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SourceGuardian

by SourceGuardian Ltd · Since 2002
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ActiveAvailable globallyOn-premise
Quick facts
VendorSourceGuardian Ltd
Year launched2002
StatusActive
LocationOffice S14 Tanfield Lea Business Centre Stanley County Durham DH9 9DB United Kingdom
Countries servedGlobal
Languages1
Integrations
Free tier
Free trial
Contact sales

About SourceGuardian

SourceGuardian is a PHP encoding software from SourceGuardian Ltd designed to protect the PHP scripts. It combines encoding, encryption, and obfuscation features so users can safeguard the code against unauthorized usage. Additionally, it offers licensing capabilities to control how the scripts are distributed and used. This solution is particularly beneficial for developers and businesses looking to secure intellectual property and manage software licensing effectively. The online PHP Encoder allows for easy access and usability, while case studies provide insights into successful implementations. Key capabilities: encoding encryption obfuscation licensing online access Best for: developers and businesses that need to protect and manage their PHP scripts.

SourceGuardian is a highly specialized and vital piece of software for the PHP development community, serving as the ultimate solution for protecting the intellectual property contained within commercial PHP scripts. Unlike simple obfuscators, SourceGuardian is a PHP encoder and compiler that translates the original human-readable source code into a secure, encrypted bytecode format. This process effectively removes the original code, making the compiled files unreadable and virtually impossible to reverse engineer, thereby safeguarding developers' business assets. Operating with both a modern GUI for ease of use and a robust CLI for automation, it caters to everyone from solo developers to large software companies, and the vendor ensures its longevity by consistently updating support for the latest PHP versions, including PHP 8 and later.

Pros & Cons

What users like
  • +SourceGuardian provides strong protection of PHP source code by converting it into encrypted bytecode, making reverse engineering difficult.
  • +Its locking and licensing controls (domain/IP/MAC locks, expiration, etc.) give developers fine control over how and where their scripts run.
  • +The support for both GUI and command-line usage allows it to fit into both interactive and automated workflows.
  • +It supports multiple PHP versions (including up to PHP 8.4) and maintains loader compatibility across platforms, making it future‑proof.
  • +The incremental encoding feature and project-level protection enhance efficiency and consistency when managing large codebases.
What users flag
  • The price point (US$ 249 for standard, US$ 399 for PRO) may be high for individual developers or small projects without revenue backing.
  • Because encoded scripts require proprietary loaders, you become dependent on SourceGuardian to maintain compatibility with new PHP versions; if they fall behind, your code may break.
  • Debugging or diagnosing issues in encoded scripts can be challenging, since you cannot inspect the original source.
  • The user interface is functional but not especially modern or polished, which may deter users wanting slick UX.

Features

Key features

Full Bytecode Encryption
Protects PHP scripts by compiling them into an unreadable, secure bytecode format, effectively removing the original source code and preventing reverse engineering.
Robust Licensing and Locking
Allows scripts to be locked to specific execution environments based on Domain Name, IP Address, or LAN Hardware (MAC), providing anti-theft and usage control.
Cross-Platform/PHP Version Support
Ensures protected scripts run reliably on all major operating systems (Windows, Linux, macOS) and supports all modern PHP versions, including the latest PHP 8+.
Trial Version Generation
Developers can easily create time-limited or date-limited trial versions of their software with an optional online time checking feature to prevent local date manipulation.
Integrated License Generator
A powerful tool included within the encoder that can be used to dynamically generate external license files for flexible script distribution.

Additional features

Powerful protection
SourceGuardian PHP Encoder protects your PHP scripts by compiling the PHP source code into a bytecode format, followed by encryption layers.
New GUI Interface and command-line encoder
We created a new GUI for SourceGuardian, including Windows, Linux and macOS. This new GUI, combined with the powerful command-line encoder, makes it even easier to encrypt your PHP scripts.
Supported PHP Versions
SourceGuardian 15 for PHP works with the following versions of PHP: PHP 4.x,5.x,7.x and PHP8+, PHP8.4 is fully supported. We always lead the way amongst PHP Encoders for supporting the latest version of PHP
PHP Protection methods
To protect your scripts from unauthorized usage SourceGuardian for PHP has added features that can optionally lock your scripts to run only from predefined IP addresses, domain names or LAN hardware addresses (MAC).
SourceGuardian for PHP can also easily produce trial versions of your scripts by setting an expiry date for your PHP scripts or by limiting the number of days that your protected script will work. To protect against local date changes for trial versions of your protected scripts there is an option for time checking using atomic online time servers.

Pricing

Free trial
Free version
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Monthly plans

Standard

USD 249

Pro

USD 399

Countries & Languages

Global
Countries served
1
Interface languages
1
Billing currencies

Interface languages

English

Billing currencies

🇺🇸USD

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