Password Crack Time Calculator – Brute Force Estimate
Estimate how long it would take to brute-force crack a password.
About This Calculator
Estimate how long it would take to brute-force crack a password. Use the calculator above for instant results.
Worked Examples
- 95^12 = 540 trillion combinations
- At 1B/sec: ~270,000 years average
Answer: ~270,000 years
- 62^8 = 218 trillion | At 1B/sec: ~109,000 seconds = 30 hours
Answer: ~30 hours — crackable
- 26^6 = 308 million | At 1B/sec: 0.15 seconds — instant
Answer: INSTANT — very weak
Who Uses This Calculator?
Evaluate password policy strength.
Set password complexity requirements.
Demonstrate password importance.
Validate NIST password guidance.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
❌ Modern GPUs crack much faster
RTX 4090 can do 300 billion MD5 hashes/sec. This calculator uses 1B/sec (conservative). GPU cracking is 300× faster for unsalted hashes.
❌ Salted hashing slows cracking
bcrypt, Argon2, scrypt are designed to be slow. 1000 hashes/sec vs 1B for MD5. Makes brute force computationally impractical.
Frequently Asked Questions
Strong password requirements?
NIST SP 800-63B: minimum 8 characters, no complexity requirements mandatory, check against breached passwords, allow up to 64 characters.
Passphrase vs random password?
4 random words (e.g. 'correct horse battery staple'): ~40 bits entropy. 12-char random: ~70+ bits. Passphrases are memorable and strong.
Password manager?
1Password, Bitwarden, Dashlane. Generate unique 20+ char random passwords for every site. Never reuse passwords.