# Free URL Encoder & Decoder Online | Alher Tech

> Free online URL encoder and decoder. Percent-encode query strings, paths, or full URLs. UTF-8 aware, supports encodeURIComponent vs encodeURI modes.

- Canonical page: https://alhertech.com/en/url-encoder/
- Site: Alher Tech (custom software, AI agents and SEO engineering, https://alhertech.com/)
- Contact: https://alhertech.com/en/contact/

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Percent-encode and decode URL components. Handles UTF-8 and reserved characters correctly.

Free online URL encoder and decoder. Percent-encode query strings, paths, or full URLs. UTF-8 aware, supports encodeURIComponent vs encodeURI modes.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the difference between encodeURI and encodeURIComponent?

encodeURI preserves reserved characters that have a purpose in a URL (':', '/', '?', '#'), so it's meant to encode a whole URL. encodeURIComponent encodes everything non-alphanumeric, so it's meant for individual query parameters or path segments.

### Why does my URL with accents break?

Accented characters are not ASCII and must be percent-encoded. 'café' becomes 'caf%C3%A9' in UTF-8. Browsers sometimes hide this behind the scenes, but servers and HTTP libraries require the encoded form.

### Is URL encoding the same as Base64?

No. URL encoding only escapes characters that would break a URL, preserving readable ASCII. Base64 encodes arbitrary binary into a 64-character alphabet, producing longer strings but round-tripping any bytes.

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