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Best free password generator: what to look for
Reviewed by the Tabreon team · Last updated: October 2026
Quick answer
The best free password generator makes the password in your browser with secure randomness, so it is never sent anywhere, shows an honest strength rating in bits, and can make easy-to-type passphrases as well as random passwords. Tabreon's Password Generator does this with passwords of 8 to 128 characters and passphrases of 4 to 8 words from the EFF word list, with no account and no signup.
Why this matters
A generated password is only as good as the randomness behind it and the place it was made. If a generator builds the password on its server, that server has seen it, and you cannot check what happens to it. If it uses a weak random function, the password can be easier to guess than it looks. Reused and short passwords are still the most common way accounts get taken over, so a generator you trust, used for every account, is one of the simplest security wins there is.
What a good password generator does
A good password generator picks every character or word using the secure random numbers your operating system provides, not an ordinary random function made for games and animations. It runs on your device, so the password exists only in your browser until you copy it. It lets you choose the length and character types a site requires, offers passphrases (several random words) for passwords you need to type or remember, and tells you how strong the result is in plain terms rather than with a coloured bar alone.
How it works
Tabreon's generator runs in your browser and uses the Web Crypto API, the same source of secure random numbers that browsers use for encryption. Each random pick uses rejection sampling, so no character or word is more likely than another. If your browser cannot provide secure random numbers, the tool shows an error and makes no password at all, rather than falling back to a weaker method. For a password, it picks at least one character from each type you choose, fills the rest from all of them, then shuffles the result. For a passphrase, it picks words from the EFF long word list of 7,776 words. Strength is shown as bits of entropy: the number of guesses an attacker would need, written as a power of two, based on how the password was made rather than how it looks. The password is created after the page loads, so it is never part of the page sent from the server, and it is never sent back. Tabreon records that the tool was used, but never the password.
Step by step
- 1Choose password or passphrase. Open Password Generator and pick Password for a random string, or Passphrase for random words that are easier to type.
- 2Set the length. Choose 8 to 128 characters for a password (20 by default), or 4 to 8 words for a passphrase. Tick the character types the site accepts, and turn on "Exclude look-alike characters" if you will read it out or type it by hand.
- 3Check the strength. The meter shows the strength in bits and how long an offline attack at one trillion guesses per second would take. Aim for Strong or Very strong.
- 4Copy it into your password manager. Click copy, paste it into the site and save it in your password manager. Use "Generate 5 at once" if you want to pick from a few.
A checklist for choosing a free password generator
| Why it matters | How Tabreon's Password Generator measures up | |
|---|---|---|
| Made in your browser | A password made on a server has been seen by that server | Yes — created on your device after the page loads, and never sent anywhere |
| Secure randomness | Ordinary random functions are predictable enough to weaken a password | Uses the browser's Web Crypto API with rejection sampling, and has no weaker fallback |
| Honest strength rating | A coloured bar alone can call a weak password strong | Shows bits of entropy and an estimated time to crack: under 50 bits is Weak, 50–69 Fair, 70–99 Strong, 100 bits or more Very strong |
| Length and character types | Sites set different rules | 8 to 128 characters, with uppercase, lowercase, numbers and symbols each switchable, and at least one of every type you choose |
| Passphrases | Random words are easier to type and remember | 4 to 8 words from the EFF long word list (7,776 words), with a choice of separator, capitals and an added number |
| Look-alike characters | 0 and O, or 1 and l, cause mistakes when typed by hand | Optional "Exclude look-alike characters" setting |
| Several at once | Handy when setting up several accounts | "Generate 5 at once", each with its own copy button |
| Not a password manager | A generator should not quietly keep your passwords | Nothing is saved or synced; store the password in your own password manager |
| No signup | A password tool should not need your email address | No account, no email address and no install |
Common mistakes
- Using a generator that creates the password on its server, so someone else has seen it before you have.
- Trusting a strength bar that judges how a password looks rather than how it was made.
- Keeping the default passphrase length for an important account. Five words is 64 bits, which is only Fair; six words is 77 bits, which is Strong.
- Writing a generated password in a note or email instead of saving it straight into a password manager.
- Reusing one strong password on several sites. If one site leaks it, every account that shares it is exposed.
Best practices
- Use a different generated password for every account, and keep them in a password manager.
- For passwords you never type, use 16 characters or more with all four character types.
- For passwords you do type, such as a computer login or the password manager itself, use a passphrase of 6 words or more.
- Turn on two-factor authentication for important accounts, so a password alone is not enough.
- Follow current NIST guidance: length matters more than forced complexity, and there is no need to change a strong password on a schedule unless it may have leaked.
Frequently asked questions
Related guides
Sources
- EFF Long Wordlist — Electronic Frontier Foundation, 2016
- NIST SP 800-63B — Digital Identity Guidelines: Authentication and Authenticator Management