UUID vs NanoID vs CUID:

What’s the Best ID Generator for Your App?

When designing applications, one critical consideration is the choice of an ID generator to ensure unique identification of records, sessions, or resources. Three popular options are UUID (Universally Unique Identifier), NanoID, and CUID (Collision-Resistant Unique Identifier). Each comes with its own strengths, trade-offs, and use cases. In this article, we’ll explore these three ID generators in depth to help you choose the best fit for your app.

What is UUID?

UUID, short for Universally Unique Identifier, is a well-established standard defined in RFC 4122. UUIDs are 128-bit identifiers often represented as 36-character strings in a format like 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000. They are widely used in databases, APIs, and distributed systems due to their uniqueness and compatibility with various platforms.

Key Characteristics:

• Length: 128 bits (16 bytes).
• Format: Hyphenated hexadecimal string (e.g., xxxxxxxx-xxxx-Mxxx-Nxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx).
• Collision Resistance: Highly unlikely in practice, even in large-scale systems.
• Generation Methods: Random (UUIDv4),Based on time (UUIDv1),Name-based (UUIDv3 & UUIDv5).