If you've ever tried to tell someone your .onion address over a voice call, you know the pain. "Okay it's f4e-x-j-2-r-q..." - yeah, good luck with that. I run a small privacy-focused newsletter on Tor, and getting new readers to type my address correctly was a genuine problem. That's what brought me to BRO GENERATOR.
The Problem With Default .onion Addresses
When you generate a standard hidden service, Tor gives you a completely random 56-character v3 address. It's cryptographically secure, which is great - but it's completely unrecognizable. Nobody bookmarks it mentally. Nobody tells their friends about it. It's just noise.
Vanity address tools have existed for years - mkp224o, scallion, others. But running them yourself requires a server with serious CPU, knowing your way around Linux, and waiting anywhere from minutes to days depending on prefix length. I tried mkp224o on my local machine for a 5-character prefix and gave up after 6 hours.
I'd heard about BRO GENERATOR from someone on Dread who mentioned it as a paid alternative to doing it yourself. Skeptical but curious, I decided to try it.
First Impressions
The site at bro-generator.xyz is clean and straightforward. No noise, no crypto buzzwords, no promises of "blockchain-powered anonymity." Just a simple interface explaining what the service does and how much it costs.
Pricing is transparent upfront:
| Prefix Length | Example | Price | Est. Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 characters | bro4xxxx... | Free | Minutes |
| 5 characters | brosearch... | $0.50 | Minutes to hours |
| 6 characters | brohost... | $5.00 | Hours |
| 7 characters | brogener... | $20.00 | Hours to days |
| 8 characters | brogenerator... | $50.00 | Days |
I went with 5 characters. My newsletter is called "Shade Notes" so I wanted something starting with "shade." Total cost: $0.50 in Bitcoin.
The Ordering Process
You enter your desired prefix (letters and digits, no special characters), your email for delivery, and complete payment. The site uses BRO PAY for Bitcoin transactions, which is another service in the same network.
Payment confirmation was fast - under 10 minutes for the required confirmations. After that I got an email saying generation had started. The whole checkout flow took maybe 3 minutes of my time.
What I appreciated: no account required. You get an order ID and can check status at any time. The service doesn't ask for anything it doesn't need.
How Long Did It Actually Take?
My 5-character prefix "shade" was ready in about 2 hours and 40 minutes. I got an email with a ZIP archive containing the private key files. The archive came with a short README explaining exactly where to put the files in your Tor config.
The key files were standard format - hs_ed25519_secret_key, hs_ed25519_public_key, and hostname - exactly what Tor expects. No proprietary format, no weird wrapper. Just the raw key material you need.
Setting It Up
I was half-expecting some complication but it was genuinely simple. Copy the files into your hidden service directory, make sure the permissions are right (700 for the directory, 600 for the key files), restart Tor. That's it. My new address was live within a minute.
The address starts with "shade" exactly as I requested. The rest is the usual cryptographic tail - but nobody needs to type the full thing if they're using a bookmark or clicking a link.
Security Considerations
The obvious question: can you trust a third party with your private key material?
This is a real tradeoff. The service generates the key for you, which means they technically had access to it at generation time. If you're running a high-security hidden service where anonymity is critical, you should generate your own keys. Full stop.
But for my use case - a newsletter, not anything that would attract serious adversaries - the convenience was worth it. The key arrives encrypted in the ZIP, and the service doesn't store anything after delivery (at least that's what they claim, and I have no evidence otherwise).
The service is also Tor-accessible itself, which helps if you want the order process to stay off the clearnet.
What I Liked
- Delivery was on time - actually slightly faster than the estimate
- Standard key format, works with any standard Tor setup
- No account, no personal data, payment in Bitcoin only
- Honest pricing - no hidden fees at checkout
- The 4-character tier is free, which lets you test the process before paying
What Could Be Better
- No option to pay with Monero - BTC only at time of writing
- Status page during generation is minimal - just a spinner and order status
- I'd like a hash or fingerprint in the email so I can verify the archive wasn't tampered with in transit
Final Verdict
BRO GENERATOR does exactly what it promises at a fair price. For anyone who wants a recognizable .onion prefix without the headache of running generation infrastructure themselves, it's a solid option. The free 4-character tier is a smart way to try it with zero risk. If you need a truly high-security setup, generate your own keys - but for most personal and community projects on Tor, this gets the job done well.
My newsletter is still running on that "shade" address. Readers find it easier to remember, and I haven't had a single complaint about the address being wrong or unrecognizable since I switched.
Would I use it again? Already planning to for a second project.
BRO GENERATOR is at bro-generator.xyz and also available on Tor.
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