Obfuscar vs R8

Obfuscar is a free tool for obfuscating .NET assemblies on Linux, macOS, and Windows. It renames metadata—including methods, properties, events, fields, types, and namespaces—to short names, making decompiled code harder to follow. The shorter names can also reduce executable size. An optional string-hiding feature replaces string loads with calls that retrieve values from a buffer, at a small performance cost; the project notes that this hiding is reversible. Configuration uses an XML file to specify assemblies, dependency paths, and output location. Obfuscar is available as a NuGet package and a .NET Global Tool, with command-line use. Its 3.0 beta requires absolute paths and rejects relative paths and variable placeholders. The project cautions that obfuscation does not stop a determined reverse-engineering effort and that malformed or malicious assemblies can cause unexpected behavior, including crashes or hangs. It recommends processing only trusted inputs.

R8 has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.