## Alternatives

There are quite a few Java class file shrinkers, optimizers, obfuscators, and preverifiers out there. Users of ProGuard tell me it easily compares with the best of them. However, you may want to check that out yourself.

This is a list of the programs of which I'm aware. Obviously, I've never personally tested all of them. Many programs, even commercial ones, have been abandoned. Please drop me a note if you know of any other shrinkers, optimizers, obfuscators, or preverifiers, or if some information provided below is incorrect.

Author/Company | Program | Shrink. | Optim. | Obfusc. | Preverif. | License
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Eric Lafortune | ProGuard |  |  |  |  | Free (GPL)
Jochen Hoenicke | Jode |  |  |  |  | Free (GPL)
NQ4 | Joga |  |  |  |  | Free (no source)
Nate Nystrom | Bloat |  |  |  |  | Free
Hidetoshi Ohuchi | Jarg |  |  |  |  | Free (BSD)
yWorks | yGuard |  |  |  |  | Free (no source)
Mojo | Minijar |  |  |  |  | Free (Apache)
RiggsHill Software | GenJar |  |  |  |  | Free (Apache)
Apache | Ant Classfileset |  |  |  |  | Free (Apache)
Jörg Spieler | UCDetector |  |  |  |  | Free (EPL)
Romain Guy | Harvester |  |  |  |  | Free (BSD)
Emeric Vernat | DCD |  |  |  |  | Free (LGPL)
Cristiano Sadun | Pack |  |  |  |  | Free (LGPL)
Brian Alliet | Gcclass |  |  |  |  | Free (LGPL)
Sable | Soot |  |  |  |  | Free (LGPL)
Konstantin Knizhnik | JavaGO |  |  |  |  | Free
Haruaki Tamada | DonQuixote |  |  |  |  | Free
Sable | JBCO |  |  |  |  | Free (LGPL)
Thorsten Heit | JavaGuard |  |  |  |  | Free (LGPL)
Patrick Mueller | Mwobfu |  |  |  |  | Free (GPL)
Elegant Software | JMangle |  |  |  |  | Free
BebboSoft | Bb_mug |  |  |  |  | Free (no source)
Dr. Java | Marvin Obfuscator |  |  |  |  | Free (no source)
PreEmptive | DashOPro |  |  |  |  | Commercial
Zelix | KlassMaster |  |  |  |  | Commercial
Sophia Cradle | SophiaCompress |  |  |  |  | Commercial
RetroLogic | RetroGuard |  |  |  |  | Commercial
Eastridge Technology | Jshrink |  |  |  |  | Commercial
LeeSoftware | Smokescreen Obfuscator |  |  |  |  | Commercial
Innaworks | mBooster |  |  |  |  | Commercial
Sergey Sverdlov | J.Class Optimizer |  |  |  |  | Commercial
Smardec | Allatori |  |  |  |  | Commercial
U. of Arizona | SandMark |  |  |  |  | Commercial
Force 5 | JCloak |  |  |  |  | Commercial
Semantic Designs | Obfuscator |  |  |  |  | Commercial
Duckware | Jobfuscate |  |  |  |  | Commercial
GITS | Blurfuscator |  |  |  |  | Commercial
Arxan | GuardIT |  |  |  |  | Commercial
Vasile Calmatui | VasObfuLite |  |  |  |  | Free
IBM AlphaWorks | JAX |  |  |  |  | (discontinued)
Markus Jansen | Jopt |  |  |  |  | (disappeared?)
Alexander Shvets | CafeBabe |  |  |  |  | (disappeared?)
Christian Grothoff | Jamit |  |  |  |  | (disappeared?)
Eron Jokipii | Jobe |  |  |  |  | (disappeared?)
JRC | DeCaf |  |  |  |  | (disappeared?)
Bajie | JCMP |  |  |  |  | (disappeared?)
IBM | WSDD |  |  |  |  | Commercial (discontinued?)
S5 Systems | jPresto |  |  |  |  | Commercial (discontinued?)
Plumb Design | Condensity |  |  |  |  | Commercial (discontinued)
4th Pass | SourceGuard |  |  |  |  | Commercial (discontinued?)
CodingArt | CodeShield |  |  |  |  | Commercial (discontinued?)
Software4j | Obfuscate4j |  |  |  |  | Commercial (discontinued?)
JAMM Consulting | ObfuscatePro |  |  |  |  | Commercial (discontinued?)
JDevelop | JSCO |  |  |  |  | Commercial (discontinued?)
4Fang | JMix |  |  |  |  | Commercial (discontinued?)
Helseth | JObfuscator |  |  |  |  | Commercial (disappeared?)
Vega Technologies | JZipper |  |  |  |  | Commercial (disappeared?)
JProof | JProof |  |  |  |  | Commercial (disappeared?)
ChainKey | Java Code Protector |  |  |  |  | Commercial (disappeared?)
2LKit | 2LKit Obfuscator |  |  |  |  | Commercial (disappeared?)
WingSoft | WingGuard |  |  |  |  | Commercial (disappeared?)
HashJava | HashJava |  |  |  |  | Commercial (disappeared?)

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