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Password Hash Generator: Secure Your Passwords with Argon2, bcrypt, scrypt & PBKDF2

By Tooladex Team •
Password HashingSecurityDeveloper ToolsArgon2bcrypt
Password Hash Generator: Secure Your Passwords with Argon2, bcrypt, scrypt & PBKDF2

If you’ve ever stored user passwords in a database, you’ve probably heard that you should never store passwords in plain text. But simply using MD5 or SHA-256 isn’t enough either.

Password hashing requires specialized algorithms designed to be slow, memory-intensive, and resistant to brute-force attacks. That’s where Argon2, bcrypt, scrypt, and PBKDF2 come in.

The Tooladex Password Hash Generator lets you generate and verify secure password hashes using all four industry-standard algorithms — with full control over security parameters like memory cost, iterations, and parallelism.

Why Regular Hashes Don’t Work for Passwords

You might wonder: if SHA-256 is secure, why can’t I use it for passwords?

The problem is speed. SHA-256 is designed to be fast — modern GPUs can compute billions of SHA-256 hashes per second. This makes brute-force attacks trivial.

AlgorithmSpeed (hashes/second)Password Security
MD5~10 billion❌ Terrible
SHA-256~1 billion❌ Poor
bcrypt~10,000✅ Good
Argon2id~100-1,000✅ Excellent

Password hashing algorithms are intentionally slow. They’re designed to take hundreds of milliseconds per hash, making large-scale brute-force attacks impractical.

What Makes Password Hashing Different

Password hashing algorithms have several key properties that general-purpose hash functions lack:

Built-in Salt

A salt is random data added to each password before hashing. This ensures that:

  • Two users with the same password get different hashes
  • Rainbow table attacks are ineffective
  • You can’t tell if two users have the same password

Configurable Work Factor

Password hashes let you tune the computational cost. As hardware gets faster, you can increase the work factor to maintain security.

Memory Hardness (Argon2, scrypt)

Modern algorithms use large amounts of RAM during hashing. This makes GPU and ASIC attacks much more expensive, since memory is harder to parallelize than computation.

Password Hashing Algorithms Compared

The Tooladex Password Hash Generator supports four industry-standard algorithms.

Argon2id — The Modern Standard

Argon2 won the Password Hashing Competition in 2015 and is the recommended choice for new applications.

Argon2 comes in three variants:

  • Argon2d — Optimized against GPU attacks
  • Argon2i — Resistant to side-channel attacks
  • Argon2id — Hybrid of both (recommended)

Parameters:

  • Memory (m): RAM used during hashing (KB)
  • Iterations (t): Number of passes over memory
  • Parallelism (p): Number of threads

OWASP Recommendations:

  • Memory: 19 MB minimum (19,456 KB)
  • Iterations: 2
  • Parallelism: 1

Example Output:

$argon2id$v=19$m=65536,t=3,p=4$c2FsdHNhbHRzYWx0$hash...

When to use: New applications, high-security requirements, when you can configure memory usage.

bcrypt — Battle-Tested Classic

bcrypt has been securing passwords since 1999. It’s well-understood, widely supported, and still secure when properly configured.

Parameters:

  • Cost Factor: 2^cost iterations (typically 10-14)

Limitations:

  • 72-byte password limit (longer passwords are truncated)
  • Not memory-hard (vulnerable to GPU attacks at scale)

Example Output:

$2b$12$LQv3c1yqBWVHxkd0LHAkCOYz6TtxMQJqhN8/X4beSmCQQ...

When to use: Legacy systems, when Argon2 isn’t available, widely supported across platforms.

scrypt — Memory-Hard Pioneer

scrypt was designed in 2009 specifically to be memory-hard, making GPU and ASIC attacks expensive.

Parameters:

  • N: CPU/memory cost (power of 2, typically 16384-131072)
  • r: Block size (typically 8)
  • p: Parallelism (typically 1)

Example Output:

$scrypt$n=16384$r=8$p=1$salt$hash...

When to use: When Argon2 isn’t available, cryptocurrency applications, systems requiring memory hardness.

PBKDF2 — The NIST Standard

PBKDF2 (Password-Based Key Derivation Function 2) is NIST-approved and required for some compliance standards (FIPS).

Parameters:

  • Iterations: Number of rounds (600,000+ recommended)
  • Hash Function: SHA-256 or SHA-512

Limitations:

  • Not memory-hard
  • Vulnerable to GPU attacks
  • Requires very high iteration counts

Example Output:

$pbkdf2-sha256$i=600000$salt$hash...

When to use: FIPS compliance requirements, when other algorithms aren’t available.

Choosing the Right Algorithm

Here’s a decision framework:

ScenarioRecommended Algorithm
New applicationArgon2id
Need wide library supportbcrypt
Memory hardness required, no Argon2scrypt
FIPS/NIST compliance requiredPBKDF2
Migrating from MD5/SHAArgon2id or bcrypt

Bottom line: Use Argon2id for new projects. It’s the current best practice endorsed by OWASP, security researchers, and cryptographers.

Tooladex Password Hash Generator Features

The Tooladex Password Hash Generator provides everything you need to work with password hashes.

Generate Mode

All Four Algorithms Generate hashes using Argon2id, bcrypt, scrypt, or PBKDF2 with full parameter control.

Configurable Parameters

  • Argon2: Memory, iterations, parallelism, hash length
  • bcrypt: Cost factor (4-16)
  • scrypt: N, r, p, key length
  • PBKDF2: Iterations, hash function, key length

Preset Configurations Quick-select from Low, Medium, High, and OWASP-recommended settings.

Hash Timing See exactly how long hashing takes — aim for 0.5-1 second on your target hardware.

Verify Mode

Automatic Algorithm Detection Paste any supported hash format, and the tool automatically detects Argon2, bcrypt, scrypt, or PBKDF2.

Parameter Extraction The tool extracts salt and parameters from the hash, re-hashes with the same settings, and compares results.

Clear Results Visual pass/fail feedback with timing information.

Security

100% Client-Side All hashing happens in your browser using WebAssembly. Your passwords are never transmitted to any server.

Cryptographically Secure Salts Random salts are generated using crypto.getRandomValues().

Practical Examples

Example 1: Generating a Secure Password Hash

Password: MySecureP@ssw0rd!

Using Argon2id (OWASP settings):

  • Memory: 19,456 KB (19 MB)
  • Iterations: 2
  • Parallelism: 1

Result:

$argon2id$v=19$m=19456,t=2,p=1$randomsalt$hashoutput...

This hash can be safely stored in your database. When a user logs in, you verify their password against this hash.

Example 2: Migrating from MD5

If you have legacy MD5 password hashes, you can’t directly convert them (hashes are one-way). Instead:

  1. When users log in, verify against the old MD5 hash
  2. If successful, re-hash their password with Argon2id
  3. Store the new Argon2id hash and delete the MD5 hash
  4. Over time, all active users migrate to Argon2id

Example 3: Verifying a Password

Stored hash:

$2b$12$LQv3c1yqBWVHxkd0LHAkCOYz6TtxMQJqhN8/X4beSmCQQ...

User enters: correct_password

The tool:

  1. Detects this is a bcrypt hash with cost factor 12
  2. Extracts the salt from the hash
  3. Hashes correct_password with the same salt and cost
  4. Compares the result — Match! ✅

Best Practices for Password Hashing

Do’s

  • ✅ Use Argon2id for new applications
  • ✅ Use unique, random salts for every password (most libraries handle this automatically)
  • ✅ Tune parameters for ~1 second hash time on your production hardware
  • ✅ Store the full encoded hash (it contains the salt and parameters)
  • ✅ Re-hash passwords when users log in if you upgrade parameters
  • ✅ Use constant-time comparison when verifying (prevents timing attacks)

Don’ts

  • ❌ Never use MD5, SHA-1, or SHA-256 for passwords
  • ❌ Never store passwords in plain text
  • ❌ Never use the same salt for multiple passwords
  • ❌ Never roll your own password hashing — use established libraries
  • ❌ Never log or expose password hashes in error messages

Common Questions

How long should hashing take?

Aim for 0.5 to 1 second per hash on your production server. This is slow enough to resist brute-force attacks but fast enough not to impact user experience.

What if bcrypt truncates my password?

bcrypt only uses the first 72 bytes of a password. For most users, this isn’t an issue. If you need longer password support, use Argon2id or pre-hash with SHA-256 before bcrypt (adds complexity).

Can I verify a hash generated elsewhere?

Yes! As long as the hash uses a standard format (like $argon2id$... or $2b$...), the Tooladex Password Hash Generator can verify it.

Is this tool safe to use with real passwords?

The tool runs entirely in your browser. No data is sent to any server. However, for production use, always use proper password hashing libraries in your backend code.

Try the Tooladex Password Hash Generator

The Tooladex Password Hash Generator helps you:

  • Generate secure password hashes with Argon2id, bcrypt, scrypt, and PBKDF2
  • Configure memory, iterations, and parallelism parameters
  • Verify passwords against existing hashes
  • Understand password hashing best practices
  • Test and debug authentication systems

Whether you’re building a new authentication system, migrating from legacy hashing, or learning about password security, this tool gives you hands-on experience with industry-standard algorithms.

✔ Four industry-standard algorithms ✔ Full parameter control with presets ✔ Generate and verify modes ✔ Automatic algorithm detection ✔ 100% client-side — your passwords stay private

Try it now — and start hashing passwords the right way.

Password Hash Generator

Generate secure password hashes using Argon2id, bcrypt, scrypt, and PBKDF2. Configure memory cost, iterations, and other parameters for optimal security.

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