Developer guide
Base64 versus URL encoding
Choose the right encoding for text, query values, and URL-safe Base64.
Open Base64 toolURL encoding escapes a parameter value
Percent encoding makes characters safe to include in a URL component. For example, hello world & café becomes hello%20world%20%26%20caf%C3%A9. Encode the value rather than an entire assembled URL, so its separators still work.
Use the URL encoder and decoder for individual values. When decoding form-style query text, enable the option that treats + as a space. Otherwise, + stays a literal plus.
Base64 represents bytes as text
Base64 encodes bytes using a small alphabet. Our text tool converts your input to UTF-8 bytes first, so accented letters and emoji work. Standard Base64 can include +, /, and = padding.
URL-safe Base64 uses a different alphabet
URL-safe Base64 replaces + with - and / with _. Some formats omit padding. Choose URL-safe mode when the receiving system expects it; follow that system’s format requirements.
Neither encoding protects secrets
Anyone can reverse these encodings. Do not treat encoded passwords or tokens as encrypted. Payload Haven processes your input in the browser and never uploads the text to perform the conversion.