Base64 vs Base64URL vs URL Encoding: When Should You Use Each?

Base64, Base64URL, and URL encoding are often confused because they all seem to “encode” data. But they solve different problems. Using the wrong one can break URLs, APIs, JWTs, image data, or browser behavior. In this guide, we’ll compare: Base64 Base64URL URL encoding / percent encoding You’ll learn what each one does, where each one is useful, and how to choose the right format. For quick testing, you can use EncodingBase64 for Base64, Base64URL, URL encoding, hex, and image-to-Base64 convers