TechCompare LogoTechCompare

How long does it take to crack a password? Brute force times for 2026 hardware

Password cracking speed depends on the hash algorithm and the hardware. An RTX 5090 can test about 10^10 MD5 hashes per second, 10^8 NTLM hashes per second, and about 10^4 bcrypt hashes per second (at cost factor 12). A password that's instantly cracked against MD5 might take years against bcrypt. But you can't control which hash a website uses, so you must assume the worst case: a fast hash.

Security domain
Fundamentals
How passwords and hashing work
Topic focus
Brute force resistance
brute-force

How this is calculated

Cracking time estimates for a single RTX 5090 against MD5 (fast hash, worst case): 8 random chars (95^8) = ~3.5 days average. 10 random chars = ~86 years average. 12 random chars = ~780,000 years. 16 random chars = longer than the age of the universe. The takeaway: against fast hashes, 8 characters is already breakable, and 12 characters shifts the timeline from 'days' to 'effectively never.' Against bcrypt (slow hash): even 8 random characters takes millennia on a single GPU, but a determined attacker with a GPU cluster or cloud resources can parallelize the attack. Cloud GPU clusters can reduce cracking times by 100-1000x. Your password needs to survive the worst hash and the worst hardware, not the average.

Verdict

Use 16+ character random passwords. Against fast hashes, 8 characters is cracked in days. Against slow hashes with a GPU cluster, 8 characters is cracked in months. 16 characters is safe against any known attack, any hash, any hardware. The extra 8 characters cost you nothing with a password manager.

More Passwords scenarios

Password length guide
password-length
View details ➜
Passphrase vs password
passphrase-vs-password
View details ➜
Password manager guide
password-manager
View details ➜
NIST guidelines
nist-guidelines
View details ➜
Password entropy
password-entropy
View details ➜
2FA vs strong password
2fa-vs-password
View details ➜
Password hashing
password-hashing
View details ➜
Password mistakes
password-mistakes
View details ➜
Biometrics vs passwords
biometrics
View details ➜
Password generators
generator-tools
View details ➜
Password reuse risks
password-reuse
View details ➜

Frequently asked questions

How long should a secure password be?
16 characters or more, drawn from uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols. A 16-character mixed password is currently impractical to brute-force with commodity hardware, while 8-character ones can be cracked in hours by modern GPUs.
Is the generated password actually random?
Yes. The generator uses the browser's crypto.getRandomValues(), a cryptographically secure random source backed by OS entropy. The output is suitable for production password managers, API keys, and seed phrases.
Is my password saved anywhere?
No. The entire generator runs in your browser, with no network requests, no logging, and nothing stored. Close the tab and the password is gone from memory. Check your browser's Network tab to verify there are no outbound calls when a new password is generated.
What's the difference between a passphrase and a password?
A passphrase is a string of dictionary words (like "correct-horse-battery-staple"), long but memorable. A password is usually shorter with mixed character classes (like "Kx9$mQ2!pR"). Passphrases are typically stronger per character of memory effort, and this tool generates both styles.
Should I use the same password everywhere?
Never. Use a password manager (Bitwarden, 1Password, Apple Passwords) and generate a unique strong password for every site. Password reuse is the single biggest cause of account takeover. One breached service leaks the credential, and every other account using it is automatically compromised.
How often should I change my passwords?
Modern guidance (NIST SP 800-63B) says don't rotate strong unique passwords on a schedule. Only change them if you suspect compromise. Forced rotation encourages weak, incremented passwords. Strong password + password manager + 2FA is safer than any rotation policy.

Related tools

CHMOD Configurator

Calculate Linux file permissions using checkboxes, octal numbers, or symbolic notation.

Use tool ➜

Text Encoding Converter

Convert between Text, Base64, Binary, Hexadecimal, and Decimal formats.

Use tool ➜

Cron Generator

Visually build standard 5-part cron expressions or translate them into readable schedules.

Use tool ➜