SourceGuardian has been the gold standard for decades. Is it "better"? For enterprise distribution, yes. It uses a combination of encoding (bytecode compilation) and a runtime module. However, it is technically an encoder , not just an obfuscator.
: A modern, open-source rewrite of the classic YAK Pro. Unlike basic tools that just use eval() or base64_decode , this tool uses PHP-Parser to change how the code executes, making it much harder to reverse-engineer. It is particularly useful for PHP 8+ projects. best php obfuscator better