Programming
programming
identifiers
What is NanoID?
Definition
NanoID is a small, secure, URL-safe unique string ID generator. It produces shorter IDs than UUID (21 characters by default vs 36) using a cryptographically secure random number generator and a URL-safe alphabet (A-Za-z0-9_-).
Why It Matters
NanoID is a modern alternative to UUID when shorter IDs are needed — for URL slugs, database keys, and session tokens. It is widely used in JavaScript/Node.js projects. The collision probability is comparable to UUID v4 for the default length.