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Crypto & Encoding Tools
Hash, Base64, JWT, HMAC, URL encode/decode — an encoding & decoding toolkit for developers.
- Base64 Encode / Decode Convert text to Base64 and back, with full Unicode (UTF-8) support.
- URL Encode / Decode Percent-encode text for safe use in URLs, or decode %xx sequences back.
- Hash Generator (MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-512) Compute MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-384 and SHA-512 digests from any text.
- JWT Decoder & Validator Decode a JWT's header and payload, inspect its claims, and verify an HS256 signature.
- JWT Generator (HS256) Create and sign a JSON Web Token (HS256/384/512) from a payload and secret.
- HMAC Generator (SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-512) Compute an HMAC from a message and secret key using SHA-1/256/384/512, as hex or Base64.
- Hex ↔ Text Converter Convert text to hexadecimal and decode hex back to text, with UTF-8 support.
Crypto & Encoding guides
All guides →- What Is a JWT and How Does It Work? How JSON Web Tokens really work — the header, payload and signature, what signing proves, and the security mistakes that bite teams.
- What Is Base64 Encoding? (And Why It's Not Encryption) Base64 turns binary data into safe text — but it is not encryption. Here's how it works, why it grows your data by a third, and when to reach for it.
- HMAC Explained: How Webhook Signatures Work How HMAC proves a message came from who you think it did — the mechanism behind Stripe and GitHub webhook signatures, and how to verify them safely.
- MD5 vs SHA-1 vs SHA-256: Which Hash Should You Use? MD5 and SHA-1 are broken — but not for the reason most people think. Here's what each hash is for, why collisions matter, and which to actually use.
- URL Encoding Explained (Percent-Encoding) Why spaces become %20 and ampersands become %26 — percent-encoding explained, plus the encodeURI vs encodeURIComponent decision that causes so many bugs.
- Hexadecimal Explained: Why Programmers Use Hex Why 0xFF beats 11111111: how hexadecimal works, its clean mapping to bytes, and where you'll meet it — colors, addresses, hashes and more.
- What Is a Hash Function? What a hash function actually does, the properties that make it useful, and the difference between a cryptographic hash and a hash for storing passwords.
- Encoding vs Encryption vs Hashing: What's the Difference? Three words that get mixed up constantly — and confusing them causes real security bugs. Here's the clear distinction, with examples of each.
- JWT vs Session Cookies: Which Auth Should You Use? Stateless tokens or server-side sessions? The real trade-offs between JWTs and session cookies — scalability, revocation, and the security gotchas of each.
- HMAC vs Digital Signatures: What's the Difference? Both prove a message wasn't tampered with — but only one proves who sent it to a third party. The difference between HMAC and digital signatures.