10 BEST Password Cracker Tools (2025)

Password cracking tools retrieve lost or forgotten passwords using different algorithmic techniques. Top organizations test their password strengths and security concerns with the help of these tools. You can use a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols to create a strong password. However, selecting the wrong password breaker tool can lead to problems like algorithmic complexities, bugs and errors, functional limitations, and security threats. Additionally, there can be legal consequences, questioning the ethical nature of the password finder tool.

Thus, to spare you the trouble, we have spent over 150 hours exploring the best password cracker tools to review their features and capabilities. Please go through our in-depth review to learn more about these tools along with their pros and cons to make the best choice.

Top Pick
iToolab

iToolab is an all-in-one iOS & Android device Password cracking tool. It quickly unlock various iPhone locks, including 4-digit/6-digit passcode, Touch ID & Face ID. It is committed to developing unique and effective software to meet all smartphone needs.

Visit iToolab

Best Password Cracking Tools & Software

Tool Name Platform Key Features Free Trial Link
👍 iToolab Windows, Mac, iPhone • Unlock Screen Passcode
• Remove Apple ID
• Bypass MDM Lock
30-Days Money Back Guarantee Learn More
AirCrack Windows, Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, Solaris, and eComStation • Complete WiFi network security
• Multiple supported algorithms
Free Learn More
Hashcat Linux, MacOS, Windows • in-kernel rule engine
• Built-in benchmarking system
• Supports password candidate brain functionality
Free Learn More
John the Ripper Windows, Linux, Solaris, Android, MacOS • Supports hundreds of cipher and hash types
• Wide collection of wordlists
• Proactive password strength checking tool
Free Learn More
THC Hydra Linux, Windows/Cygwin, Solaris, FreeBSD/OpenBSD, QNX (Blackberry 10) and MacOS. • Support Xcode compilation
• Support for MSYS files
Free Learn More

1) iToolab

Best for bypassing different security measures

iToolab is a password cracker tool to remove passwords from devices like iPhone, iPad, and iPod. Using iToolab, you can crack the lock screen passwords, iCloud Activation locks, etc, using a few steps.

It can unlock 4 to 6-digit passwords along with face ID and touch ID. This tool is capable of bypassing iCloud locks without a password and can also bypass MDM and remove MDM profiles.

iToolab

Features:

  • Remove MDM: You may remove the Mobile Device Management (MDM) lock after disabling FMI.
  • Platforms: iToolab program is available for almost every version of Windows and MacOS. Moreover, it works fine with the devices running up to Android 15 and iOS 18.
  • 100% Safe and Green: No Ads, no viruses, and legal to use for all regions and countries. Does not and never will collect any data.
  • Bypass Any Lock: Bypass Stuck on Activation lock, forgot Apple ID password, and screen passcode issue with iPhone Unlocker.
  • Free to download on Computer: For Windows 11/10/8/7

Pros

  • The tool is easy to use, not require any expertise.
  • Performs data lossless recovery of locked devices.
  • It has a patient and professional customer support team.

Cons

  • Separate pricing for macOS and Windows users.

Pricing:

Here are the starting pricing plans for iToolab:

Windows Mac
1 Device Plan $19.95 $24.95
1 Month Plan $35.95 $39.95
1 Year Plan $39.95 $49.95
Lifetime Plan $49.95 $59.95

The subscription plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Visit iToolab >>

30-Days Money Back Guarantee


2) AirCrack

Best Open-source Password Cracker tool

AirCrack is an open-source password cracker app for network administration, hacking, and penetration testing. This tool comes with a powerful set of utilities for auditing the security of wireless networks and identifying their potential weaknesses.

It has advanced algorithms that analyze encrypted packets and can easily crack passwords. The password cracker can conveniently unlock the WPA and WEP passwords with its FMS attack facility.

AirCrack

Features:

  • Cracking WPA encryption: This tool can crack WPA and WEP-PSK encryption keys used commonly in Wi-Fi networks.
  • Wireless Network Scanning: This tool can scan nearby wireless networks to extract detailed info about them. This utility feature helps in identifying networks suspected of being vulnerable.
  • Brute-Force Attack: Aircrack uses the brute-force password attack and tries different combinations to crack passwords successfully. This approach can crack even the hardest of passwords within a few minutes.
  • Wordlist Attack: It comes with a predefined list of words and then uses different combinations to determine the correct password.
  • Packet Sniffing: AirCrack captures packets passing through the network and decrypts them to learn about the vulnerabilities and security protocols of the network.
  • Compatibility: It is compatible with several systems, including OS X, Windows, Solaris, and Linux. The app also supports FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and eComStation2.

Pros

  • It can check driver capabilities and the condition of Wi-Fi cards.
  • Uses Packet Injection to replay attacks.
  • Provides a command line for an instant grind.

Cons

  • Some advanced features require more work to use.

Pricing: This is a free, open-source tool that anybody can use.

Link: https://www.aircrack-ng.org/


Top Pick
iMyFone

iMyFone is a Password Cracker Tool that designed to help users regain access to locked digital assets by removing or recovering passwords. It supports a wide range of iOS versions and devices, including the latest iPhones and iPads.

Visit iMyFone

3) Hashcat

Best known for its unique in-kernel rule engine

Hashcat is a powerful tool for recovering forgotten or lost passwords using brute force, dictionary attacks, and other techniques.

It is quite flexible and can be used for both online and offline attacks. Penetration testers and security professionals use Hashcat to test the password strength to tighten the system’s security.

Hashcat

Features:

  • Open-source: Being open-source, the source code of Hashcat is freely available for you to inspect, contribute, or modify. This attempt helps improve the performance and functional aspects of Hashcat continuously.
  • Algorithm support: Hashcat supports 200+ hashing algorithms like MD5, SHA-1, SHA-2, bcrypt, and scrypt to crack the hashed passwords.
  • Multiple attack modes: It supports multiple attack modes like brute force, dictionary, mask, rule-based, and hybrid. As a result, you can choose the correct cracking approach according to the complexity of the password.
  • Distributed cracking networks: It supports distributed cracking networks using overlay and can crack Unix passwords. However, Hashcat is distributed in source code format and has several community-build strategies and features.
  • Performance Optimization: Hashcat supports parallel processing using modern CPUs and GPUs to crack even the most complex of passwords within a short time.

Pros

  • Hashcat’s code is highly optimized for specific hashing algorithms.
  • Hashcat can handle password hashes with salts.
  • Supports interactive pause/resume.

Cons

  • 7z archive doesn’t crack in some situations.

Pricing: Hashtag is an open-source password cracker and is free to download.

Link: https://hashcat.net/hashcat/


4) John the Ripper

Best for hashed form passcode retrieval

John the Ripper is a free and open-source tool for password recovery and security auditing purposes. It uses different password-cracking techniques like Brute Force and Dictionary attacks to bypass encrypted files.

It is primarily developed for UNIX systems and works with Linux, Windows, and macOS units. With its versatility and fast processing power, John the Ripper can crack or recover passwords from hashed forms.

John the Ripper

Features:

  • Combines multiple cracking modes: John the Ripper integrates multiple cracking modes into a single program for customized configurations. Along with built-in compiler support, it also lets you define the password-cracking mode as per the choices available.
  • Platform availability: This password-cracking tool is flexible, allowing you to use the same cracker for different platforms without dispute.
  • Supports different hash types: It supports different hash types like traditional DES-based, “bigcrypt”, BSDI extended DES-based, FreeBSD MD5-based, and OpenBSD Blowfish-based. John the Ripper also supports Kerberos/AFS, Windows LM (DES-based) hashes, and DES-based tripcodes.
  • SHA+ crypt hashes: The password cracker also supports different SHA+ crypt hashes on Linux, most of them being used by the latest versions of Ubuntu and Fedora.
  • Comprehensive wordlist: It includes a comprehensive wordlist supporting over 20 human-readable languages. The list also features common and unique passwords for all the languages in combined patterns.

Pros

  • Crypt_blowfish or yescrypt integration with modern password hashing.
  • Includes a proactive password or passphrase strength-checking tool.
  • Supports 100+ cipher and hash types.

Cons

  • Support for some of the latest hashes is yet to become available.

Pricing: This is a free and open-source tool.

Link: https://www.openwall.com/john/


5) THC Hydra

Best for handling multiple protocols

THC Hydra is a powerful password cracker tool that comes with a powerful set of tools to test the toughness and versatility of network authentication protocols. It is one of the most trusted website password crackers that uses Brute Force and other attack modes to crack passwords of different network security services.

Security assessment professionals and penetration testers commonly use Hydra against different authentication protocols not restricted to HTTP, Telnet, and SSH.

THC Hydra

Features:

  • Protocols supported: THC Hydra supports protocols like Asterisk, AFP, Cisco AAA, Cisco auth, Cisco enable, CVS, and more. It is also compatible with Oracle Listener, Oracle SID, and Oracle.
  • Supported platforms: This password cracker tool supports Windows, Solaris, Linux, *BSD, Android, iOS, and MacOS.
  • Parallel Attack: Hydra can perform parallel attacks to test multiple passwords and phrases simultaneously. This approach helps in improving the speed of the password-cracking procedures.
  • Customizable wordlists: You can create your wordlist or use the existing wordlist and incorporate specific info about the target system.
  • Rule-based password generation: It allows you to define a custom set of rules to construct passwords. This is particularly effective when targeting specific password patterns.

Pros

  • GTK graphical user interface is available for Linux OS.
  • Session files are created every 5-minute intervals.
  • Takes less time to crack passwords using multiple threads.

Cons

  • You cannot copy the Hydra.restore files from one platform to another.

Pricing: THC Hydra is an open-source tool, available for free.

Link: https://github.com/vanhauser-thc/thc-hydra


6) Ophcrack

Best for cracking passwords using rainbow tables

Ophcrack is a popular password-cracking tool that works on the concept of Rainbow Tables to unlock or recover passwords efficiently. It also uses advanced cryptographic techniques to crack more complex passwords.

This open-source password recovery tool comes with an intuitive GUI and supports multiple platforms. It can decrypt passwords in various formats, including Windows Security Account Manager (SAM) files.

Ophcrack

Features:

  • Platforms supported: Ophcrack is cross-platform independent and shows no lag when running on Windows, MacOS, Unix, and Linux.
  • Rainbow tables: With the help of precomputed rainbow tables Ophcrack significantly speeds up the password-cracking process compared to brute-force attacks.
  • LiveCD available: You can run Ophcrack directly from the bootable CD. This approach not only simplifies but also quickens the password recovery procedure.
  • Brute-force module: This password cracker uses brute-force attacks to crack passwords or passcodes up to 4 characters.
  • Audit mode and CSV export: Ophcrack lets you analyze your network password strength and then create a report with real-time graphs for detailed analysis.

Pros

  • The GUI is simple and easy to use.
  • Users of Windows 7, XP, or Vista can access free tables.
  • It can crack LM and NTLM hashes.

Cons

  • It is not available for iOS devices.

Pricing: This is free and open-source password-cracking software (GPL).

Link: https://ophcrack.sourceforge.io/


7) L0phtCrack

Best for generating detailed audit report

L0phtCrack is a password-cracking tool designed to recover or crack lost passwords for Windows Operating Systems. This password cracker instigates different password-cracking attacks to assess password strengths.

It is commonly used by system admins, penetration testers, and security professionals to test the quality of passwords within a given network.

L0phtCrack

Features:

  • Audit Reports: L0phtCrack generates comprehensive audit reports after every password-cracking assessment. The reports highlight the potential security risks and identify weak passwords.
  • Password Complexity Analysis: This password cracker deep analyses and creates reports on the complexities of passwords within a proposed network.
  • Brute-force and Dictionary Attacks: L0phtCrack supports Dictionary and brute-force attacks to crack or recover passwords. You can choose from a list of known passwords or try different combinations to unleash the result.
  • Rainbow table: Using the rainbow table, this tool reverses cryptographic hash functions and cracking password hashes. This feature is ideal for plaintext password cracking with specific length characters.

Pros

  • Easy to access the features from L0phtCrack intuitive GUI.
  • It can work in both 32- and 64-bit environments.

Cons

  • Does not support macOS.

Pricing: This password cracker is open-source and free to access.

Link: https://l0phtcrack.gitlab.io/


8) Password Cracker

Best for uncovering passwords from Internet Explorer

Password Cracker is a tool from G&G software that can retrieve forgotten passwords from different applications. It can generate complex passwords to enhance data syncing security across different devices.

This G&G password manager can also uncover hidden passwords from Internet Explorer and other applications. It lets you do so by simply hovering the mouse over the hidden password.

Password Cracker

Features:

  • Recover passwords: You can recover passwords from different applications, even Internet Explorer.
  • Brute-Force Attacks: This password-cracking software tests numerous combinations using brute-force attacks to crack the password.
  • Dictionary Attacks: The password hacker tool uses a predefined set of words and combinations to reveal the passwords.
  • Hybrid Attacks: It allows Password Cracker to integrate different elements from Dictionary attacks and Brute Force attacks to crack vital and complicated passwords.
  • Mask Attacks: Creates templates to specify known and unknown characters to increase the probability of password cracking success and reduce the overall search space.
  • Rainbow Tables: Password Crackers uses precomputed rainbow tables to map the hash values with corresponding plaintext passwords to speed up the process.

Pros

  • System admins can use this tool to recover lost or forgotten passwords.
  • Uses penetration testing to detect organizational security vulnerabilities.
  • Helps ethical hackers and security professionals to assess the strength of a password.

Cons

  • It has certain limitations and compatibility issues when integrating with some third-party apps.

Pricing: This open-source password-cracking tool is available for free.

Link: https://download.cnet.com/password-cracker/3000-2092_4-10226556.html


9) Wfuzz

Best for offering sock support

Wfuzz is a versatile password-cracking tool that can perform brute-force attacks to unlock secured web applications and files. It comes with a powerful framework that exploits the weaknesses in different web application defenses.

This tool can effectively uncover the injection points, misconfigurations, and hidden flaws that could leverage data compromise or unauthorized access. It can also search for unlinked resources like servlets, scripts, directories, etc., to check various parameters.

Wfuzz

Features:

  • Authentication Support: This password cracking tool guides users to include authenticated credentials when requesting specific test area login.
  • Fuzzing Techniques: WFuzz supports different fuzzing techniques like Brute Force, Dictionary, and Recursion for cracking passwords even from hidden points.
  • Encoding options: The password cracker supports double_urlencode, a double-layered encoding scheme. Additionally, it also accepts different encoding options like binary_ascii, Base64 and uri_hex.
  • Output formats: It supports multiple output formats, including plain text, numbers, special characters, JSON, XML, etc., for easy integration with other tools.
  • Cookie and HTTP header support: WFuzz allows users to manage cookies by customizing the HTTP headers. This approach initiates different user scenarios during the fuzzing process.
  • Customizable payloads: This password-cracking tool can generate custom payloads using different options like character sets, alphanumeric combinations, and numeric ranges.
  • Dictionaries: It can launch dictionary attacks for known applications like Domino, Tomcat, Coldfusion, Weblogic, Vignette, and more.

Pros

  • Offers multiple injection points capability with multiple dictionaries.
  • Performs time delays between requests.
  • Comes with Proxy support and SOCK support.

Cons

  • Some users have faced installation problems in Windows 10.

Pricing: This is a free password-cracking tool.

Link: https://www.kali.org/tools/wfuzz/


10) Rainbow Crack

Best for adjusting trade-off time

Rainbow Crack is a versatile password-cracking tool that uses precomputed tables to recover plaintext credentials. It implements a faster time-memory trade-off technique to unlock password-protected apps and devices.

This password-cracking tool can decrypt hashes using SHA-1, NTLM, and other vital cryptographic algorithms.

Rainbow Crack

Features:

  • Precomputed hash tables: This password cracker generates precomputed tables for mapping hash values to recover plaintext passwords.
  • Hash Algorithm support: RainbowCrack supports different hash algorithms like LM, SHA-1, MD-5, and more.
  • Time-memory trade-off: This tool adjusts the trade-off time between memory usage and computation procedure, allowing users to choose tables as per their needs.
  • Rainbow table generation: It generates rainbow tables in advance to prevent users from facing time delays during password cracking procedures.
  • Chaining and reduction: The tool supports the chaining and reduction function for generating chains in rainbow tables. This approach increases the overall efficiency level of the password-cracking procedure.

Pros

  • The presence of precomputed tables reduces the password cracking time.
  • It supports different cryptographic hash algorithms for enhanced versatility.
  • The rainbow tables can be reused for multiple password hashes.

Cons

  • Limited effectiveness against Salting.

Pricing: This password cracker is free and available as an open-source model.

Link: https://www.kali.org/tools/rainbowcrack/

What are password-cracking tools?

Password cracking tools are used to unlock passwords using different algorithmic combinations. Security professionals and program testers use these tools to test the strength of the passwords. A reliable password hacker tool can recover even the most complex of password combinations.

How do password-cracking apps work?

Password cracking apps use brute force attacks to try different combinations using advanced algorithms. Alternatively, these apps also use dictionary attacks to generate different password variations from a list of already available combinations.

The password hacker tool processes and analyzes high volumes of hashes and converts large inputs into shorter output strings. Once a password is revealed, other codes having similar traits can be easily revealed.

Top common password-cracking techniques used by hackers

Here is the list of password-cracking techniques that hacking professionals use:

  • Brute Force Attack: The brute-force attack password cracking procedure uses several combinations to unlock encryption keys, login credentials, and security passwords. It is the most common password-cracking technique and a highly reliable way to access password-protected systems and accounts.
  • Dictionary Attack: The hacker will try all the strings from the pre-arranged list when implementing a dictionary attack. This type of password-cracking technique is particularly effective in retrieving short passwords.
  • Rainbow Table Attack: A rainbow table can effectively unlock the password hash. It is a precomputed table that hackers use to retrieve plaintext passwords.
  • Spidering: Also known as web crawling, spidering is a procedure that follows every link available on a web page to discover all its static and dynamic resources. This hacking software can be used to automate the application mapping process.
  • GPU Password Cracking: This type of password cracker process speeds up the cracking process using GPU power. Ethical hackers prefer this process since it is faster than CPU-based methods due to the involvement of highly powerful GPUs.
  • CUDA Password Cracking: CUDA or Compute Unified Device Architecture cores are part of NVIDIA technologies. CUDA instigates parallel processing with GPUs, resulting in a faster password-cracking procedure.

Ethical considerations and legal implications of using password cracker tools

When discussing ethical considerations and legal implications of using website password crackers, it depends on the user’s intent. The purpose for which these tools are used plays an integral role in judging the legality scenario.

When used by security professionals and enforcement officials, questions on ethical considerations and legal implications will usually not arise. They follow the security and legal protocols while using these tools.

On the other hand, penetration testers also use such tools to test the strength of passwords as a part of the testing process. These are legal ways of using a password-cracking tool. If you use such a tool to unlock a password to an app or account you have been authorized to, legal constraints will not arise.

Hackers try to gain unauthorized access to personal data and classified files by exploiting these web password crackers. This is an illegal approach and can have serious consequences.

FAQs

You can use a password cracker to retrieve a lost or forgotten password. However, using these tools to log in to someone’s account secretly is illegal and can lead to severe criminal charges.

Create a strong multi-factor authentication password to prevent your password from getting hacked. Avoid dictionary words as they are prone to getting cracked easily.

You can use a password manager to create a strong password but refrain from using any personal info. These tools can generate passwords using numbers and special characters. Also, never use character substitutions and common patterns when creating passwords.

Verdict

After a detailed review, we have listed some password cracking tools that meet the requirements of the readers. As for our recommendations, here’s our three top picks:

  • iToolab: This is our top recommended tool as it can crack the toughest passwords. AnyUnlock can remove SIM and MDM locks, bypass through FaceID, and more.
  • AirCrack: This password cracker can analyze encrypted packets and crack WEP and WIPA passcodes.
  • Hashcat: This tool has an in-kernel rule engine and can effectively handle online and offline attacks.

Best Password Cracking Tools & Software

Tool Name Platform Key Features Free Trial Link
👍 iToolab Windows, Mac, iPhone • Unlock Screen Passcode
• Remove Apple ID
• Bypass MDM Lock
30-Days Money Back Guarantee Learn More
AirCrack Windows, Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, Solaris, and eComStation • Complete WiFi network security
• Multiple supported algorithms
Free Learn More
Hashcat Linux, MacOS, Windows • in-kernel rule engine
• Built-in benchmarking system
• Supports password candidate brain functionality
Free Learn More
John the Ripper Windows, Linux, Solaris, Android, MacOS • Supports hundreds of cipher and hash types
• Wide collection of wordlists
• Proactive password strength checking tool
Free Learn More
THC Hydra Linux, Windows/Cygwin, Solaris, FreeBSD/OpenBSD, QNX (Blackberry 10) and MacOS. • Support Xcode compilation
• Support for MSYS files
Free Learn More