The Laravel `Hash` [facade](/docs/{{version}}/facades) provides secure Bcrypt and Argon2 hashing for storing user passwords. If you are using the built-in `LoginController` and `RegisterController` classes that are included with your Laravel application, they will use Bcrypt for registration and authentication by default.
> {tip} Bcrypt is a great choice for hashing passwords because its "work factor" is adjustable, which means that the time it takes to generate a hash can be increased as hardware power increases.
The default hashing driver for your application is configured in the `config/hashing.php` configuration file. There are currently two supported drivers: [Bcrypt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bcrypt) and [Argon2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argon2).
> {note} The Argon2 driver requires PHP 7.2.0 or greater.
If you are using the Bcrypt algorithm, the `make` method allows you to manage the work factor of the algorithm using the `rounds` option; however, the default is acceptable for most applications:
If you are using the Argon2 algorithm, the `make` method allows you to manage the work factor of the algorithm using the `memory`, `time`, and `threads` options; however, the defaults are acceptable for most applications:
$hashed = Hash::make('password', [
'memory' => 1024,
'time' => 2,
'threads' => 2,
]);
> {tip} For more information on these options, check out the [official PHP documentation](http://php.net/manual/en/function.password-hash.php).
The `check` method allows you to verify that a given plain-text string corresponds to a given hash. However, if you are using the `LoginController` [included with Laravel](/docs/{{version}}/authentication), you will probably not need to use this directly, as this controller automatically calls this method: