
  • API request signing
  • Data integrity with shared secrets

Detailed Usage Examples

Generating a SHA-256 hash for file verification:
  1. Select Standard Hash from the hash type dropdown
  2. Choose SHA-256 from algorithm dropdown
  3. Paste or enter the text you want to hash
  4. Click Generate Hash
  5. Result: 9f86d081884c7d659a2feaa0c55ad015a3bf4f1b2b0b822cd15d6c15b0f00a08
Comparing two documents for changes:
  1. Generate SHA-256 hash for original document
  2. Generate SHA-256 hash for modified document
  3. Compare the two hash values
  4. Any difference in content will produce completely different hashes
Note: Standard hashes are deterministic - the same input will always produce the same hash value.

Creating an API request signature:
  1. Select HMAC from the hash type dropdown
  2. Choose HMAC-SHA256 from algorithm dropdown
  3. Enter your API request parameters as the input text
  4. Enter your secret API key in the Secret Key field
  5. Click Generate Hash
  6. Result: a7d4e3b2c1d0f9e8d7c6b5a4938271615f4e3d2c1b0a9f8e7d6c5b4a3928171
Verifying message authenticity:
  1. Sender generates HMAC of message with shared secret
  2. Sender includes HMAC with the message
  3. Receiver generates HMAC with same secret
  4. Receiver compares generated HMAC with received HMAC
  5. If they match, message is authentic and untampered
Security Tip: Always keep your HMAC secret keys secure and rotate them periodically.

Storing a user password securely:
  1. Select Password Hash from the hash type dropdown
  2. Choose argon2 from algorithm dropdown
  3. Enter the user's password in the input text field
  4. Optionally provide a salt (recommended for better security)
  5. Set appropriate iterations/cost factor
  6. Click Generate Hash
  7. Result: $argon2id$v=19$m=65536,t=3,p=4$c29tZXNhbHQ$RdescudvJCsgt3ub+b+dWRWJTmaaJObG
Verifying a password during login:
  1. Retrieve stored hash from your database
  2. Generate hash with same parameters (salt, iterations)
  3. Compare newly generated hash with stored hash
  4. If they match, password is correct
Important: Never store passwords as plaintext or with weak hashing algorithms. Always use specialized password hashing functions.

Key Technical Details

Algorithm Characteristics

  • SHA-2 Family (SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512):
    • Widely adopted standard
    • Resistant to known attacks
    • Fast computation
  • SHA-3 Family (SHA3-256, SHA3-512):
    • Newer standard based on Keccak
    • Different design from SHA-2
    • Future-proof security
  • Password Hashes:
    • Designed to be slow (thwart brute force)
    • Memory-hard options available
    • Include salt by default

Security Considerations

  • Deprecated Algorithms:
    • MD5 - Broken, only for legacy compatibility
    • SHA-1 - Considered insecure for most uses
    • RIPEMD160 - Limited to specific use cases
  • Key Security:
    • HMAC keys should be high-entropy
    • Never hardcode keys in source code
    • Rotate keys periodically
  • Password Storage:
    • Always use specialized password hashes
    • Generate unique salts for each password
    • Use appropriate cost factors

Best Practices

  • For general hashing:
    • Use SHA-256 for most applications
    • Consider SHA3-256 for new systems
    • Avoid MD5 and SHA-1 for security-sensitive uses
  • For message authentication:
    • Always use HMAC with SHA-256 or SHA-512
    • Keep your secret keys secure
    • Implement proper key rotation
  • For password storage:
    • Use argon2 when possible
    • scrypt is a good alternative
    • bcrypt is widely supported
    • Never use standard cryptographic hashes for passwords

Frequently Asked Questions

The best algorithm depends on your use case:

  • General hashing: SHA-256 or SHA3-256
  • Message authentication: HMAC-SHA256
  • Password storage: argon2, scrypt, or bcrypt
  • Legacy compatibility: SHA-1 or MD5 (not recommended for security)

For new applications, SHA-256 or SHA3-256 are good choices for general hashing, while argon2 is recommended for password storage.

Standard cryptographic hashes like SHA-256 are designed to be fast, which makes them vulnerable to brute force attacks when used for password storage. Password hashing functions have several important characteristics:

  • They are intentionally slow to compute
  • They use memory-hard operations to resist GPU/ASIC attacks
  • They automatically handle salting
  • They have adjustable work factors

Using SHA-256 for passwords would allow attackers to test billions of password guesses per second on modern hardware, while specialized password hashes limit this to thousands or fewer.

Our tool processes all hashing operations securely on our servers with enterprise-grade security measures. However, for highly sensitive data:
  • Consider using local hashing tools for maximum security
  • Never hash live production passwords with any online tool
  • For HMAC, use test keys rather than production keys
The tool is designed to be safe for most development and testing purposes, but we recommend using dedicated local libraries for production systems handling sensitive data.

Standard Hash:

  • One-way transformation of input data
  • Same input always produces same output
  • Used for data integrity, fingerprinting

HMAC (Hash-based Message Authentication Code):

  • Uses a secret key in addition to input data
  • Verifies both data integrity and authenticity
  • Protects against tampering
  • Used for API security, message verification

In short, HMAC provides authentication in addition to integrity checking, making it suitable for secure communications.

Pro Tips

  • Use different algorithms for different purposes (don't use the same hash for passwords and data integrity)
  • For password hashing, increase iteration counts as hardware improves
  • When using HMAC, rotate your keys periodically
  • For file verification, consider including the hash algorithm in the filename (e.g., file.txt.sha256)
  • For development:
    • Bookmark this tool for quick access
    • Use it to verify your local hash implementations
    • Test edge cases (empty strings, very long inputs)