shortuuid
Generate concise, unambiguous and URL-safe UUIDs.
Pricing
Free tier
Flat rate
Adoption
↘CoolingLicense
Open Source
Data freshness
Aging · Jun 8, 2026Overview
What is shortuuid?
ShortUUID is a Python library that generates shorter versions of UUIDs while maintaining uniqueness. It's useful for creating compact identifiers in URLs or other contexts where space is at a premium but readability and safety are still important.
Key differentiator
“ShortUUID stands out by offering a balance between uniqueness and compactness, making it ideal for web applications where readability and URL safety are critical.”
Capability profile
Capability Radar
Honest assessment
Strengths & Weaknesses
↑ Strengths
↓ Weaknesses
ShortUUID is specifically designed for Python, limiting its utility in multi-language projects.
The process of encoding and decoding UUIDs to shorter formats can introduce additional computational overhead compared to using raw UUIDs.
ShortUUID has a relatively small user base, which may result in fewer contributions and slower issue resolution.
Fit analysis
Who is it for?
✓ Best for
Developers needing to generate shorter, URL-safe UUIDs for web applications.
Projects requiring compact identifiers without sacrificing uniqueness.
✕ Not a fit for
Applications that require extremely short IDs (e.g., under 10 characters).
Scenarios where the full length of a standard UUID is necessary for security or other reasons.
Cost structure
Pricing
Free Tier
Available
Open source — free to use
Starts at
$0
Model
Flat rate
Enterprise
None
Performance benchmarks
How Fast Is It?
Ecosystem
Relationships
Works well with
Next step
Get Started with shortuuid
Step-by-step setup guide with code examples and common gotchas.