DEVELOPER TOOLS · 2026

MD5 vs SHA-256: What's the Difference, and Which Should You Use?

A "hash" is a fixed-length fingerprint generated from any input — change even one character of the input, and the hash comes out completely different. Hashes are used everywhere: verifying a downloaded file wasn't corrupted, storing passwords without saving the raw password, and detecting whether two files are identical.

1. MD5 — fast, produces a 128-bit hash, but has known collision weaknesses (two different inputs can produce the same hash). Still fine for basic file-checksum comparisons, but not for anything security-sensitive.
2. SHA-1 — a step up from MD5, 160-bit, but also considered broken for security purposes since 2017 — avoid it for passwords or signatures.
3. SHA-256 — part of the SHA-2 family, 256-bit, currently considered secure and is the standard choice for password hashing (usually combined with salting), digital signatures, and blockchain applications.
4. SHA-512 — like SHA-256 but with a longer 512-bit output, sometimes preferred for extra margin or on 64-bit systems where it can be faster than SHA-256.

Rule of thumb: use MD5/SHA-1 only for casual checksums (did this file download correctly?), and use SHA-256 or better for anything security-related. Try all four instantly with our free Hash Generator — everything is computed locally in your browser.

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