NanoID Generator Online — Generate Compact URL-Safe Unique IDs Free

What Is NanoID?

NanoID is a modern, compact unique ID generation library created by Andrey Sitnik. It generates URL-friendly unique identifiers like V1StGXR8_Z5jdHi6B-myT (21 characters by default) that are cryptographically secure and suitable for use in URLs, database primary keys, and any context where you need a unique, short, safe string.

Compared to UUID (36 characters including hyphens), NanoID is significantly shorter (21 characters by default) while maintaining similar or better collision resistance. Its default alphabet includes A-Z, a-z, 0-9, underscores, and hyphens — all URL-safe characters that require no percent-encoding.

How to Generate NanoIDs Online

1. Open the NanoID generator at DevKits.
2. Set the ID length — default is 21 characters; shorter IDs have more collision risk, longer IDs are more unique.
3. Choose the alphabet — URL-safe (default), numeric only, alphanumeric, or custom alphabet.
4. Set the quantity — generate 1 to 100 IDs at once.
5. Copy the generated IDs to your clipboard.

Example NanoIDs

Default (21 chars):  V1StGXR8_Z5jdHi6B-myT
Custom (10 chars):   K9mR2pXnQ7
Numeric (8 chars):   48291037

Key Features

• Configurable length — from 8 to 64 characters.
• Custom alphabet — choose exactly which characters to include.
• Collision probability calculator — shows the probability of a collision for your settings.
• Batch generation — generate up to 100 IDs at once.
• Code snippets — shows the equivalent code for generating the same ID in JavaScript, Python, Go, and Rust.
• Cryptographically secure — uses Web Crypto API for randomness.

NanoID vs UUID: Which to Use?

Both NanoID and UUID v4 are randomly generated, collision-resistant identifiers. The key differences:

• Length: NanoID default is 21 chars; UUID v4 is 36 chars (32 hex + 4 hyphens).
• URL safety: NanoID uses URL-safe characters by default; UUID uses hex + hyphens (also safe but longer).
• Entropy: NanoID 21-char default has ~126 bits of entropy; UUID v4 has 122 bits. Both are practically equivalent.
• Readability: NanoID's mixed-case alphanumeric is slightly harder to read aloud than UUID's lowercase hex, but much shorter.
• Sortability: Neither standard NanoID nor UUID v4 is lexicographically sortable by creation time. For time-ordered IDs, consider ULID instead.

Use Cases

URL Slugs and Short IDs

NanoID's compact size and URL-safe alphabet make it ideal for URL slugs — the unique identifier in a URL path like /posts/V1StGXR8_Z5jdHi6B-myT. Shorter than UUID and no need for percent-encoding.

Database Primary Keys

Using random string IDs instead of auto-incrementing integers prevents ID enumeration attacks (where an attacker guesses valid IDs by incrementing), improves security for public-facing resources, and works better in distributed systems where multiple nodes generate IDs simultaneously.

Session Tokens and Nonces

NanoID's cryptographic security makes it suitable for generating session IDs, CSRF tokens, and OAuth state parameters — all contexts where predictability would be a security vulnerability.

Frequently Asked Questions

How collision-resistant is NanoID?

At the default 21-character length with the standard alphabet (64 characters), generating 1 billion IDs per second, you'd need 41 years to have a 1% probability of a collision. For practical applications, collision risk is negligible.

Can NanoID be used as a database primary key?

Yes. NanoID is a popular choice for primary keys in NoSQL and SQL databases. For SQL, create a VARCHAR(21) column. Note that random string PKs are less index-efficient than sequential integer PKs — ULID is a better choice if you need sortable IDs.

What alphabet does NanoID use by default?

The default NanoID alphabet is A-Z a-z 0-9 _ - (64 characters). This is URL-safe and avoids characters that need escaping in most contexts.

Is the online generator equivalent to the nanoid npm package?

Yes, functionally equivalent. Both use a cryptographically secure RNG and the same algorithm. The online tool is useful for generating test IDs or understanding NanoID format; production code should use the npm package.

Is the tool free?

Yes, completely free. IDs are generated client-side using the Web Crypto API.