Password Crack Time Comparison

Compare how long it takes to crack different types of passwords using various attack methods. Understand the importance of password length and complexity. Practitioners who need to document testing deltas often pair this tool with DiffMaster to highlight policy changes across assessment reports.

Interactive Comparison

Select Password Type

Select Attack Method

Time to crack with Offline Attack (CPU):

Billions of years

Possible combinations: 475920314814.3T

Complete Comparison Matrix

Password Type	Online Attack (Rate Limited)	Online Attack (Fast)	Offline Attack (CPU)	Offline Attack (GPU)	Botnet Attack
6-char lowercase	6 months	2 days	3 minutes	Instant	Instant
8-char lowercase + numbers	Billions of years	45 years	16 days	2 minutes	14 seconds
10-char mixed case + numbers	Billions of years	Billions of years	Billions of years	1 years	2 months
12-char all types	Billions of years	Billions of years	Billions of years	Billions of years	Billions of years
16-char all types	Billions of years	Billions of years	Billions of years	Billions of years	Billions of years
20-char all types	Billions of years	Billions of years	Billions of years	Billions of years	Billions of years
4-word passphrase	Billions of years	Billions of years	58 years	2 days	5 hours

Key Takeaways

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Length matters more than complexity: A 16-character password with all character types is significantly stronger than a 12-character one.

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Passphrases are powerful: A 4-word passphrase from a 7,776-word dictionary provides excellent security while being memorable.

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Offline attacks are serious: Once an attacker has your password hash, they can try billions of combinations per second with modern GPUs.

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Aim for "years" or more: A good password should take at least several years to crack, even with powerful offline attacks.