If your password is a combination of personal details like your name, pet's name, and birthdate, then it'll be easy for a hacker to crack. The best way to create a strong password is to use a random combination of alphabets and special characters, but coming up with such a password is a hassle, let alone remembering it.

There are free online tools you can use to create strong passwords, something a person who knows you couldn't easily guess, and a hacker cannot crack, even with special tools. In addition to creating strong passwords, you'll also need a good password manager that is convenient to use and, preferably, syncs across your devices.

1. Strong Password Generator (Web): Strong but Memorable Passwords

Strong Password Generator is a free online application to create unique memorable and strong passwords

If you don't know how to make a strong and secure password, let the internet do it for you. Strong Password Generator (SPG) will create a unique and hard-to-break password for you, depending on your needs. More importantly, it will help you remember the password.

This web app has been around for a while now and earned plaudits and recognition from several security experts. It goes with five basic parameters that make a strong password: at least 15 characters, a mixture of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. You can also use the advanced settings to change aspects, like employing only simple punctuation and avoiding programming punctuation.

SPG advises three different ways to remember the password, as advised by security experts. The generator also has a phonetic word generator, which gives you a phrase with English words to try and memorize the password. This feature makes SPG one of the best online generators for strong random passwords that you should bookmark in your browser.

2. Correct Horse Battery Staple (Web): XKCD-based Password Generator

Correct Horse Battery Staple is an online password generator based on XKCD comic method

You've probably seen this one before. In six panels of a comic strip, XKCD showed how a randomly generated long password is better than a string of gibberish because it's harder for machines to beat yet is memorable enough for the user. This web app puts that formula into action.

Correct Horse Battery Staple is named after the random phrase used in the original comic. The password generator lets you choose:

  • The minimum number of words in the passphrase (two to 10).
  • The minimum character length of the full password (10-40).
  • Punctuation to use as separators between words (optional).
  • Making the first letter of each word uppercase (optional).
  • Appending a random number to the end of the list (optional).

Based on the chosen settings, you'll get a randomly generated strong password. The trick then is to create a fun scene in your head that lets you remember these four random words as part of one password. Or you could simply write it down in a very safe place that no one else has access to.

3. Diceware Passphrase (Web): Super Secure, Complex Passphrases

The Diceware passphrase method created unhackable passwords that only you know

There are plenty of good reasons to use a password manager. But you still need to create a master password that is different from any of the passwords in the manager since it is the key to all your accounts. Diceware is an excellent tool to create strong, long passphrases that you can remember, but machines will find difficult to hack.

Here's how it works. You'll need a standard dice and the full Diceware word list from the website. Diceware assigns English words to groups of five-digit numbers. For example, 56322 means synod, while 21123 means clio. Roll the dice and note the numbers you get.

Diceware recommends a minimum of six words, which means you need at least 30 rolls. Divide the rolls into five-digit numbers to get your six words from the master Diceware word list. Memorize the numbers, not the words, and if need be, keep the number combination in a safe place.

It can sound a bit complex and intimidating at first, but the combination of long character counts and randomized words results in passphrases that are difficult to hack or guess. Several security experts use the Diceware method and recommend it.

If you browse around, you will also find alternatives to the official Diceware website that make it easier to create similar passphrases with other word lists. If you don't want to stick to the original, use a list from a trusted source like the EFF Dice-Generated Passphrases.

4. Password Meter (Web): How Strong Is Your Password?

Password Meter checks the strength of your password based on different values and awards points

Use any of the methods you want, but once you create your password, you'd want to test it against your current password. Try out both at Password Meter, which tests the strength of passwords on various parameters.

Apart from the basic requirements of eight characters with a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols, there are myriad other metrics. For example, consecutive lowercase letters diminish the strength of a password.

On each parameter, a symbol indicates whether your passphrase exceeds, meets, or does not meet recommended settings for strong passwords. It's a simple little app that can tell you where your password is vulnerable to attacks.

5. Random Password Generator (Web): Generate Several Passwords at Once

Screenshot of Random Password Generator Homepage

Random password generator is different from the aforementioned password generators in how it generates passwords. Most generators create a mix of alphanumeric and special characters based on predetermined parameters, which eventually forms a pattern. RPG, on the other hand, relies on atmospheric noise to generate random passwords. The result is a truly random password.

In addition, RPG can generate up to 100 random passwords at once. The snag, however, is the passwords generated don't contain special symbols, only alphabets and numbers.

You Will Need a Password Manager

These passwords generators will create strong passwords for your online accounts, but as you can imagine they are hard to keep up with. You can memorize one long password, but not hundreds of random passwords containing numbers, letters, and symbols. In this case, you'll need a password manager to keep up. Bitwarden, Keeper, and Google Password Manager are great options.